Sefiras ha'omer purifies and prepares us for the yom tov Shavuos. It makes us a fitting vessel to accept the holiness of the upcoming yom tov.
Some kehilos count sefiras ha'omer in a loud voice and with great enthusiasm and hislahavus. Someone asked Reb Yosef Salant zt'l why people shout out the brachah on sefiras ha'omer. Reb Yosef Salant replied, "What is the question? Every brachah should be said that way!" The person countered, "But no one shouts the other brachos!" "Now, that is a good question!" Reb Yosef replied. So, the question shouldn’t be why people say the brachah on sefirah with a fiery hislahavus. The question is why every brachah isn't said that way.
A student of Reb Chaim of Sanz zt'l described how Rebbe Chaim of Sanz would count sefiras ha’omer. "His face turned black like coal and ווענט ָדעגרא די אויף ּעטַפגעדרא האט ער – he climbed straight walls." This is an expression of exceptional hislahavus.
In his later years, my grandfather, Reb Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt’l, lived in my parents' home, and he had a minyan for maariv in their home. Although he was weak and old, he counted sefiras ha’omer with all his strength. His excitement was palpable. In the prayer after sefiras ha'omer, he would repeat some ten times, ואתקדש ואטהר ופגם סיג מכל נפשותינו את ולתקן ...מעלה של בקדושה, "I should become pure and holy with the kedushah of Above...and this mitzvah should rectify all blemishes from our souls..."
(After he finished sefiras ha’omer, my mother would inspect the house to make sure everything was ok and that nothing broke due to her father-in-law’s spirited sefiras ha'omer.)
Sefiras HaOmer begins on the second day of Pesach, the day the korban ha’omer was brought in the Beis HaMikdash, and it ends with Shavuos, the day the shtei halechem, two breads were brought in the Beis HaMikdash. The omer is brought from barley, primarily used as animal food, while the shtei halechem were made of wheat flour, a staple from which human food is made. The Aruch HaShulchan (and other sefarim) say that this is a hint that during the days of sefiras ha'omer, we elevate ourselves from being like animals to becoming humans. It is a time for growth and to significantly improve our ways. The change occurs through (a) counting the sefiras ha'omer, (b) the prayers people said by sefiras ha'omer, (c) and simply by working on oneself and improving one's character these days. In particular, these days are designated to improve our bein adam l'chaveiro. Reb Akiva's 24,000 students were niftar during these days because they didn't sufficiently honor one another. We mourn that error and seek to improve our ways on these days so that such faults shouldn’t repeat themselves. If we acted like an "animal" towards other people in the past, we make a plan for improvement these days, and by Shavuos, we hope to be "human." We also seek to improve in all other ways as well. After sefiras ha'omer, there's a tefillah that mentions the sefira that is associated with that day: שבגבורה חסד ,שבחסד חסד, and so on. Chesed represents love, and in the merit of sefiras ha'omer, instead of loving material matters, we seek to increase our love of the Torah and mitzvos, our fellow man, and Hashem. Gevurah is associated with fear. These days, we can rectify our natural feelings of fear and channel them toward fearing Hashem.
Mashal: Preparing the Vessel
To explain, we tell the following mashal: Mrs. Fisher didn't know how to cook a cholent, so her husband prepared it each week. But she wasn’t happy with this arrangement. She felt she was neglecting her responsibilities, so when she saw an advertisement for a course to learn how to prepare Shabbos foods, she signed up. She knew how to bake challah, cook fish, eggs with onions, chicken soup, etc., so the classes on these dishes were unnecessary for her, but she was a sport and went to these classes and picked up a few new ideas. But the highlight for her was when the course reached its final stage and was teaching how to prepare cholent. They were taught various options: a sweet cholent, a watery cholent, and so on. She chose the cholent that she liked best and told her husband that starting that week, she would be making the cholent. But it didn't turn out well. No one ate it, and she couldn’t eat more than a couple of forks. After Shabbos, she called her teacher to find out what she did wrong. The teacher asked some questions, but her student had followed the recipe and did everything correctly. Then, it dawned on her teacher what went wrong. She asked her student, "Did you use a clean pot to make the cholent?" She replied that she did not. "That's the problem," the teacher said. The pot must be clean for the to be tasty." The lesson of this story is that we must prepare and cleanse ourselves to become vessels suitable for receiving Hashem's light. One way we prepare for the great light of Shavuos is by counting sefiras ha'omer.
Elevation Through Separation
Furthermore, the Sfas Emes teaches that if you fall into the trap of aveiros, r”l, and then you separate yourself from them, והזרתם, the aveiros and tumah become your crown. This is based on the principle that when one does teshuvah, his aveiros become virtues. Thus, והזרתם, he receives a crown, מטמאתם, from the aveiros and tumah.
The Mishnah (Klayim 8:5) describes an apparently extinct animal called השדה אדני. It was a unique animal due to its human-like features. Rambam writes, "There are animals that appear like human beings. Those who tell the world's news say this animal speaks a lot, but its words are unintelligible. It speaks like a human being. It is called Alnans in Arabic. Many things are said about it." Ra'v Bartenura writes, "It is an animal that grows in the fields. A long cord emerges from the earth, and this animal grows from it. The animal is called ידוע, and ידעוני in the Torah (see Devarim 18:11). It is connected from its belly to this rope that comes out from the earth. Its face, hands, and legs appear like a human being. No creature can come near it because it kills and rips whatever comes near it. When they want to capture it, they shoot arrows at the rope until it becomes disconnected. It shouts bitterly and dies immediately. Perhaps Iyov discussed this animal when he said (Iyov 5:23) השדה אבני עם בריתך."
Reb Avraham Genichovsky zt'l pointed out that although this animal looks like a human being because it is bound to the ground, it is an animal. This hints that if you are connected to the ground, you are an animal. Tear yourself away from earthly temptations, and you will become human. It states (Vayikra 15:31) ישראל בני את והזרתם מטמאתם, "You shall separate Bnei Yisrael from their tumah." The Sfas Emes (Tazria 5643 and Metzorah 5646) says that the root of the word והזרתם is זר, which means crown. This teaches us that when you separate from the impurity of this world, this becomes your crown.
It states (18:3) לא בה ישבתם אשר מצרים ארץ כמעשה תעשו לא שמה אתכם מביא אני אשר כנען ארץ וכמעשה תעשו תלכו לא ובחקתיהם, "Like the practice of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelled, you shall not do, and like the practice of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you, you shall not do, and you shall not follow their statutes." According to many miforshim, this is a warning against committing arayos. The Mitzrim and the Canaanim sinned in these matters, and we shouldn't be like them. The Sfas Emes (Acharei 5635) says that if this were the meaning of the pasuk, the pasuk is extra because the Torah clearly forbids arayos. What is the purpose of stating that we shouldn't be like the Mitzrim and like the Canaanites if the following pasukim list the arayos that are forbidden? Rather, says the Sfas Emes, the pasuk refers to permitted deeds, saying that even when we engage in permitted activities, we should do them differently than the goy. Our middos, speech, how we relax, and the way we dress should be distinctly different from that of the goyim. The avodah during the days of sefiras ha'omer is to elevate ourselves from behaving like animals and like the nations of the world to living like human beings and going in the ways of Hashem.
