Hashgachah Pratis in the Sefarim Hakedoshim
Excerpts from the popular shiur by Harav Yehuda Mandel shlit”a from Lakewood
The Secret of Sefiras Ha’omer
We are in the midst of the days of sefiras ha’omer, counting the days starting from the sixteenth of Nisan, when the korban ha’omer was offered, until Shavuos, when we bring a korban from the new produce.
Why is it important to base our counting of the days on the day when the korban ha’omer is offered? What is the significance of the korban ha’omer, which is simply a measure of barley flour?
When Bnei Yisrael were in the desert, they received their daily portion of bread from Shamayim – the measure of an omer for each person. During those days Bnei Yisrael received several living lessons. The first is that a person can live with menuchas hanefesh – every day they received all their needs. The second is that hishtadlus is falsehood; the results are not dependent on how much hishtadlus one invests – a person who gathered more mann did not bring home more than a person who gathered less. And the third lesson is that every Jew is equally important in the Eyes of Hashem. All received an equal amount of food from Shamayim – a full omer of mann.
When we instill in our hearts these three lessons, we will not be plagued by jealousy, desire, or the need to chase after kavod, and we will live with menuchas hanefesh, connected to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
At the time when Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, the mann stopped coming down from Shamayim. Then they had to offer the korban ha’omer – an omer-measure of barley, which was brought on the fifteenth of Nisan. Only through this did it become permitted for them to eat the new produce.
Perhaps we can say that the omer-measure of barley comes to remind us of the lessons inherent in the omer of mann in the midbar. Therefore we are commanded and obligated to review, throughout the days between Pesach and Shavuos, again and again each day, the number of the day of the “omer,” in order to instill in our hearts these three principles: that a person should live with menuchas hanefesh, that hishtadlus is falsehood, and that every member of Bnei Yisrael is equally important in Hashem’s Eyes.
In this way, when we arrive at the exalted Yom Tov of Shavuos, we will be zocheh to receive the holy Torah as part of Hashem’s Chosen People.
He Merits to Be Just Like Him
Rabi Shimon said in the name of Rabi Yehoshua ben Levi: Anyone who trusts in Hakadosh Baruch Hu is zocheh to be just like Him. How do we know this? Because it says (Yirmeyahu 17), “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, and for whom Hashem is the Source of his confidence.” But anyone who trusts in idols will surely become just like them. How do we know this? Because it says (Tehillim 115), “Like them shall be those who made them.”
(Midrash Rabbah, Devarim 5:9)
