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Deepening Our Understanding of Sefiras Ha’Omer and Shavuos by rabbi Shmuel reichman
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OctOber 29, 2015 | the Jewish Home
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n our previous article, we began exploring the depth of sefiras ha’omer. Based on the Maharal and Ramban, we explained that we are not counting down to Matan Torah but rather we are building up towards it, ascending one day at a time. We do not wait for Shavuos to arrive; we actively bring it ourselves through the time and effort we invest as we count the omer. After developing a general understanding of sefiras ha’omer, let us focus on a few specifics of the count itself. The forty-nine days of sefiras ha’omer parallels the forty-nine day process that the Jewish People went through upon leaving Egypt, before receiving the Torah. What is the meaning behind this process, and why is it specifically forty-nine days long? While we likely take it for granted that the omer is forty-nine days long, the Torah explicitly commands us: “Tisperu chamishim yom – You shall count fifty days” (Vayikra 23:16). Why then do we only count forty-nine days, omitting the fiftieth day completely? This seems to be in direct contradiction to the Torah’s command! Additionally, we seem to skip the first day of the counting, only beginning the count on the second day of Pesach. What is the meaning behind this?
Rebuilding the First Night of Pesach The Arizal, Ramchal, Vilna Gaon, and many other Jewish thinkers explain the deep meaning behind the forty-nine day process of sefirah based on a principle we have previously developed. Every process contains three stages. The first stage is the high, a spark of inspiration, an experience of perfection and clarity. However, this first stage is
fleeting and is immediately followed by a dramatic fall – a complete loss of everything experienced in the first stage. The second stage is a process of rebuilding what was originally experienced, working and building toward perfection. There is then a third stage: a return to the original perfection of the first stage. However, this third stage is fundamentally different from the first. It is the same perfection, the same clarity, but this time it’s a perfection and clarity that you have earned. The first time it was given to you, but now you have worked to build it for yourself. The first night of Pesach was a gift, an experience of infinite transcendence. This night was characterized by the miracles of Makkas Bechoros – performed by Hashem Himself – and yetzias Mitzrayim, as well as the mitzvos of Korban
Pesach and bris milah, mitzvos that connected the Jewish People to a higher dimension of existence. However, immediately following this night was a complete fall from this exalted level of transcendence. The Jewish People faced forty-nine days in the desert, a place of spiritual emptiness. It was during these forty-nine days of counting and of building that the Jewish People were able to rebuild and earn that initial transcendent gift. What resulted from those forty-nine days of building was Shavuos, Matan Torah, an experience of transcendence, of infinity, and of the World to Come. This is why the Korban Omer is a sacrifice of barley, a food described by the sages as animal fodder (Pesachim 3b). The Shavuos sacrifice is Shtei HaLechem, a sacrifice of bread made of
wheat, a food characterized by the sages as human food (Aruch Hashulchan 489:3). Prior to the process of sefiras ha’omer, we are on a low spiritual level, the level of animals. After spending the forty-nine days of the omer counting and building ourselves, we rise to a transcendent spiritual level, tapping into our true nature as tzelem Elokim, now worthy and ready to experience Matan Torah. Perhaps this is why there were two loaves of bread – one representing the original gift on the first night of Pesach, and the second representing what we earned after forty-nine days of building. We don’t count the first night of Pesach, because this night is a gift of inspiration, intangible and unearned. We cannot pin a number down to it, as it is fleeting and elusive. Sefiras ha’omer is a process of building, and the building process only begins on the second day of Pesach once the gift has been taken away; it is at this point that we must start the work of truly earning it.
49 Days of Building Let us now turn to our next question: Why is the counting of the omer specifically forty-nine days long? Nothing in Torah is arbitrary; there must be a reason why we count exactly forty-nine days before receiving the Torah on Shavuos; there must be a significance to this specific number. In order to understand the number forty-nine, we must recall a principle we have developed previously, based on the ideas of the Maharal. We live in a three-dimensional world, which includes the six directions of space: rightleft, up-down, and forward-backward. These are the six sides of a three-dimensional cube. However, the six sides
