Emor - Counting of the Omer

Our parsha includes the mitzva of counting omer: "And count unto yourselves from the day after the Shabbat, from the day you bring the omer of waving, seven complete weeks shall there be" (Vayikra 23:15.)  We continue this mitzva today (according to many views as a Mitzva D'Rabbanan – a Rabbinic, as opposed to Torah, ordinance), even though we no longer bring the omer at Pesach.  What is the continuing relevance of the commandment of sefirat haomer (counting of the omer)?

THE "SHTEI HA-LECHEM JEW" AND THE "OMER JEW"

In the Torah, the counting of the Omer is primarily not the count from Pesach to Shavuot, but the counting from the bringing of the omer of barley at Pesach until the offering of the Shtei ha-lechem - the two wheat loaves brought at Shavu'ot.

The bringing of the omer is in many ways parallel to the separation of terumah (priestly tithes).  Like terumah, the omer is called "reshit" - the first (Vayikra 23:10.)  Like terumah, which permits the collected grain, the omer makes permissible the entire year's crop, which until that time is forbidden as "chadash" ("new" grain crops that have not being permitted by the passage of Pesach).  Terumah must also be brought from the best of the crop (Mishna Terumot 2:4), and we would likewise expect that the omer, which makes all grains of the wheat family permissible, should come from the choicest grain - namely wheat.  But this is not so - actually, the omer comes from barley, which is generally animal food and (except for the offering of the Sotah  - the woman wrongfully accused by her husband of adultery - and the omer itself) is never permitted for Temple offerings! What can we learn from this commandment?

There are many fine punctilious Jews whom we could characterize as "shtei ha-lechem" Jews.  Every aspect of God's service must always be "lekhatchila", in the best possible way.  Any other kind of service has no value in their eyes.  According to this approach, we would never dare bring mere barley as a Temple offering.

Yet what can we do - "first" also means the temporal first, and the barley just happens to ripen months before the wheat.  The Torah seems to be telling us, don't be a "shtei ha-lechem Jew".  Of course God's service demands the best, but the best is determined in practice according to what is possible and practical.  If the only grain available at Pesach is barley, then by all means bring barley to the altar!

But does this mean that we should be "omer Jews" - settling for second best, reconciling ourselves to a b'di'avad (lit. "post facto" – ie. second rate) situation? The Torah rejects this extreme also.  We are allowed, and even commanded, to bring barley - on the condition that we immediately begin counting the days towards the time when we will be able to fulfill the mitzva of bringing the new grain crop to the Temple in its fullest glory - at the "first fruits" of the wheat crop represented by the two wheat loaves.  God's forbearance towards us should never be an excuse for indolence.

THE "SHAVU'OT JEW" AND THE "PESACH JEW"

These offerings stand in a direct relationship to the holidays they represent: Pesach - the holiday of redemption, and Shavu'ot - the holiday of Torah.  The "shtei ha-lechem Jew" also tends to be a "Shavu'ot Jew" - he sees the relationship of God to the Jewish people only through the prism of Matan Torah (The giving of the Torah).  The connection of Israel to God is mediated solely through our performance of the commandments, which we received at Mount Sinai on Shavu'ot.  Judaism conceived in any other terms has no value in his eyes.

Yet the Torah gives us another holiday - Pesach, commemorating our redemption from Egypt based solely on our family identity as the progeny of the Patriarchs.  Were not the Jews at the time of the Exodus almost indistinguishable from their Egyptian neighbors, sunken in forty-nine gates of impurity? Even so, God saved them amidst wonders and signs!

Does this then mean that we should become "Pesach Jews" - seeing the special nature of the Jewish people solely in terms of our national identity, our Israeli birthright, without regard to keeping the Torah? The Torah rejects this extreme too.  God did save us from Egypt despite our lowly spiritual status, but only on the condition that we immediately start counting the days, looking forward towards the ideal status of the Jewish people achieved when we accepted the Torah.