As we walk away from the most wonderful and inspiring Yom Tov of Pesach, the beginning of the cycle of the Moadim when we are reborn as a nation, we now head forward into the Yemey haOmer. Let us examine this week's parsha for messages as to the avoda for this part of the year.
The parting message
The holiest moments of the year are those during Neilah. Though we feel weak from the fast we nevertheless gather all of our strength, realizing that this is the time when our fate for the upcoming year is decided. With great intensity we cry out from the depth of our hearts and repent.
But while Neilah is the last and holiest tefila of the day, the parting message from Hashem before we begin Neilah is the krias haTorah of Mincha when we read a passage from this week's parsha which details the various issurey arayos. This seems extraordinary. Why of all the many inspiring and encouraging parshiyos in the Torah was this chosen as the parting message of Yom Kippur?
Neilah is a time when we achieve a high, we feel so close to Hashem that we are sure that we will never sin again or even be tempted to do so. But the reality is very different. As soon as we make havdala and take the first bite of food, the high we were on begins to ebb away. If we have not worked on concrete steps to internalize the inspiration and make it part of our lives, we will end up with the temptations of everyday life and be left with nothing at all.
This is why the parsha of the arayos is the most appropriate and important message as we head towards Neilah. Just before the day climaxes we detail the greatest and lowliest temptations to remind ourselves what awaits us in regular life. This way we will ensure to make real plans and take concrete steps to build on the inspiration and chart a path of real change and growth.
Sefiras haOmer!
This in, in fact, the idea of Sefiras haOmer. Leil haSeder was a moment of birth and b“chipazon”, of unparalleled growth and we jumped levels of ruchniyus and attained extraordinary levels of avodas Hashem. However, if we want this to remain with us, rather than being merely a fleeting experience, then those attainments must be reacquired in a steady, even-paced manner, by dint of our own hard work.
This is the purpose of the 49 days of Sefiras haOmer. Having leapt from the abyss of the 49th level of tumah and soared, b’chipazon, to the 49th level of kedusha, we now begin again and spend one day escaping each level of tumah and attaining and internalizing each corresponding level of kedusha. Then, on Shavuos, we receive the 50th level as a gift.
The journey from the depths of impurity to the heights of kedusha is not a simple one. This fact is alluded to by the korbanos of the omer and Shavuos respectively. The korban ha’omer comprises barley, which is the food of animals. On Shavuos we offer the shtey ha’lechem made from wheat, the fare of man. This hints at the fact that we begin on a spiritual level no greater than an animal, and we must work to build ourselves into human beings.
The magical number eight
Let us delve a little deeper into the avodah of the time.
We have just celebrated seven days of Pesach (eight in Chutz la’Aretz due to sfeyka d’yoma). These numbers of days are not random; they seem to be a repeating theme in the weeks of the omer, all the way until Shavuos.
We count 49 days of the omer in rows of seven, a total of seven weeks of seven days. What is the significance of this? Further, we are aware that Sefiras haOmer is a ladder that we climb up towards kabalas haTorah on Shavuos. But yet, when we reach the night of Shavuos we do not even count the omer. Why so?
The sefarim explain that the number seven represents teva, nature, after all, the world was created in seven days. Eight is a number that represents the transcending of teva, as evident from the eight days of Chanukah and bris mila which is performed on the eighth day, when a young boy transcends teva and joins Klal Yisrael.
Throughout our history
This phenomenon has been in evidence throughout our history. Practically every single significant moment or event occurred in a year ending in the number eight.
Avraham Avinu, our forefather and the founder of Klal Yisrael, was born in 1948, Sarah Imenu in 1958. The first covenant Hashem made with Klal Yisrael, the bris bein ha’besarim by which Hashem promised to look after and redeem Klal Yisrael was in 2018. Avraham’s bris milah was in 2048.
How about the other avos hakedoshim? Remarkably they too were born in years ending in an eight: Yitzchak was born in the year 2048, Ya’akov in 2108.
This continued throughout the galus. Moshe Rabbenu, the leader who would help redeem us from Mitzrayim, the place from which one could not escape al pi teva, was born in the year 2368. The year in which Klal Yisrael did escape Mitzrayim amid tremendous miracles was 2448.
The tachlis of Klal Yisrael and the basis for Yetzias Mitzrayim, was kabalas haTorah. That took place in 2448.
What about the place in the physical world where Klal Yisrael can connect to and meet Hashem, namely the Beis Hamikdash? The first Beis Hamikdash was built in the year 2928 and the second Beis Hamikdash in 3408.
This astonishing pattern has continued throughout the generations, clearly alluding to the fact that Klal Yisrael rise above and defy nature.
Current times
As we have mentioned in a previous article, recent events have clearly demonstrated the idea that, “she’lo echad bilvad amad alenu lechalosenu v’Hakadosh Baruch hu matzilenu mi’yadam”. We are surrounded by those who wish to annihilate us, we are outnumbered by the millions from without and within, yet we rise above nature and survive.
On Pesach, Klal Yisrael the miracle nation, as a whole and as individuals, are born again. A new-born child must first go through seven days of teva and then make a bris with Hashem on the eighth day. Likewise, following the levels achieved b’chipazon on Pesach, the nation as a whole must similarly go back and rebuild step by step, to make it a lasting avoda for the year.
Doing our part
We must begin by doing our part in engaging with the teva - doing those things that are naturally needed for our growth and Torah. This must be done over seven days. However, one set of seven days does not suffice. Since we are building the adam ha’shalem from scratch, from an absolutely animalistic state, we must build it in every dimension. We therefore require seven times seven to return to the levels achieved on Leil haSeder.
Transcending and remaining far, far above
Once we have done all that we can naturally, we can move forward onto Shavuos, zman Matan Torah.
Torah is techilaso hishtadlus v’sofo matana. We cannot naturally reach the highest levels of Torah for it is far beyond what we can comprehend and internalize. Torah du Kudsha Brich Hu - Torah is in essence Hashem Himself, far transcending nature and not something we can comprehend. However, in spite of that, when we spend seven weeks putting in all our efforts in the natural way, we merit Matan Torah - Torah as a gift from Hashem.
We count the 49 days of the omer - seven sets of seven when we work amid teva. But when we reach the climax of Shavuos, when we surpass the seven and reach the golden eight, we no longer count. For at that point it is no longer us - it is Hashem who is acting, allowing us to soar above all limits and reaching levels that are not attainable naturally.
May we indeed merit to use the time to its fullest and reach these special levels.
