Perashat Emor 5778

Perashat Emor 5778

This week's perasha introduces the missvah of counting the fifty days of the Omer: "And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbat...seven weeks." (Vayikra 23:15) Our Sages determine that we start counting on the day after the first day of Pesah, the fifteenth of Nissan. According to the Oral Torah, the Hebrew word for Shabbat, the "day of rest", refers to the Holy Day of Passover which is also a day of physical rest.​​​

The Sadducees were a sect of Jews who lived during the time of the second Bet Hamikdash and who brazenly rejected the Oral Torah. They interpreted the pesukim literally and claimed that since the word "Shabbat" was used, the counting of the Omer should begin on the day after the first Shabbat that fell during Passover. They would start counting the Omer on Sunday, regardless if it fell on the fifteenth or on the days following it.

The Gemarah in Menahot (65a-b) describes how the Hakhamim vigorously disputed the Sadducees on this point. As is widely known, the Sadducees distorted the Torah in many other ways. For instance, they wore their Tefillin on their upper nose because the pasuk reads, "they shall be for ornaments between your eyes." The Sages did not go out of their way to disprove their claims in cases such as these. Why then was it so important for the Hakhamim to oppose the Sadducees when it came to Sefirat HaOmer?

Severing the physical experience from the spiritual was the Sadducees' core belief, and it underlined their viewpoint about which day to start counting the Omer. Our Sages therefore chose to contest their claims by showing their mistaken ideas and by teaching the true values of Judaism. By counting the days between the two Holy Days, Pesah and Shabuot, a bond is created between them which highlights the theme of spiritual freedom and independence for Am Israel. Yessiat Missrayim was not merely a physical release. Rather, as it says, "when you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship G-d on this mountain." (Shemot 3:12)

The Sages have deemed that "the morrow of Shabbat" means that when we start counting 50 days from the fifteenth of Nissan, Shabuot will fall exactly on the anniversary of Matan Torah (6th of Sivan). Therefore, the days from Pesah through Shabuot have a strong sacred bond.
This is the bond the Sadducees wanted to sever, by separating the physical from the divine. They held that counting begins on the first Sunday during Pesah. Instead of connecting our redemption to Matan Torah, they emphasized the agricultural holidays of the barley and wheat harvests. They gave more credence to nature while undermining the Creator and Giver of the Torah.  According to our tradition, as received in the Oral Torah, Sefirat HaOmer begins in the evening of the second day of Pesah, the second Seder night. This auspicious moment marks the first step we take as Hashem prepares us for Matan Torah. As Rabbi Saadia Gaon famously said, "Our nation is only a nation in virtue of the Torah."
 
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mimoun Miller