This Wednesday and Thursday are Rosh Chodesh Iyar, the beginning of the Hebrew month of Iyar. Iyar is unique in that, unlike all the other months of the year, every single day has its own special mitzvah: Sefirat Ha'Omer, the counting of the omer. We count the omer every day in eager anticipation of the giving of the Torah on Shavuot.
The mitzvah of Sefirat Ha'Omer expresses the concept of perpetual progress and spiritual ascent. On the first day of the omer we count “one day,” on the second, “two days,” and so on until we reach “49 days.” Every day the number grows; every day we come that much closer to the Festival of the Giving of the Torah.
Accordingly, every day of Iyar we are reminded of the principle: “One must always ascend in matters of holiness.” We must always strive to learn more Torah and observe more mitzvot, never being content with whatever we have already achieved.
When the Jewish people left Egypt they were “born” as a nation. The period of wandering through the desert was their “childhood,” their “age of education,” just like children before they attain majority. The giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai was the Jewish people's “Bar Mitzvah,” in the same way children are obligated to fulfil all the mitzvot as soon as they reach 12 or 13 years of age.
In the time that elapsed between the exodus and the giving of the Torah (the period of Sefirat Ha'Omer), the Jewish people were like young children who were only obligated to observe certain mitzvot, as they had received only certain portions of the Torah from Moses. Their yearning to receive the entire Torah was so great that they counted the days that remained until the great event.
The season between Passover and Shavuot is thus the most appropriate time to make resolutions for good, for it is the “age of education” of the entire Jewish people. By promising G-d to increase our observance of Torah and mitzvot now, and actually fulfilling our promise, we thereby hasten the imminent Redemption. May this be very soon and bring with it peace and safety to Eretz Yisoel, as we fervently pray:
LAR$Y RMW$ I$Y ALW OWNY AL HNH OWL$B WM E TA VRBY ‘H IT Y WMEL ZW E ‘H
