Dear Friends:
“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 … period of judgment … lasts for fifty days, the trepidation accompanying these days is great.” (Book of Our Heritage, pages 722-3)
During Sefira, in Biblical times, we marched from Egypt to Mount Sinai, attempting to eradicate the terrible effects of 210 years of immersion in Egyptian immorality and idolatry. This period historically has been a time of terrible travail for Am Yisroel. Not only were Rabbi Akiva’s students decimated, but this is the period during which we suffered from the incredible brutality of the Crusades and the episode of Bogdan Chmielminicki, may his name and memory be ground to dust.
Today the threats against our people are growing once again.
Recently we read the parshios of Tazria and Metzora, and it suddenly seemed clear how they could be speaking to this very era in history. It is well known that the subject of tzara’as (Biblical “leprosy”) is considered a hinted reference to the effects of loshon hara, evil speech. The Talmud discusses it in Arachin (15b, 16b); Rashi refers to it in several places and Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch devotes much commentary to this subject.
But beside the subject itself is the monumental amount of space the Torah devotes to it! How could almost two entire portions of the Torah be devoted to this one, seemingly isolated, subject? Entire sections in Gemora and topics in Jewish Law are derived from one word in the Torah! We learn volumes from one letter! Even a vowel! And here we have two entire portions devoted to a subject that seems relevant to us today only through a hint! Obviously, the subject matter covered in these two Torah portions must be of monumental importance!
We know from the Talmud in Yoma (9b) that sinas chinom, causeless hatred among Jews, is responsible for our present Exile. The Chofetz Chaim ZT”L warned us of the perils of evil speech, and its inextricable link with sinas chinom. But is it real to us? Do we understand the catastrophic effects of sinas chinom and loshon hara?
The subject matter in Tazria and Metzora appears to be a textbook explaining the terrible Exile that we are enduring right now. Two thousand years of torture and exile, forced marches, slavery, isolation, ridicule, separation of husbands and wives, parents and children, culminating in the accusation that “it never really happened at all”! And it is all coming to a climax today, in our own times!
Two thousand years!
“Degraded and disgraced, torn and ripped, taken captive without reason, sold for no money … accustomed to blows in the suffering of hard labor, their heads made to tremble by all inhabitants of the world... Perhaps He will pity the poor and destitute people, perhaps He will have mercy!” (Selichos)
What happens to the metzora, the person who has “leprosy”?
“The person with tzara’as in whom there is the affliction, his garments shall be rent, the hair of his head shall be unshorn and he shall cloak himself up to his lips. He is to call outTamei! Tamei!’ (‘unclean! Unclean!’) All the days that the affliction is upon him he shall remain contaminated …. He shall dwell in isolation. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Leviticus 13:45—46)
Is this not a description of Exile?
“He shall dwell in isolation.”
For two thousand years, with few exceptions, we have dwelt in solitude, forced to live in ghettos under a different set of laws from the surrounding culture. Even today, in the “modern” world, we are increasingly isolated as a world pariah, blamed for all evil.
“Tamei! Tamei”
We are unclean in the eyes of the world, held responsible for diseases that ravage mankind and regarded as cruel and unethical by the surrounding nations. Our Father Jacob is seen as a thief who stole his blessings by cheating Esau, and we are seen as the recipients of this inheritance.
“His garments shall be rent.”
Do you think our suffering is over? We wish it would be, but Moshiach ben Dovid has not come yet.
I recently asked a well-known posek (expert in Jewish law) a question about non-Jewish neighbors who employ their gardener on Shabbos afternoon. This posek told me that he was raised as a “Golus Jew.” We are fortunate, he said, to live in a kind country, but we cannot rely upon it. It is a great kindness of G-d that we have been able up to now to carry out our way of life, but we should be careful not to flaunt it. We are still in Exile, separated by a hair’s breadth from suffering.
I recently saw an essay, written by a teenager with a Jewish name, in a publication in a suburban Jewish community. It ended with the words, “[This community] is the best – I don’t think I will ever want to move!” Have we forgotten where we are? As the nations close in upon us once again and we begin to experience the pressures felt by our ancestors, let us remember that we are NOT at home. We are NOT where we should be. We have no Temple. Even – and especially! – in the Land of Israel we are being challenged by an increasingly frenzied worldwide coalition.
This very isolation is our curse … and our blessing!
Bilaam himself, our arch-enemy, in his attempt to curse us, spoke these very words: “Behold, it is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations. Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered a quarter of Israel? May my soul die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his!” (Numbers 23:9-10)
Even our enemies are jealous, wishing only to live the life of “the upright”! “Mi k’amcha Yisroel, goy echad b’aretz? Who is like you, Israel, the unique nation?” (II Samuel 7:23)
“Master of the Universe, You commanded us through Moses, Your servant, to count the Omer in order to cleanse us from our encrustations of evil and from our contaminations…. Therefore may it be Your will … that in the merit of the Omer Count … may there be corrected whatever blemish I have caused in the [sefiros]. May I be cleansed and sanctified with the holiness of Above and through this may abundant bounty flow in all the worlds. May it correct our
lives, spirits and souls from all sediment and blemish; may it cleanse us and sanctify us with Your exalted holiness! (Prayer following counting of the Omer)
My friends, we are nearing the turning point in the Sefira count. When we come to the Thirty-Third day, it appears that something begins to change. Apparently, at this point, drawing ever closer to Mount Sinai, the impurity of Egypt is beginning to be overwhelmed by the force of sanctity. As we say in Hallel, “His kindness has overwhelmed us!” (Psalm 117) Artscroll, commenting that Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Psalms, brings the following words of Radak: “its brevity symbolizes the simplicity of the world order which will prevail after the advent of Moshiach.”
If each week of the Omer is like a day, L’Ag B’Omer is comparable to Thursday evening, when the approach of Shabbos begins to be felt.
“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. Now we are drawing close to Mount Sinai.
What an incredible period this is! What an incredible opportunity! May we arrive at Shavuos and receive the Torah in complete sanctity and purity! May His Kindness overwhelm us! Soon in our days, may we offer up sacrifices in the Rebuilt Temple in the presence of Moses, our Teacher, and David, our King!
