Are you counting?

April 29, 2010 at 1:27 pm · Filed under Commandments/Mitzvot, Holidays/Moedim, Instruction/Torah, Lifestyle/Halachah, Tuesday Night Study and tagged: counting the omer, Emor, Men of Torah, moedim, Shavuot

by torahgirl

This week’s Torah portion, Emor, contains the famous “holiday” chapter, also known as HaShem’s calendar or the moedim (appointed times) – Leviticus 23. In our study on Tuesday night, we easily identified where we are on the calendar:

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. -Leviticus 23.15-16

Right now, we are counting the omer. {today is 30 days of the omer} There is a note in my Tanach that the sages say “seven full weeks” is literally “seven perfect weeks” – in other words, don’t miss a single day of counting.

It’s not only important for us to count the omer, it’s also special because this is a mitzvah we are still able to perform! {Unlike, for example, verses 17-20.} Most families count the omer together each evening. I was impressed that one of the men in our tzadik group takes the time to go home from work Tuesday evenings and count the omer with his little children before arriving at class.

However, we should also take ownership of this mitzvah upon ourselves. Relying on others to remember the count is not recognizing that we answer to HaShem personally. If we understand that counting the omer is something HaShem has asked us to do, and we want to please Him with our obedience, we will remember to do it regardless of where we are or who we’re around.

This brings up practical ways of counting the omer. For example, setting a daily alarm on your phone or a recurring reminder on your computer, putting a note by your bed to make sure you’ve counted before going to sleep, or printing a calendar page and checking off each day.

My family is big on customized email signatures, and several of us have added a line to our normal signature that says {today is 30 days of the omer}. This helps us continually remember that we are counting up to Shavuot, and it makes a statement to others about our faith. A strong statement, I should say… and one that I’m not always bold enough to make. I know from experience there’s a big guilt trip when you erase one line of an automatic signature because you’re not sure how the recipient would feel about it. If I’m confident about my faith, and I have clear Scripture to back it up, I shouldn’t feel hesitant about taking a stand – and it shouldn’t be a secret that we’re counting the omer.

Several people I know have taken counting the omer beyond a personal obligation. One of the men in our fellowship sends out an email each morning containing the count + a spiritual characteristic for us to focus on that day. Tzadikguy at Men of Torah is counting the omer with twitter updates each day. Both of these ideas utilize technology to help us fulfill the mitzvah of counting.

So let’s count together! Come up with a plan that gets you on a regular schedule of counting the omer each day, and put it into action.

{today is 30 days of the omer}

=)

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