Chazal teach us that when we learn a parsha, the content of which coincides with the current times, it is a special siman. It is a time to receive the shefa that descends via the Torah reading and apply it to the relevant times we are experiencing.
The Confluence of the Parsha and the Time
We are currently in the period of sefiras ha’omer. This is a special time in which we attempt to solidify and further the spiritual achievements that we attained on Pesach, thus leading us to greater heights. This week's parsha is Emor in which can be found the parsha of sefiras ha’omer. It thus behooves us to understand the depth and lessons of sefiras ha’omer, and utilize them to accentuate our growth and avodas Hashem.
The passuk states: “Us’fartem lachem mi’macharas haShabbos”, you shall count for yourselves on the macharas haShabbos. The Tzedokim understood this passuk literally; every year they would begin the sefirah on Sunday. Yet the Perushim maintained that these words do not refer to the day following Shabbos, but the day following the first day of Pesach, as is our practice. The Nesivos Shalom raises the obvious question on this passuk, why does the Torah state the commandment in a misleading fashion? Surely this only serves to support the Tzedokim’s contention - what then is the Torah teaching us? Moreover, what is the meaning of, “count for yourselves” - is it possible to count for another person?
Freeing an Agunah
R’ Shaul Rubin zt”l would travel every day by bus to his Kollel. He would not waste his precious time even when travelling, and every day he would sit and learn with tremendous hasmadah, not sparing even a moment for anything else.
Every day on his bus, there would be another Jew who was a warden in prison Gilmah. As he was sitting one day with his sefer in hand using his travelling time wisely, the prison warden approached him with the following question:
In my work as a prison warden I have seen many notorious prisoners who have committed all kinds of crimes. Some have even committed such atrocious acts that they must spend the better part of their lives behind bars.
In the prison there is a frum Jew under my care. Many years ago he left his wife and was obligated to give her a get. He adamantly refused, so much so that he ended up in jail. However, he remains obstinate and is unwilling to give her a get. It is so painful for me to see a fellow Jew who is wasting his entire life. If he were to just follow the beis din’s ruling he would be a free man. What can I do to help him, how can I give him the opportunity to live the rest of his life as a free man?
R’ Shaul took some time to think through the complex question and responded: It seems that this poor Jew has been locked up behind bars for so long that he has become used to life as an inmate. He has forgotten what it means to be a free man and thus his situation is not serving to coerce him to give his wife the get. My advice to you is to give him a Shabbos off. Let him go home for the weekend and have a taste of freedom. Once he has had the experience he will realize what life could be like and what he is missing out on. Then, he will run to give the get.
The warden followed his advice and, sure enough, the following Sunday both he and his wife went free; he from prison and his wife from being an agunah.
Freeing Ourselves
We recently celebrated the Yom Tov of Pesach. Pesach is not merely a celebration of freedom from the bondage of Mitzrayim and the hand of Pharaoh; rather it is a celebration of escaping the ko’ach ha’tuma and yetzer ha’ra and instead becoming ovdei Hashem. Moreover, each year, every member of Klal Yisrael has the opportunity to free himself from his own Mitzrayim. He is able to detach from his yetzer ha’ra and connect to Hashem. The days of the sefirah were given to us so that we may build on what we achieved during Pesach, make it a part of us, and prepare for the upcoming day of matan Torah.
This sounds wonderful, yet many of us still find ourselves locked up in the shackles of the yetzer ha’ra at this stage, unable to release ourselves from his bondage. What is the secret to freeing ourselves?
When a young Jewish child is born he is given a bris milah. By dint of this mitzva he becomes part of the Jewish nation. However, we do not perform it immediately but wait for eight days. This begs the question: why would we not have him join Am Yisrael right away? Why not give him a bris on the day that he is born?
The Medrash tells us that before a child joins Am Yisrael, before he becomes part of the chosen nation, it is vital that he experiences a Shabbos. Hence, every child has his bris on the eighth day to ensure that he has experienced a Shabbos. Likewise, many have the minhag to wait seven days following the molad before reciting kiddush levana (al pi kabala). The sefarim explain that this is because we want to sanctify the new month after having experienced a Shabbos (Maharam miPano). Why is it so important that we first experience a Shabbos?
A Day of Connection
The reality is that we live in a world of gashmius - “Ha’shamayim shamayim l’Hashem v’ha’aretz nasan li’vney adam”. Ours is a world of physicality and we are bound to the desires and tests of the yetzer ha’ra. So how can we free ourselves and connect to Hashem? The answer is that there are various points of connection within this world that we can link in to. In earlier generations the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash acted as a beis va’ad - an embassy to which Klal Yisrael would come during the shalosh regalim, see Hashem’s glory, and connect to him. They would then take the connection they had gained into their mundane lives. This would transform their everyday lives into kodesh l’Hashem.
Today we no longer have the Beis Hamikdash. How then can we release ourselves from the powerful grip of the olam hagashmi? For this purpose we have one special day in the week, Shabbos Kodesh. It is not our day but the day of Hashem. We enter his domain, so to speak; what the Beis Hamikdash represented in space, Shabbos represents in time. We daven to Him, eat the seudos with Him, feel His presence and radiance, and experience what it means to be free from the pull of olam ha’zeh.
When we continue into the week we have tasted what it means to live with Hashem and what it means to be free from the pull of gashmiyus. We can then work on developing our connection with Him throughout the entire week.
This idea is so powerful such that a child cannot join Klal Yisrael, cannot enter the bris of Avraham Avinu, until he has tasted a Shabbos. For he must first experience connection to a higher world.
On Pesach we read the special megilla of Shir haShirim, expressing the greatest closeness of yishakeni mi’neshikos pihu. Interestingly, we read this not on the first day of Pesach nor even on Shevi’i shel Pesach, but on Shabbos Chol Hamo’ed. Why so? Further, we celebrate Pesach for seven days, why is one day not sufficient like Shavuos?
The answer is that we are freeing ourselves from the yetzer har’a and the pull of havley olam haz’eh. To achieve this we must first experience a Shabbos with Hashem. There must be a Shabbos within Pesach and it is then that we learn what it means to be free from the yetzer har’a and to be ovdei Hashem. There is no better time than this to read Shir haShirim.
Sefiras Ha’omer
Throughout the sefirah, we rebuild each of the seven middos and dargos of the adam ha’shalem. We build up level by level, stage by stage, until we reach perfection on Shavuos.
We take a full week to build each midda so that for each level we have a Shabbos Kodesh, a day in the radiance of Hashem. Each week is on a level higher than the previous one. We do not limit it to Shabbos, we take this with us throughout the week into our mundane world and this helps us to elevate ourselves to a level whereby we are worthy of receiving the Torah.
This idea is alluded to in the passuk in this week's parsha. The sefiras ha’omer is not merely a counting of the days. “U’sfartem lachem”, count for yourselves - for your elevation and to free yourself from the grip of this mundane world and the shackles of the yetzer ha’ra. How may we attain this seemingly impossible feat in a world of physicality and tumah? “Mi’macharas haShabbos” - in each week of the omer there is a Shabbos, a day of elevation, connection and freedom from this world. However, this is insufficient. We also require the macharas haShabbos, we must take what we have gained with us and make Hashem part of our lives even during the week.
Another Chance
Thousands of years ago, when Klal Yisrael were celebrating their exodus with the korban Pesach in the midbar, some of them were unable to attend as they were tamei and could not partake of it.
It was an oneis and one would assume that, just like with every mitzvah, those who are unable to perform it simply miss out. However, they cried out and said, “lama nigara” why should we be left out. Amazingly, a second Pesach was indeed enacted for them.
Often in life we strive for levels and attempt to reach great heights. But at times we fail and become disappointed; we give up and put our efforts aside. However, in this incident we see that if we do not let go and instead cry out to Hashem, “lama nigara” then nothing is impossible, even a new creation of Pesach Sheni.
We all have dreams of reaching high levels throughout Pesach and the sefira. At this point we may feel like we did not reach the levels we wished for. We may even be tempted to give up and arrive at Shavuos without the levels we strived to attain. However, during the upcoming week we will celebrate Pesach Sheni. It is another chance for us to cry out to Hashem with deep tefilla “lamah nigarah”, why should we miss out!
Let us use the Shabbosos to really connect to Hashem, and take what we gain into the week, as per mi’macharas haShabbos. Let us use this second chance to count the omer “lachem”, for our growth. May we use sefiras ha’omer to transform ourselves and gain higher levels, not just on Shabbos but throughout the entire period.
