Sefirat HaOmer’s Uncertainty Principle

The Rambam, in Moreh Nevuchim, (3:43) explains the mitzvah of Sefirat Haomer by noting that Matan Torah was the goal of Yetziat Mitzrayim.  The Rambam explains that we anxiously await our commemoration of Matan Torah (Shavuot) after we have commemorated the Exodus on Pesach.  Just as one who anticipates meeting a loved one counts the weeks and days until he sees them, so too we anxiously count the days and weeks until we will reenact Matan Torah on Shavuot.

The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 306) had a problem with the Rambam’s explanation.  He pointed out that someone anticipating an event will count down the days until the appointed time.  He will count five days until the meeting and then four days until the meeting, etc.  We do not count down the days until Shavuot; instead, we count upwards.  The Chinuch therefore suggested that since the road to Shavuot was long, it would have discouraged us if we began counting with forty-nine days until Shavuot and worked our way down.  It is more palatable and encouraging to commence the countdown by focusing on what we have accomplished: one day has passed, two days have passed, etc.  Even when we get closer to Shavuot we continue to “count up” because we do not change counting styles in the middle of the Sefira.

Rav Soloveitchik, though, presented another explanation for why we count the Omer upwards and not downwards.  He cites the Ran in Pesachim who states that in the absence of the Beit Hamikdash and the Korban Omer we count the Omer today to reenact the counting of days after we left Egypt until we received the Torah.  Rav Soloveitchik suggested that Hashem did not tell the Jews when they left Egypt the precise date when they would receive the Torah. As a support to Rav Soloveitchik’s suggestion we find a similar scenario earlier in the Torah when Hashem did not tell Avraham his destination when He commanded him to move to Israel. Similarly, when Avraham was commanded to offer his son Yitzchak, Hashem does not immediately tell Avraham where exactly he was going. A third example of this Divine ambiguity is that Hashem does not reveal the place where the Beit Hamikdash will be built in Sefer Devarim.  Rather, the Torah refers repeatedly to Jerusalem as “the place that Hashem will choose”.  We also do not know when Hashem will send Moshiach, but we wait patiently with great faith for his arrival.  According to the Rav’s suggestion, the Jews had to count upwards to Matan Torah because they did not know exactly when they would receive the Torah.  Today we reenact our ancestors’ uncertainty by counting upwards as our forefathers did after they left Egypt.  According to Rav Soloveitchik the religious experience requires a degree of uncertainty that enables us to develop our trust in Hashem. If they were not exactly sure when Matan Torah would occur, then the count undertaken by Bnai Yisrael after Yetziat Mitzrayim was meant to not only cultivate trust in God but also to develop an appreciation for the value of each day. If we counted down in Sefira then we would be indicating that the destination is all that matters. By counting up we are stating that the journey is just as important as the destination and that each day is a gift, a blessing and an opportunity for growth.

 

The Sacrifice and the Sanctity behind the Israeli Flag

 Marta and Yosef Motzen were Holocaust survivors. Their son, Avremi, who was a student at the Kol Torah and Shaalavim yeshivas, fell in the Lebanon War when his tank set on fire. Immediately after the shiva, his friends decided to start a Torah class in his memory, in his parents' home. There are lots of classes set up in people's memory, but how many of those classes last for 37 years in a row? The class participants started out as boys, and today they all have grandchildren. Every three weeks, like clockwork, they arrive at the Motzen home in Petach Tikva. Avremi's father, Yosef, died a few years ago, but the class continues: some of the participants are rabbis and educators, some are businessmen, one of them is a judge - and all of their families know not to schedule any events on the night of "the class at Marta's". Marta would sit in the living room, the number from Auschwitz on her arm, sitting across from Avremi's photograph, bearing his IDF ID number. When the friends entered one by one, and the sound of Torah learning could be heard from the living room, her face lit up. "There is nothing else in the world like this," she told a reporter, "that people are so dedicated to elevating a friend's soul." That evening, after class, Marta felt ill and was hospitalized. Soon after she passed away, and she was laid to rest on Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day. A life's journey of faith and heroism, lasting 92 years that passed through Auschwitz and Lebanon ultimately ended at the cemetery in Petach Tikva. This is the story of the Jewish Nation over the past century: The Holocaust, our Rebirth, our Torah. Our Hope.

We used to hear about the flag of Israel in the news when a country refuses to show the flag at events such as international sports competitions. In recent years that has changed in places such as Abu Dhabi and Doha. Every year I return to these powerful words of Rav Soloveitchik zt'l , which sums up Yom haZikaron better than I can: "If you ask me, how do I, a Talmudic Jew, look upon the flag of the State of Israel, and has it any halachic value?  I would answer plainly: I do not hold at all with the magical attraction of a flag or of similar symbolic ceremonies. Judaism negates ritual connected with physical things. Nonetheless, we must not lose sight of a law in the Shulchan Aruch to the effect that: "One who has been killed by non-Jews is buried in his clothes, so that his blood may be seen and avenged, as it is written, 'I will hold (the heathen) innocent, but not in regard to the blood which they have shed' (Joel 4:21)." In other words, the clothes of the Jew acquire a certain sanctity when splattered with the blood of a martyr. How much more is this so of the blue and white flag which has been immersed in the blood of thousands of young Jews who fell in the War of Independence defending the country and the population (religious and irreligious alike; the enemy did not differentiate between them). It has a spark of sanctity that flows from devotion and self-sacrifice. We are all enjoined to honor the flag and treat it with respect." Whether you plan to wear blue and white this Yom Haatzmaut or not, I hope you will join me Monday night at 6:30 pm as we first acknowledge the sacrifice and then celebrate the existence of the State of Israel and the Flag of Israel.

The Death of the Righteous Shall Atone: Reflections on Yom HaShoah and Yom Hazikaron

"The death of the righteous shall atone.”  Does that sound Jewish to you? For some at first glance it may even sound a little Christian. And yet that is the language utilized by the Talmud Yerushalmi to explain the connection between Yom Kippur and the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, both found in Parshat Acharei Mot. Rabbi Chiya ban Abin said…… just as Yom Kippur atones for the Jewish People, so too do the deaths of the righteous atone. (“Mitatan Shel Tzadikim Mechaperet”)

The literal interpretation of this Talmudic phrase did not sit well with Rabbi Baruch Epstein, author of the Torah Temima.  He suggests that we understand Mitatan Shel Tzadikim mechaperet in light of a story concerning the death of Shaul, the first King of Israel, as described in Shmuel Bet (Chapt 21):

“And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the sephulcre of Kish his father; and they did all that the king commanded. And God was entreated for the land after that.”
Rabbi Epstein explains that God showed compassion to the people in response to their appropriately mourning Shaul and appreciating his accomplishments and his legacy.
Mitatan shel Tzadikim Mechaperet is premised on the obligation we have in this world to be Makir Tov: to acknowledge the accomplishments of those who have passed - especially when they died Al Kiddush Hashem.
The Torah Temima’s explanation is important for us to consider- especially now as we find ourselves on the calendar close to Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron, Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel’s Memorial Day for those who have died in defense of Israel. Both of these days mourn the passing of Kedoshim, martyrs, and also Tzadikim- righteous souls.
A student once approached Rav Auerbach and asked for a timeout from his studies so he could travel north to pray at the graves of Tzaddikim. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman looked perplexed but didn’t immediately answer. Sensing hesitation from his Rabbi, the student elaborated, explaining he had some personal issues to think through and he felt praying by the righteous would help. Rabbi Auerbach replied that he fully understood what the student wanted to do and why he wanted to do it, but could not understand why he would travel four hours to pray by the graves of a few Tzaddikim when there were thousands of them buried on Har Herzl (Israel’s military cemetery), just five minutes from the yeshiva!

Every day, someone would drive Rabbi Auerbach from his home in Sha’arei Chesed to his Yeshiva in Bayit Vegan. The Rabbi would occasionally ask the driver to pull over for a few moments outside Har Herzl, where he would recite Tehillim at kivrei Tzadikim, the graves of the righteous women and men who served and sacrificed on behalf of the State of Israel.

Mitatan shel Tzadikim Mechaperet, the death of these righteous martyrs can serve as a source of atonement and spiritual inspiration and growth; but only if we learn the lessons from their lives and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

If we utilize Yom HaShoah and Yom Hazikaron appropriately then we will merit the fulfillment of the verse in Av Harachamaim- V’Chiper Admato Amo; may we be worthy to fully appreciate the gift of Am Yisrael and the blessing that is meedinat Yisrael. Please join me this Sunday May 5 at 8:15pm for our annual Yom Hashoah program, and I urge you to bring your children and grandchildren with you. Please also mark your calendars for Monday May 13 at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary for our Tekes Maavar commemorating Yom Hazikaron and celebrating Yom Haatzmaut. This year more than ever we must celebrate the State of Israel with the full religious passion that it deserves.