Emor
What is the other dimension of the Omer?
Reflection by Ariel Yisraelah Hendelman, the Or HaLev Team:
"The Torah portion of Emor explicitly describes the holy day of Pesach and the period of counting the Omer, which in Biblical times were marked agriculturally.
בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן בְּאַרְבָּעָ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר לַחֹ֖דֶשׁ בֵּ֣ין הָעַרְבָּ֑יִם פֶּ֖סַח לַיהֹוָֽה׃
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to YHVH.
וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמׇּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃
And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete:
עַ֣ד מִֽמׇּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖וּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֛ם מִנְחָ֥ה חֲדָשָׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃
you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to YHVH.
While most of us no longer connect this time of counting the Omer to the harvest, we can examine what it means to `harvest the grain` spiritually. Both barley and wheat are important for nourishment – and they require refinement before they can be eaten. Unlike fruit, which can be plucked ripe off the tree and enjoyed immediately, grain represents a process, a partnership between us and the Infinite. Wheat is arguably our most precious ritual item, even today. When we make Kiddush on Shabbat, we cover the challah, acknowledging its elevated status. Once it’s uncovered, like a Torah scroll, we make blessings and engage with it.
The Ohr Hachaim, the 18th century Moroccan Rabbi influential in Chassidut, highlighted in his commentary on Vayikra another dimension of the Omer through the Torah’s use of the word `usfartem` in the description of the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot. `The word ‘usfartem’ hints to what the Sages of blessed memory said, that the souls of the Children of Israel bear the quality of the tablets [of stone]…And the Sages said that ‘the tablets were made from sapphire (ספיר / sapir). For this reason, the verse says (וספרתם לכם) - count for yourselves, meaning that by means of this counting you will shine like sapphire.`
The counting of the Omer, then, is a practice of compassionate and patient refinement, just like meditation and just like the process of making bread from wheat. These are seemingly small, daily acts that when done with devotion, dedication and care can yield the brilliance of the sapphire, which was in truth always there, waiting to shine from within."