Home
Up
About Us
Daily Minyan
Donate to ASBEE
Study Torah
ASBEE Family
Upcoming Events
Shul Events
Photos
Rabbi & Cantor
ASBEE Sisterhood
Youth
Where We Are
Jewish Memphis
Resources/Links
Inside ASBEE Bulletin

Parashat Emor: Making the Omer Count

Today is the 34th day of the Omer, the count from Pesach until Shavuos. This week's parasha contains one of the only two references in the Torah to the counting of the Omer. The Torah commands, "and you shall count for yourselves" seven weeks of days. Why does the Torah say "for yourselves?" The Talmud states that this phrase teaches that each and every Jew must count. It is not sufficient for the court or the community to count on behalf of all of Israel, but there must be a count by each individual Jew.

The author of the Ketav Sofer gives a different answer. He says that the expression "count for yourselves" refers to the individual's responsibility to count or take accounting of one's life. The days of the Omer are days of reflection and growth. The Ketav Sofer writes that just as when we count money we count the quantity and the quality of the money, so when we count the Omer, we make a reckoning of the quality of our devotion to G-d and of our own character. The fifty days of the Omer are said to represent the 50 gates of wisdom. Part of the meaning of the Omer is to count in order to be prepared to receive the Torah and its wisdom.

During this Omer time, we also study the 6 chapters of the Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers. These passages of Mishnah speak of the importance of Torah study, ways to keep from sin, and of the foundations of ethics and character development. It is through such character development that we prepare to receive the Torah on Shavuot. The Ethics of the Fathers states that "dereck eretz" comes before Torah, that proper behavior is a prerequisite to Torah study.  In the same way, it is through the refinement of the individual that one conditions oneself to be able to receive the Torah.

Parashat Emor

Chapter XXIII, verse 15-16 tells of the counting of the Omer which we are engaged in at this time. Do you think it sounds as if this practice is done at all times or only if there is a Temple service? Rambam seems to indicate that it is a Torah law, while the Sefer Hachinuch and most authorities says it is now a rabbinic remembrance of what was in the Temple. This point is debated in the Talmud as well.