B"H
Tuesday, Nissan 25, 5778 / April 10, 2018
Shalom. I hope you had a wonderful Pesach holiday.
At the conclusion of the Pesach Seder many recite the following passage, “The Passover Seder is now concluded.” It is followed by a prayer that we merit to perform the Seder next year in Jerusalem in the Holy Temple.
But some have the custom not to say the passage, “The Passover Seder is now concluded.” The reasoning being that even if the physical aspect of the Seder is finished, the spirit, the feeling of freedom and holiness of the Seder, is to continue throughout the entire year.
May it be the will of G-d that we should all be blessed to have continues Nachas and family unity throughout the year as we experienced on the Seder nights. Amen.
We are now in the Sefirah mode. The Torah says, "And you shall count unto you... seven weeks complete they shall be.” From the second night of the holiday of Pesach, until the holiday of Shavuot, (seven weeks), we perform the mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer – counting the Omer, each night, for a total of 49 days.
Each night, at the conclusion of the evening service, we recite a special blessing and count the Omer – stating the number of the Omer for that night.
Q. What is the significance of the “Sefirah” – the counting of the Omer?
A. When G-d sent Moshe to liberate the Jewish people from Egypt, He told them that the purpose of their freedom was to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai. They counted the days in anticipation of the receiving the Torah. We count the Omer daily, from Pesach to Shavuot, when we received the Torah, to remind us that the purpose and realization of true freedom, which we attained on Pesach, is through the study of Torah and adherence to G-d's commandments, which elevates us to being a holy and truly free people.
The word "Sefirah" which means "to count" can also be understood as "to illuminate". Counting the Omer (Sefirat HaOmer) teaches us to illuminate each day of our lives, with Torah and mitzvot. It also teaches us that one should not be content with yesterday's achievements. Rather, each day we should bring additional spiritual light into our lives.
The daily mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer at this time of the year, teaches us that we should make each day count.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY