Dear Friends:
This is a dangerous time in the history of the world.
“In the End of Days, after the Children of Israel have returned to their land, the children of Ishmael (the Moslem world) and the children of Esau (the Western Nations) will unite to attack Jerusalem. They will form a world coalition against the tiny nation of Israel. But something will go wrong with their plan. The religious beliefs of the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau will clash, and the two nations will collide and destroy each other. This is what is referred to as the War of Gog and Magog. Following this cataclysmic conflict, the Final Redemption of the Jewish People will occur with the coming of Messiah the Son of King David.” (Malbim on Ezekiel 32:17, from the Introduction to my book, 2020 VISION)
Look around you! Read the headlines! Prophesy is being fulfilled before our eyes! We are seeing the “world coalition” forming “against the tiny nation of Israel,” and we can well imagine what the next steps will be. Perhaps the only comfort in this difficult world is that all the events we are witnessing have been predicted by our prophets. What else gives one the strength to endure what would otherwise be unendurable?
We are in the middle of Sefira.
I have two questions: 1) Why have terrible things happened to the Children of Israel during Sefiras ha Omer? And 2) What happened on the thirty-third day of the Omer to turn them around?
Tragedies befell us during this period, including the decimation of the 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva, the horrible periods of the Crusades and the incredibly brutal times of Bogdan Chmielnicki, may his name and memory be erased! Now, in our very own days, we see the nations of the world trying to rationalize a new, worldwide plot against our people, G-d forbid!
According to the Book of Our Heritage, during the period of Sefiras ha Omer, “man’s future sustenance is on the line,” because it is the period of harvest. “Will he be blessed with plenty or cursed by famine? …. Because this is a … period of judgment that lasts for fifty days, the trepidation accompanying these days is great.” (Pages 722-3)
But this is not the only cause of trepidation. Sefira is the period during which, in Biblical times, we marched from Egypt to Mount Sinai, attempting during these seven weeks to eradicate the terrible effects of 210 years of immersion in Egyptian immorality and idolatry. That’s not so easy! As the saying goes, “you can take the Jew out of Egypt, but can you take Egypt out of the Jew?” We have only to look at ourselves, immersed as we are in Western culture, to understand how the Jews in Biblical times could have felt that it was natural to live in the Egyptian culture. Only very few, apparently, felt that they were completely out of place, and thus only one in five left Egypt. The rest perished during the Plague of Darkness because they really did not want to leave Egypt! (See Rashi on Exodus 13:18 & 10:22)
This is the frightening aspect of both Sefira and our current Exile. Even those who did leave Egypt found it difficult to disentangle their souls from poison the of Exile. “We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, melons, leeks onions and garlic.” (Numbers 11:5)
During Sefira there is a titanic spiritual battle over which way to go: backwards (G-d forbid!) toward Egypt or forward (lehavdil!) toward Mount Sinai and Hashem’s Torah! Apparently the turning point occurred on L’Ag b’Omer. Was it coincidence that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was niftar on that day? Was it coincidence that on that day the Zohar was revealed?
What is it about L’Ag b’Omer?
We say in the Shema, “do not follow after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray…” Apparently, the heart is the leader in going astray. If our heart is focused on Torah, we are safe, and all follows the direction of the heart. If it is focused on material objects, we are in danger, and our eyes and all our other limbs follow it to dust and destruction, G-d forbid. As our rabbis tell us, “Rachmana liba boie… G-d desires the heart!” (Rashi on Sanhedrin 106b)
Sefira is forty nine days. The gematria (numerical value) of “lev tov,” a good heart, is forty nine. (The word “lev,” heart is thirty two (lamed-bais) and the word “tov,” good, is seventeen (tes-vov-bais). The first thirty two days of sefira seem to focus on the battle for the heart. It is still in danger, pulled back by the lure of Egypt. Which way will we go? Will we in fact go forward toward Mount Sinai and a life of sanctity? Or will we, G-d forbid, return to the bottomless pit of Egypt?
On the thirty third day, apparently, the issue was decided in favor of “tov,” goodness, because in fact we went onward to Mount Sinai. Thus, the last seventeen days of Sefira seem to reflect the gematria of “tov.” We took the good course. We seem to have felt the pull of Torah drawing us forward.
Personally, I always begin really to FEEL the “pull” of Shabbos each week on Thursday evening. That’s when it becomes real to me that Shabbos is almost here. My heart lightens and I feel hope and spiritual brightness. Shabbos is coming!
Sefira is seven weeks. Each week is comparable to a day. The first week of Sefira is comparable to Sunday/Yom Rishon; the second week to Monday/Yom Shaini. L’Ag b’Omer is the fifth day of the fifth week of Sefira; in other words it’s comparable to Thursday evening. That’s when we feel Shabbos coming; we feel the pull of Torah. Torah becomes stronger than the material world; we begin to feel elevated. As we say Friday night, “Shake off the dust! Arise! Don your splendid clothes, My people!” (L’Cha Dodi)
As we approach Har Sinai, the pull of Torah becomes stronger and stronger. As we say in Hallel, “His kindness has overwhelmed us!” (Psalm 117) The Artscroll commentary explains that Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in Tehillim. According to Radak, “its brevity symbolizes the simplicity of the world order which will prevail after the advent of the Moshiach.”
Now we have reached this great day, L’Ag b’Omer! “I remember for your sake the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, how you followed Me in the Wilderness in an unsown land.” (Jeremiah 2:2) We have struggled with our hearts. We have pulled ourselves out of the depths of Egyptian depravity. We have marched through the scorching and dangerous desert.
L’Ag b’Omer is here! Our hearts are turning to Hashem.
May we all say soon again, “Na’ase v’nishma,” we will live Your Torah! Then the words of King David will be fulfilled: “Praise Hashem, all nations. Extol Him all the states. For his kindness has overwhelmed us and the truth of G-d is eternal!”
May His kindness soon overwhelm us and carry us all onward to Har Sinai!
