Sefirat Ha'Omer
What Can You Accomplish in 49 Days?
Sefirat Ha'Omer -
counting of the measure of the ripening grain - begins on the second night of
Pesach and ends at Shavuot. We count 49 days from one holiday to the next. In
Temple times, each day included observation of the ripening barley grain. What
do we observe today?
Chabad.org: The
people of Israel departed Egypt on the 15th of Nissan - first day of
Passover. On the 6th of Sivan - now the festival of Shavuot - they
assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai and received the Torah from G-d. The
Kabbalists explain that the 49 days that connect Passover with Shavuot
correspond to the forty-nine drives and traits of the human heart. Each day of
the Israelites' journey saw the refinement of one of these traits, bringing the
people of Israel one step closer to receiving God's communication to humanity.
Reb Laura: Can
you imagine the real inner lives of the Israelites during those 49 days? Based
on the narrative of the Torah, their feelings would include anxiety, fear,
elation, hunger, thirst, exhaustion - culminating in deep unconsciousness as
God spoke with them at Sinai. If we learn from our ancestors, perhaps we can
use these 49 days to observe our extreme thoughts and feelings when they come
up - and reassert our commitment to 40 years of understanding and redirecting them!
In the meantime,
we can extend a hand to those who are experiencing anxiety, hunger and
exhaustion, by donating to Vancouver food banks at www.jfsa.ca/food.html or www.foodbank.bc.ca.
Return to Reb Laura's
"Taste of Torah" list.
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