B"H
Tuesday Iyar 13, 5777 / May 9, 2017 (28th day of the Omer)
There is a special mitzvah we perform, every night, from Pesach, the Holiday of Freedom, until Shavuot, when we celebrate receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. This special mitzvah is called, “Sefirat HaOmer” – “Counting of the Omer.”
Every night, for a period of forty nine days, after the evening service, we recite a special blessing and we “count” – mentioning which day of the Omer it is. For example, last night we said, “Today is the the twenty eight day, which is four weeks in the Omer.”
Q.Why do we mention the days and the weeks?
A.The Mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer is found in this week’s Parsha, Emor. “And you shall count unto youfrom the day after the day of rest (Pesach).. seven complete weeksthey shall be… you shall count fifty days.” The Torah mentions weeksand days, thus we say the daysand the weeks.
Q.The Torah says, “You shall count fifty days,” so why do we count at night?
A.In the beginning of Genesis, after each day of creation the Torah says, “There was evening, there was morning, one day.. There was evening there was morning, two days,” etc.
According to Jewish law (Halacha) the day begins from the night before. Shabbat begins on Friday night and all Jewish holidays begin with the night. Being that the Torah tells us that we should count seven completeweeks, we begin the count as soon as the new day begins which is from the night before, as mentioned above.
“Sefirah,” which means to “count,” can also be translated as, “illumination.” Where is light needed most? in a place of darkness. Thus, this mitzvah of counting the Omer at night, relates a personal message that each and every one of us has the ability to be an illuminating force, a beacon of light to our surroundings. When we project even a small amount of light, together we can illuminate the entire world and be a light unto the nations.
The Torah uses the expression, “unto you.” It’s always much easier to find what needs improvement by others, while overlooking what needs improvement within ourselves. “Unto you,” means that we must illuminate within ourselves to search and find whatever needs improvement.
A visitor to Chelm saw a man searching under a street lamp. He offered to help him search, but after searching a long time and not finding anything, he asked the man, “Are you sure you lost it here?”
“No. In fact, I lost it a few blocks away,” answered the Chelmite. But where I lost it it’s very dark, so I came here, where there is light, to search for it..”
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY