Where do we have a mitzvah to count?
In Parshat Emor the Torah tells us, “וספרתם לכם - Count for yourselves,” meaning that from the second day of Pesach until the festival of Shavuot we must count forty-nine days. Why do we have such an imperative within the 613 mitzvot of the Torah?
“Number our days”
We can provide an answer from Tehillim which states, “למנות ימינו כן הודע - Teach us, Hashem, to number our days,” indicating that when we look at our lives we shouldn’t consider ourselves to be a certain number of years old but rather, a certain number of days old.
This was certainly the outlook of the founder of our faith, Avraham Avinu. In Parshat Chayei Sara, the Torah tells us, “ואברהם זקן בא בימים - Avraham was old, having lived for many days.”
It was in a similar fashion that Pharaoh noticed that this was the key characteristic of Yaakov Avinu, and so Pharaoh said to him, “כמה ימי שני חייך? - How many are the days of the years of your life?”
Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov utilized every single day advantageously. How can we make the most of every single moment? The answer comes in the continuation of the verse of Tehillim, “למנות ימינו כן הודע - Teach us to number our days,” “ונביא לבב חכמה - in order that we should become wise-hearted.”
In all other languages either you are wise with your mind or compassionate with your heart, but in our tradition we strive to become wise hearted, fusing together the finest capacities of thought and compassion so that we can believe with feeling, and become a blessing to the world.
That is what the tefillin represent. We have a ‘tefillin shel rosh’ on top of our heads and a ‘tefillin shel yad’ on our arm, which faces the heart.
During this period of the Omer we recall what the Talmud tells us about the students of Rabbi Akiva who were brilliant in their minds and yet not sufficiently compassionate in their hearts. That is why we mourn throughout this period. Therefore Hashem gives us a mitzvah to count days in order to make the most of every single one, so that we should become wise-hearted and a blessing to our environment, teaching us that if we count our days, we can make our days count.
So let us make our days count by joining in prayer with all our hearts for all those who need a recovery from sickness, for the release of the hostages, as well as praying for our soldiers and healthcare professionals, and Chevra Kadisha members worldwide, and for those who need healing, shidduchim, children and parnassah and may we be blessed to have the most awesome, gorgeous, beautiful, peaceful, healthy, amazing, relaxed, spiritual, sweet, and happy Shabbat.
NUMBER OF MITZVOT: 63
MITZVOT ASEH: 24
MITZVOT LO TAASEH: 39
NUMBER OF PESUKIM: 124
NUMBER OF WORDS: 1614
NUMBER OF LETTERS: 6106
HAFTORA:
Yechezkel 44:15 – 31
This week we study Chapter 3 of Pirkei Avot
