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שבת שלום - פרשת אמר
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the
video shiur by Rav Meir Goldvitch
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News and Notes
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On Thursday, the yeshiva celebrated Yom Haatzmaut by offering a very special program. On Thursday morning, the students heard a sicha from Rav Wolicki on the spiritual aspects of the State of Israel. This was followed with the showing of a documentary film by Steven Spielberg, "The Long Way Home", highlighting the ingathering of the exiles to Israel following the horrors of the Holocaust. In the afternoon, Joe Hyams, the Executive Director of HonestReporting.com, gave a fascinating audio-visual presentation to the students on the need to combat anti-Israel bias in the media, and on what they can do to help. This was followed by our annual Yom Haatzmaut barbecue, and a two-on-two wiffle ball tournament.
Finally, before late-night mishmar learning in the Beit Midrash, Rav Kahn gave a sicha on "The Nine Religious Approaches to the State of Israel."
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Parsha Insights
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
"And you shall count for yourself from the day after the holy day - from the day you bring the omer-wave offering - seven complete weeks. Until the day after the seventh week you will count fifty days, and [then] you shall bring a new flour offering to Hashem." (Vayikra 23:15-16)
The mitzvah of sefirat haomer, during which we count the days between Pesach and Shavuot, can be understood in one of two ways: it is either a counting of the days from the redemption from Egypt until the receiving of the Torah, or a counting of the days between the omer offering in the Beit HaMikdash, given on the second day of Pesach, until the shtei halechem offering, given on Shavuot.
The Aruch HaShulchan (Orach Chayim 489:1-2), citing the Ran, explains that because most authorities assume that the counting is directly related to the omer and the shtei halechem, sefirat haomer today is a rabbinic decree serving as a memorial of the Beit HaMikdash, rather than a Torah requirement. Nevertheless, there are authorities - chief among them the Rambam - who maintain that sefirat haomer retains its force nowadays as a Torah law. According to this opinion, sefirat haomer is clearly a counting from Exodus to Revelation, rather than a numbering of the days between the two Temple offerings. For the need to count the days between the physical redemption and its spiritual consummation is not dependent upon the presence of the Beit HaMikdash, whereas the count from the omer to the shtei halechem is obviously only in force when such korbanot were in existence.
Interestingly, Rav Soloveitchik explains that the two differing rationales for sefirat haomer directly affect the liturgy itself. According to the opinion that we count from the omer offering rather than from Yetziat Mitzrayim, the proper text of the sefirah should read "laomer" - that is, "from the [giving of the] omer." On the other hand, if the counting relates to the Exodus and the Revelation, then the omer refers not only to the specific korban, but also to the period of time between Pesach and Shavuot. Accordingly, the proper text would be "baomer" - that is, "in the [period of the] omer."
If sefirat haomer is a daily count from the Exodus to the Revelation, then it appears self-evident that the count highlights the imperfection of physical release without a corresponding spiritual upheaval. Yetziat Mitzrayim, the deliverance from slavery, is incomplete without an equivalent religious experience; for if the Exodus created the vessel, the Revelation filled it with content of an infinite value. Our counting expresses the reality that the former absent the latter is utterly incomplete.
What, however, is the point of counting from the omer offering to the shtei halechem? What does the former lack that the latter completes?
The answer lies in the practical consequences of each offering. No one is allowed to eat any "new" grain - known as "chadash" - until the omer is given. Up to that point, all grain must be from the previous year. Once the omer has been sacrificed, all chadash becomes "yashan" - "old" grain - and is immediately permitted. The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 303) explains that, "Since the main sustenance of creatures are grains, it is proper to offer from them a korban to Hashem Who gave them, before His creations benefit from them. This is similar to that which our Sages of blessed memory said in a similar situation: 'Anyone who benefits from this world without making a blessing is ma'al [i.e., using sanctified items for standard purposes].' (Berachot 35a)" Accordingly, the meaning of the omer is based on our requirement to acknowledge G-d for that which He has given us. Only then are we allowed to use His creations for our own purposes.
Although the omer offering makes chadash permitted for individuals, the shtei halechem offering makes chadash permitted in the Beit HaMikdash. During the fifty days between the omer and the shtei halechem, the permissibility of new grain remains in a state of imperfection; for while it is allowed to be eaten, it cannot become sanctified on the altar. Even though the grain is edible, it cannot yet reach the ultimate heights of holiness; and anything that by definition cannot reach its full potential is fundamentally imperfect. The person eating the grain obviously has no intention of offering it on the mizbeiach, but the fact that it would be impossible to do so even if he wanted to demonstrates that it is not what it should be.
Our task as Am Yisrael is to strive to discover the sparks of holiness in every atom of existence. If there is a part of reality that cannot reach its full potential, we anxiously await the moment that its true nature will be revealed. Although we may use it for non-holy purposes, we always must endeavor to discover the potential for sanctification within. When such potential is absent, we count the days until that potential becomes apparent. Just as Exodus without Revelation is incomplete, permissibility without potential for holiness is empty.
With Hashem's help, we will successfully discover the potential for kedushah in every aspect of our lives, and will apprehend the possibilities for greatness in every aspect of creation.
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