Drash Cards for Emor (5776)
by Marc Mangel
• Today we read Ch 22, v17 – Ch 23:22 about the Moedim and the Omer.
• Rav Solevetchik said that ‘mo-ed’ does not mean festival. Rather it means appointment.
•At the time of the Temple, the Jews counted 7 weeks from the day after the 15th of Nissan, to bring the ‘new offering’.
• What do we do? We count the omer. Why?
•The Alter Rebbe interpreted “you must count” (Usfartem [Ch 23, v 15]) as “You must make yourselves bright – you must work on yourself”
•The counting of the omer helps this because each day we associate a major Sefirah and one minor Sefirah within it.
• Each of the sefirot has an inner emotion associated with it
Chesed == Love
Gevurah == Fear
Tiferet == Mercy, empathy
Netzach == Confidence
Hod == Sincerity
Yesod == Truth
Malchut == Humility
•Today is Malchut b’Hod: we are developing humility within sincerity
•When we count the omer, we are on a path of self improvement – heading towards our appointment on Shavuout.
•On a Yom-tov, the appointment is in God’s house and we are to travel there — to the Temple — and bring a gift — as every good guest should do
•But of course we have weekly appointments (Shabbat) with God and even daily appointments (Shachrit, Mincha, Maariv)
• Formal appointments are great but the relationship is best when one can drop in any time.
•Imagine the world we’d have if we behaved as if we knew that the Sechinah could drop in on us at any time.