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Vol 12.13 - Emor 1 Spanish French Audio Video |
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Summary: (5733) "They should be seven complete weeks" When does this occur? When Jeshua and Shechaniah are not among them. (Kohelet Rabbah 1:4) (Note: Jeshua the ninth, to Shechaniah the tenth weeks of the 24 Mishmarot or guard rosters. Chronicles I 24:11) |
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Translation: 1. The Midrash states on the verse (Lev. 23:15): “And you shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day from the day you bring the Omer as a wave offering seven weeks; they shall be complete”. (וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה) That: “R’ Chiya learned: It states ‘Seven weeks shall there be complete/Tmimot’. When are they complete? When the priestly watches (Mishmarot) of Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them. The Matanot Kehunah (on the Midrash in the name of the Rokeach) explains: “When Rosh Chodesh Nissan falls on Shabbat, then the first day of Pesach will be Shabbat and the counting of Omer will begin at the end of Shabbat. (In that scenario), then the weeks will be complete just like the Six Days of Creation.” (Note: for then each week of Sefirah will start on Sunday and end on Shabbat). And the reason it states: “When Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them” is – in order to give a sign to remember it by (סימן נקט). For when Pesach falls on Shabbat, then the Mishmarot of “Yeshua and Shechaniah” did not serve in the Beit HaMikdash between Pesach and Shavuot (as it is explained at length in the Matanot Kehunah there). One must understand: The explanation of the verse “from the morrow of the rest day” (מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבּת) according to all views means (not after the actual Shabbat day as it was in Creation (ממחרת שבת בראשית) but rather). the day after Yom Tov (ממחרת יו״ט). In other words even if Pesach would fall on any other day of the week (besides Shabbat) the beginning of Sefirah is from the day after Pesach and not from the day after Shabbat (like the view of the Baitusim (a breakaway Jewish sect that rejected the “Oral Torah”). From this it is understood that when it states immediately after this – “seven complete weeks” – it means seven weeks, complete in their counting (שלימות במנינם) and that they are consecutive (ו במעל״ע) as the sages state: “When do you find seven complete weeks, when you begin to count from the evening”, and so forth. Therefore, how is it possible to explain that when are the weeks “complete/Tmimot” weekly cycles – only when Pesach occurs on Shabbat. For then they are “Tmimot” in the order of their counting “like the Six Days of Creation”? Another puzzlement: If the intent of the Midrash is to explain (as is apparent) it simply (כפשוטו) – that one does not find the aspect of “Tmimot” except in a manner that one begins to count on Motzai Shabbat - it should have stated this in concise and clear words that are understandable to all – for example “in the time that Pesach falls on Shabbat” (or some other expression). And therefore what need would there be for a “sign”? Furthermore, why must we be told this through such a sign (namely “When Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them”) that is understood only after the order of the Mishmarot was made known, which was enacted by Shmuel and David – many generations after the beginning of the fulfillment of Sefirat HaOmer? 2. Therefore one must say that, regarding the words of the Midrash, the explanation of “When are they complete” (That they are Six Days of Creation) is that the intent is not regarding the aspect of Sefirat HaOmer in the literal sense (כפשוטו), (for the command “seven weeks; they shall be complete” applies and is fulfilled as soon as on begins to count”, as aforementioned) but rather to the homily in this and to the “hint of the root of the Mitzvah” – namely of Sefirat HaOmer. For when Pesach falls on Shabbat and the counting of the days of Sefirah are according to the order of the Six Days of Creation, then the “seven complete weeks” of Sefirat HaOmer are “complete/Tmimot” even in the inner aspects – an additional virtue over that of the “Tmimot” that exists in them in the other years, (that do not have this configuration). And this is the reason that the Midrash does not explicitly say “when are they complete? at the time Pesach falls on Shabbat” – for then there is room to say that that the entire aspect of “Tmimot” is only when Pesach falls on Shabbat. Therefore this aspect is stated (Regarding the scenario that Pesach falls on Shabbat) in the manner of a “sign” - in order to allude (by not stating explicitly “in the time when Pesach falls on Shabbat”) that the reason that the aspect of “Tmimot” is dependent on when Pesach occurs is not in all the particulars. For “Tmimot”, literally, is fulfilled in all years. However, when (the hint that) “Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them” is missing (such as when it falls on Shabbat), then there is an additional aspect of “Tmimot”, as aforementioned. 3. In the Midrash Rabbah (in our Parsha) there is another comment regarding the aspect of “Tmimot”: “R’ Chiya learned: It states ‘Seven weeks shall there be complete’. When are they complete? When Yisroel does the Will of the Omnipresent”. (בזמן שישראל עושין רצונו של מקום) The Tzemach Tzedek explains that these two statements of the Midrash are related to each other in their subject matter. In other words, the virtue of “Tmimot” that comes of its own accord in the years that Pesach falls on Shabbat (meaning, when the days of Sefirah correspond to the order of the days of the week) is possible to be attained even in the years that Pesach falls in the middle of the week – through the Avodah of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”. And since the virtue of “Tmimot” is accomplished through “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”, it is understood that the explanation of the essence of “Tmimot” is understood through a preface of explanation of the concept of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”. It states in the Talmud that when the verse states “and you will gather in your grain“ (which is stated in the second paragraph of Kriat Shema) it means “when Yisroel does not perform the Will of the Omnipresent”. This is, seemingly, puzzling: The verse “and you will gather in your grain“ is the promise of the blessing that comes as a result of what is stated previously to this “And it will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments which I enjoin upon you this day, to love the L-rd your G‑d and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul”. Therefore how is it possible to say that the verse refers to the time when Yisroel does not “perform the Will of the Omnipresent”? In Likkutei Torah, this is resolved as follows: “In this paragraph (the second Parsha of Kriat Shema) the words “and all your might “(בכל מאדכם) are not mentioned as it is the first paragraph. Therefore it is still referred to as not “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”. The explanation of this aspect of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent” is specifically through loving G-d “with all your might” is that it is known that the reason that G-d is called the Omnipresent (מקום) is because “He is the place of the world” (הוא מקומו של עולם״). In other words, “place” is a level that is connected to space and place – Or Memaleh Kol Almin - the G-dly light that is enclothed in the limited worlds (בעולמות המוגבלים) in the boundary of space. However the “Will of the Omnipresent” refers to – Or Soveiv Kol Almin – the G-dly transcendental light which is above the boundary of the space of the worlds. And this is why the accomplishing (המשכת) of doing the “Will of the Omnipresent” is specifically through the love of “With all your might”. For every Avodah and deed whose purpose is to draw down the Supernal Light must be similar to the light that is drawn through it. Therefore the drawing of the “Will of the Omnipresent” - the – Bli Gevul (בלי גבול) - the unbounded aspect of G-dliness - comes specifically through the love of “with all your might” – the unbounded nature of man (בל״ג שבאדם). And even thought the G-dly transcendental light, which is the Will of G-d, constantly acts to create the worlds - from nothingness to give them vitality – nevertheless, that which illuminates and is felt in the world is the level of the light of Memaleh Kol Almin. However the level of the Will is not illuminated visibly in the world, but rather in the level of transcendence and hiddenness. Yet through the love of “with all your might”, one draws the level of Will so that it becomes revealed in the world. And this is the point of “performing the Will of the Place/Omnipresent” – namely that G-d’s Will (G-dliness that is above the boundaries of the world) should be revealed even the level of “place” (and more than this – the place of the ark was not measurable” meaning that space, as well as that which is above space coexisted at the same time – Ultimate transcendency (Nimna HaNimnaot/ נמנע הנמנעו) . (Note: Nimna HaNimnaot means Omnipotence – that the limits of possible and impossible do not apply to Him”. 5. The special connection of the aspect of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent” to the Mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer, so much so that specifically through it, the aspect of the virtue of “Tmimot” is effected, of the Mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer is: The “Omer” was from barley – animal food. And the aspect of Sefirat HaOmer – counting the Omer - (‘Sefirah’, also from the word “Evven Sapir/brilliant stone” – clear and shining) is the refinement and polishing (of the Middot) of the animal soul – Nefesh HaBahamit (נפש הבהמית). And the power for this refinement comes from the level that is above Seder Hishtalshelut. This is as the explanation in Chassidut in the explanation of the verse “And you shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the Shabbat” - that the power for the Avodah of refining the Nefesh HaBahamit - “And you shall count for yourselves” – meaning that you should refine yourself - is from the “morrow of the Shabbat” – from the level of G-d that is above (the morrow) Atzilut, which is much higher than even the level of Shabbat. Therefore, the completeness of the Avodah of Sefirat HaOmer is when one “performs the Will of the Omnipresent” – in other words the drawing of the level of the Will that is above Hishtalshelut in the boundary of “place”, so much so that it reaches the Middot of the Nefesh HaBahamit. 6. According to all of the aforementioned, the words of the Midrash, namely that aspect of “Tmimot” of Sefirat HaOmer is when the days of the Sefirah correspond to the order of the days of Creation, are understood: Time is divided, in general, into three types of periods: · The days of the week · The days of the month · The days of the year However there is a difference between the course of the days of the week versus that of the days of the month and year: 1. The days of the month and year are different from each other in a visible and revealed manner, even in physicality. Regarding the days of the month: In the beginning of the month the moon is just a small point. And afterwards it waxes and grows, from day to day until in the middle of the month - it is a full moon (קיימא סיהרא בשלימותא). And then it wanes and decreased until at the end of the month, it is completely hidden. Regarding the days of the year: Besides that which the days of the year are divided into the seasons of “seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter”. Even more so, that even in the season itself, one day is not similar to the other days (for the seasons change from the beginning of season to that of the end of the season). However with regard to the days of the week, there is no visible difference, in physicality, between one day and the next. 2. in the general difference between the week – versus that of the month and year: A sequential numbering of the months and years was established – one, two – which is not so with the weeks. The explanation is: Each year is different from the other years regarding the vitality that is infused into them, and added to them. For on each Rosh Hashanah a new vitality is drawn down that is different from the vitality that was drawn down in the previous year. The same applies to the months of that year. On each Rosh Chodesh a new vitality is drawn down. However with regard to the week, there is no difference between the vitality of one week to the next. For on each week – “we constantly count day 1, day 2 and three etc.” – even though “since the creation of the world there has already passed thousands and myriads of days” - for they are those “days that revolve and are repeated” (ימי ההיקף שחוזרין חלילה). And this difference between the days of the month and the days of the year – to the days of the week is also expressed in the counting of the days: Regarding the days of the month - there is a "deficient month," (chaser – 29 days) and a "full month” (malei -30 days). The same is regarding the year - there is a deficient year orderly and complete; (שנה חסירה כסדרה ושלימה), there is a ‘normal year’ (shana peshuta) and a leap year (shana me’uberet). However with regard to each week – there are the same number of days. 7. And this is also the reason that in the year that Pesach falls of Shabbat and the days of Sefirah are in the same order as the “days of Creation” – then the aspect of “Tmimot” is drawn down automatically. Whereas with the other years, it is not drawn down except through the Avodah of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”. The aspect of the Avodah of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”, is the drawing down of the level of Will (the transcendent Light - Or Bli Gevul) into the boundary of “place” (as aforementioned par. 4) – and when the days of Sefirah are in the order of the “days of Creation” (the days of the week) – then they contain this virtue of their own accord. For even the “days of the week” have the connection of Gevul (limit) and Bli Gevul (unlimited): The aspect of “time”, whatever kind (even that of the days of the week), is that of division and change (past, present and future). Yet together with this, the days of the week also contain the aspect that is above change. Therefore, when the days of Sefirah begin at the first day of the week, where the counting of the days of Sefirah are in the same order of the “days of Creation” – then that “Tmimot” (the connection of Gevul and Bli Gevul) that is in the “days of Creation” contributes also to the days of Sefirah – that even in the “seven weeks: of Sefirat HaOmer , they contain the aspect of “Tmimot” (which in other years is drawn down through the Avodah of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”. 8. According to all the aforementioned, it is understood why – in the calendar cycle like this year – namely where Pesach falls of Shabbat that the sign (like the Midrash) is in the aspect that “Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them”. For the sign signals and alludes to the drawing down of the “Will of the Omnipresent” in the worlds – “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”. · ‘Yeshua’ is from the word – He will save you (יושיעך). · ‘Shechaniah’ is from the word “and I will dwell” (ושכנתי) In the words of Chassidut (with regard to the revelation of G-dliness): ‘Yeshua’ – is from the verse: “and the L-rd turned/Vayisha to Abel and to his offering” (וַיִּשַׁע יְהֹוָה אֶל הֶבֶל וְאֶל מִנְחָתוֹ). This represents the descending and effluence of the three hundred lights that are mentioned in the holy Zohar” (ש״ע נהורין ש בזוה״ק) . And this is what is drawn down “from the level of G-d, the Supernal Eminator, may He be blessed” which is above the level of the “glimmer and effluence of the beginning of the Atzilut and the seder Hishtalshelut” in other words ‘Yeshua’ (from the word salvation/י שועה) depicts a light that is above Hishtalshelut. ‘Shechaniah’ whose root is “to dwell/Shachein” (שכן) is like “Shechinah” - that depicts the level of G-dliness that “dwells and enclothes itself in the midst of all the worlds”. Thus, the combination of “Yeshua and Shechaniah” is the unification of the level of : · The light that is above Hishtalshelut (‘Yeshua’) and · Or Memaleh - the light that permeates the world (“Shechaniah’). And this resembles the drawing down of the Will of G-d into the level of place. According to this one could say that the reason that the Midrash signals the configuration of a year like this – where Pesach falls of Shabbat – with the aspect that “Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them” – is because the intent of the Midrash in stating “when are they complete” is that when the calendar setup is like this – then the seven weeks are “Tmimot” of their own accord, even when the Avodah of “performing the Will of the Omnipresent”, that is alluded to by the sign of “Yeshua and Shechaniah” - is missing. Therefore it states “When are they complete? When Yeshua and Shechaniah are not among them” For in a calendar setup like this, where the Mishmarot of “Yeshua and Shechaniah” are omitted, even when the Avodah that is alluded to by “Yeshua and Shechaniah”, is missing , the seven weeks, of Sefirat HaOmer are complete of their own accord. mSichas Acharon Shel Pesach and Shabbat Mevarchim Iyar, 5731 |
| Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INnu0pedH0I R' Moshe Gourarie (Video)
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