There are a number of customs associated with the Sefira period:
restrictions on weddings, hair-cutting, and music to name a few. All of these
practices are utilized in Jewish tradition to foster a feeling of mourning and loss
in our lives. For instance, these are some of the same restrictions we find
during the Three Weeks when we mourn the Beit Hamikdash’s destruction. They are
also practices we associate with mourning over the death of a close relative.
One of the reasons
offered as to why we observe a period of quasi-mourning during Sefira is the
tradition that 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students died during this period. It
remains a mystery what was the physical cause of death: was it some form of
plague? Were they killed in battle during the Bar Kochba revolt (we know how
supportuive Rabbi Akiva was of Bar Kochba.) Whatever the physical cause of
death was, the Talmud (Yevamot 62b) suggests the spiritual reason for this
tragedy and the lesson we are supposed to learn from the episode: “They did not
treat each other with respect.”
This suggestion is
difficult in light of the fact that we know that “Love your neighbor as
yourself” was considered by Rabbi Akiva to be a fundamental principle of the
Torah. How could his students have learned from Rabbi Akiva and yet not learn
this lesson?
One possibility is that perhaps the students
took their Rebbe’s lesson a bit too literally. The verse in the Torah is
“Ve’Ahavta Lereiacha Kamocha” which means “love your neighbor as yourself”.
There is much discussion as to what the word “Kamocha” means in this context.
Perhaps the students of Rabbi Akiva took it to mean that you must be willing to
get along with people that are Kamocha: ie with whom you share similarities.
It’s easy to like people that are similar to us; people that share our
worldview, our values, and our priorities. But how do we treat people with whom
we disagree? How do we treat people with whom we normally agree but strongly
disagree on a particular topic that is very important to both parties? How do
we treat people that are different than us? This is when “Love your neighbor”
becomes a challenge and much more important. It’s like the parent who is
disappointed in the behavior or actions of their child and says to them, “I
love you right now, I just don’t like you very much at this moment.”
The goal of our
shul is to encourage religious growth and a culture of caring. In so doing we
hope to also be a beacon of Judaism to the broader world. Sefira is an
appropriate time to remember our mission and begin working on this. The period
between Pesach and Shavuot was a time of great spiritual growth for our
ancestors who left Mitzrayim. And it can serve that purpose for us as well.
When we contemplate religious growth it’s important to remember that how we
treat our fellow Jew is as religiously significant as our prayer, Torah study,
and observance of Shabbat and Kashrut. Both must be present in order to develop
a well-rounded religious persona. During this Sefira period, let us commit to
working on our interpersonal relationships and interactions. Let us appreciate the importance of loving
our fellow Jews who may be different than us and with whom we may disagree, and
not just when loving our neighbor is easy.
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