THE OMER AND ERETZ YISRAEL

Many of Emor’s 63 mitzvot apply only in Eretz Yisrael. Let us focus on three of these mitzvot which are very relevant to this time of year. Of course, I am referring to the mitzvot connected to the Omer. The Torah states:

(1)…When you enter the Land that I give you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring an Omer of the first of your harvest to the kohen. And he shall wave the Omer before the Lord… (2) And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the “sabbath” – from the day you bring the Omer of waving – seven weeks; they shall be complete. (3) Until the morrow of the seventh week you shall count fifty days, and you shall offer a new meal offering to the Lord. From your dwelling places, you shall bring two wave-loaves… (23:10-11, 15-17)

Three separate mitzvot are enumerated here: Korban HaOmer (the Omer offering), Sefirat HaOmer (the counting of the Omer), and Sh’tei HaLechem (the two loaves brought on the holiday of Shavuot). The first and third apply only in the Land (and only when the Beit HaMikdash is standing), as the Torah states clearly, “When you enter the Land that I give you” and “From your dwelling places.” In fact, Chazal use these two mitzvot as paradigmatic examples of the holiness of Eretz Yisrael:

There are ten [levels of] holiness [with regard to location]: Eretz Yisrael is holier than all other lands. And what is its holiness? The fact that we bring the Omer, Bikurim (First Fruits), and Sh’tei HaLechem from it, not from any other land. (Mishnah, Keilim 1:6)

Concerning the second mitzvah, however, there is a major dispute as to whether it applies today, in the absence of the Beit HaMikdash. The Rambam and others hold that Sefirat HaOmer is independent of the other two mitzvot. Even when there is no Korban HaOmer or Sh’tei HaLechem we are biblically obligated to count the 49 days. In contrast, the majority of poskim, including the Tur and Shulchan Aruch, hold that the counting is inextricably bound to the offerings. Therefore, our obligation to count nowadays is only rabbinic (mi’derabanan), to commemorate what was done in the times of the Beit HaMikdash.

This explains two anomalies about Sefirat HaOmer: the fact that we do not recite the SheHechiyanu blessing and the addition of the HaRachaman prayer every night after the counting. The Rashba explains that SheHechiyanu is recited only on mitzvot that give us joy and pleasure. Nowadays, Sefirat HaOmer gives us (or at least it should give us) grief, for it reminds us that the main component is missing: the Divine service in the Beit HaMikdash. This also explains why we say “May the Merciful One (HaRachaman) restore for us the Temple service to its place, speedily in our days.” Since our counting is only rabbinically mandated nowadays, we turn to HaShem each night with a heartfelt plea to give us the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah in its entirety, in the very near future.

Like so many other aspects of the Shalosh Regalim, the mitzvot surrounding the Omer underscore the importance of Jewish agriculture in the Land of Israel. The harvesting of the Omer is so important that it even supersedes the Sabbath (Rambam, Temidim U’Musafim 7:3-4). Rav Kook explains: “This is a great sign that Jewish agriculture in Eretz Yisrael emanates from the holy source of this holy nation” (Ma’amarei Ra’ayah, vol. 1, p. 179, taken from Torat Eretz Yisrael by R. David Avraham Spector.)

There is one more aspect of the Omer that we have not yet touched upon. Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 306), and others, describe Sefirat HaOmer as a countdown to Shavuot, the day of Matan Torah. It is our way of preparing ourselves to receive the Torah anew. This aspect, as well, is deeply connected to the Holy Land. We mentioned above that the Sh’tei HaLechem brought on Shavuot could only be made from grains harvested in Eretz Yisrael. In a small work entitled Eretz Chemdah, R. Moshe Tzuriel (former mashgiach ruchani of Yeshivat Sha’alvim) explains the reason for this based on a Zohar: The two loaves symbolize the Torah, and one cannot attain a full understanding of the Torah outside the Land of Israel. (See Parashat BeReishit, “Torat Eretz Yisrael.”)

May we be zocheh to offer the Sh’tei HaLechem this year in the newly rebuilt Beit HaMikdash. Amen!

Reprinted from Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah by R’ Moshe D. Lichtman

Daily Archives: May 11, 2017

Parashat Emor

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