Sefirat Ha’omer Chasidic Torah thought from Lubavitcher Rebbe by: Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz

Welcome to this week's Torah lesson. This week we're going to talk about the mitzvah of Sefirat Omer. And the question of the week is, what is the significance of counting the Omer? So this week as we count the Omer every single day that we started on the second day of Pesach until the holiday of Shavuot, the question of the week is, what is the significance of counting the Omer? So the Rebbe explains and he says something very, very powerful. There's actually a debate whether counting the Omer today is biblical or rabbinic. So you know, two Jews, three opinions. So one opinion actually is that it's biblical. Counting the Omer every single day between Pesach and Shavuot is biblical. Another opinion, that's rabbinic. So you think that's it, two opinions? No, there's a third opinion. What's the third opinion? That counting the days, we count for example whether it's 10, 11, 12, we count how many days it is, that's biblical. But counting the weeks, so for example on the 10th day we say it's one week and three days, or the 11th day it's one week and four days, that's rabbinic. So you have two Jews, three opinions. But [snorts] the question is, is it rabbinic or is it biblical? What's this the days are are are biblical and the weeks are rabbinic. And Rebbe explains something very powerful and he says like this. What is the whole idea of Sefirat Omer? Sefirat Omer is we left Egypt, God took us out. But guess what? In order to receive the Torah we have to work on ourselves. We have to transform ourselves. How do we transform ourselves? Every single day we count one of the days of the Omer, which corresponds to chesed, gevurah, tiferet, all the emotions and the way each one is intertwined with the other one. That means we have to have a full transformation up to the point our thought needs to be different, our speech needs to be different, our action needs to be different. So there's the global transformation. We count the weeks. Yeah, total transformation. But then you go through each one, each sefirah, where it's intertwined the other one, and that creates a detailed practical transformation. So the Rebbe explains and he says, that's why your brain you will come that says that the weeks that's rabbinic. Why is that rabbinic? Because that's not going to affect full transformation. But to go through each day and transform each part, that is biblical. God wants us to do a full transformation so we can receive the Torah on Shavuot. So the answer to the question, what is the significance of Sefirat Omer? First of all, it's following the commandment of the Torah to count the Omer, but more importantly it's about transforming ourselves and preparing ourselves that not only the godly soul is ready to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai, at Mount Sinai, but also the animal soul as well. Thanks so much for joining us for our weekly Torah lesson. This week's Torah lesson dedicated to memory of Baruch ben Aryeh Leib, ben Yosef, Rochel bas Leib, bas Tziporah bas Sarah, my father Reb Leib ben Mordechai Hertz. May their souls be elevated by Torah we're studying in their memory. For more information, please see our website chabadswf.org. Have a great and blessed week, shavua tov.