Transcript
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So the first thing that I want to point
out is that the Omer is really a
peculiar word. It's a strange way to
frame the mitzvah. The Omer is a
measurement. It's like the day after
Passover you bring an Omer of barley and
offer it up as a sacrifice in the
temple. But usually the focus or the
name
is on the content of the offering. It's
the animal, it's the money, it's the two
loaves of bread. But here it's the only
sacrifice that's called the Omer
offering. The entire time is counting
Sefirat HaOmer, the counting of the
Omer. It's bizarre like this word is
just a measurement. It's like saying the
counting of the kilo or the counting of
the pound offering or the liter
sacrifice. A kilo or pound or liter of
what? It's like it's an offering of
barley. It should be called the barley
offering. And so there's no other
sacrifice in the Torah that's called by
the measurement. It's like why? What is
this measurement? And so the other thing
that's unique is that the word and
measurement of Omer is mentioned only
one other time in the Torah.
And so with that it's obviously
connecting these two instances and
guiding us to learn something through
their connection. And so let's open up
to Exodus chapter 16 verses 15 and 16
when we read about the man, the manna
from heaven. Exodus 15.
16, excuse me. And Moses said to them,
"This is the bread which the Lord has
given you to eat. This is the thing
which the Lord has commanded. Let every
man gather it according to each one's
needs, one Omer
for each person according to the number
of persons. Let every man take for those
who are in his tent."
And so there you have it. The day after
the holiday of Passover you bring an
Omer of barley offering and in the
desert each person received an Omer of
manna to eat. And so those things are
obviously interconnected.
But if those verses aren't enough to tie
the two together,
the Torah spills over into the book of
Joshua.
And there the connection becomes
absolutely undeniable. You look at
Joshua chapter 5 verses 10 and 12.
Now the children of Israel camped in
Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th
day of the month at twilight on the
plains of Jericho.
And they ate of the produce of the land
on the day after the Passover,
unleavened bread and parched grain on
the very same day.
Then the manna ceased on the day after
they had eaten the produce of the land.
And the children of Israel no longer had
manna. But they ate the food of the land
of Canaan that year.
So here in Joshua chapter 5 the children
of Israel celebrate Passover in the land
of Israel for the first time.
And the day after the Yom Tov, the after
the holiday, the day that they're
commanded to bring the Omer offering of
barley, that same day the manna from
heaven that everyone received one Omer
of ceases from falling. In Joshua
chapter 5 the manna which was
distributed in a daily measure of an
Omer per person stops exactly when the
people begin to eat from the produce of
the land. At the same time of year when
the Torah commands us to bring an Omer
of barley as the first offering from the
land. And so
the heavenly Omer ends and is replaced
with a human offering Omer.
And so it's called the Omer offering and
the counting of the Omer because
essentially
the Omer offering and the manna
are spiritually interconnected.
And so Israel's going through a process.
For 40 years they received their
sustenance directly from Hashem through
the manna. Every single day they lived
in a reality that if the manna wouldn't
fall from the sky and God wouldn't
provide, they simply would not be able
to eat. There's no food in the desert.
There's just rocks and sand. There's
nothing alive there. And so now in the
book of Joshua for the first time they
can eat from the produce of the land.
They don't need the manna from heaven
anymore. Now they can plant, they can
sow, they can work the land and provide
for themselves. So what is at the heart
of the Omer offering of barley? It's
teaching the children of Israel, "Don't
think that this barley that you've
planted, that you've harvested is any
different from the manna you received in
the desert. Just as Hashem provided for
you in the desert, in the land of
Israel, I'm still providing for you."
And in that way the heart of the Omer
offering is really a sacrifice of
thanks. It's drawing closer to Hashem
through gratitude and not taking
anything for granted. It's the opposite
of just
do being entitled. It's like thinking of
myself alone in the desert with nothing
around me but sand and rocks and
receiving my sustenance directly from
heaven, gratitude is natural. But once
I'm working, I'm sowing, I'm planting,
I'm harvesting, it's my strength. It's
my power. It's my technology. It's my
drip irrigation systems. Every whatever
is providing me the food, it's me. I
have a big hand in this now. And it's
called the Omer that just as God gave
the Omer of man, I'm taking my barley
and offering up an Omer in recognition
and gratitude to the one who provides
for all my needs. Just as I thanked
Hashem in the desert, I'm thanking him
now in the land of Israel. And so in
that way the counting of the Omer is a
process.
But what's critical to understand is
that that sensation, that gratitude is
the foundation for accepting the Torah
at Shavuot. We need to feel that
gratitude. And so
why? Why is the gratitude the spiritual
posture for accepting the Torah at
Sinai? I mean
the Omer is fundamentally gratitude and
that's the Omer counting. And so I go
way deep into this in my book Waking Up.
And I explain that we start off our day
every day with the prayer Modeh Ani
Lifanecha Melech Chai Vekayam. I thank
you living everlasting king for you've
restored my soul in mercy. How great is
your faith? Every morning the first
thing out of our mouths is thank you. Is
Modeh.
Every day we start off our day before we
even get out of bed we're giving thanks
to God for restoring our soul and
blessing us with another day. And so if
you pay attention
when focusing on your feelings of thanks
and gratitude, if you really are with it
for a while,
naturally another feeling will emerge.
And it's actually a feeling of
indebtedness.
And what's the difference between
feeling grateful and indebted? It's
almost like the same word but there's
really a difference. They're really
similar but gratitude and indebtedness,
they're actually stages. Indebtedness is
different than gratitude. It's the next
step. It's a sensation that calls us to
action with a desire to give back. You
literally feel as though there's a debt
that you need to pay back. And you sense
an inner calling to give. And in that
context you're so grateful for the gift
of life. You're so grateful for the
gifts in your life that you want to say
thank you
in more than just words. And in our case
we're so grateful for being freed from
slavery. I want to offer an Omer
offering. You're expressing that you're
not taking anything for granted and when
you feel indebtedness, you feel like you
want to give something back. In comes
Shavuot and says, "Oh, you're grateful?
You feel indebted? You want to give
something back? Here is the Torah.
Here's the way you can repay me. You can
partner with me in my creation. You can
be my representation on earth. You can
reflect my light by fulfilling my will.
Now go ahead, be kind to the orphan. Go
be a blessing to the world. Give back.
Here is the menu of what you can choose
from. Here is the Torah. That's why it's
the posture to really accept the Torah.
And that changes everything about how we
see our relationship with the Torah.
It's not like a burden that was thrust
on us from above. The Torah is an answer
to our inner calling to live a life of
gratitude. That's why the Omer is a
count up to Shavuot. So in that way the
counting of the Omer is also like
counting the blessings in our lives.
Hey, that was a highlight from this
week's Land of Israel Fellowship. If you
like that highlight, you'll love the
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on the landofisrael.com.
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