The Brit of the Omer

Rabbi Meir Goldwicht the brit of the omer -a measurement – in the amplify this lesson, the Torah com ,עומר .uring Sefirat HaOmer, we 1 count each day towards Matan desert, Bnei Yisrael were commands us to count up to the omer for Torah, the Giving of the manded to eat an omer of manna, 49 days. When a person lives in such a as much as (מעמר) DTorah. So why do we call this period one-tenth of an eifah; way, he can gather Sefirat HaOmer rather than Sefira he wants with no danger of misusing מעמר .2 quite the contrary, he will ;(להתעמר) LeKabbalat HaTorah? , gathering together twigs and it the like – one of the 39 melachot mete it out in proper measurements Furthermore, Rabbi Yochanan says .(עומר) prohibited on Shabbat, and in the Midrash: “Never let the mitz- להתעמר .3 vah of the omer be light in your eyes.” , to misuse an object in This may be the depth behind the to cut a deal. There ,לכרות ברית Even though the omer comes from one’s possession – the Torah for- phrase אשת יפת means לכרות :barley, which is animal fodder, one bids one who takes an is no greater oxymoron תואר is something that ברית might consider it a mitzvah of low (beautiful woman) captive in to sever, while a significance and therefore deal with battle and decides not to marry connects. The idea is that the two par- it leniently. But Avraham Avinu only her to keep her as a slave, saying, ties to the brit must cede a little bit in לא תתעמר בה received the Land in the merit of the . order to receive. G-d desires to cede omer, as it says, “And to you, I gave this These three definitions complement something to us, and He wants to cede Land” [on condition] “You keep my one another, providing a more accu- even more. The more we use what we covenant,” referring to the brit of the rate definition of omer. have properly, the more He desires to omer. In other words, Chazal teach us give us. The brit of the omer is, there- that the omer is not simply a mitzvah, During the 40 years Bnei Yisrael trav- fore, the brit through which Avraham but a brit. eled the desert, the manna fell every Avinu merited Eretz Yisrael. To inherit day except Shabbat. Once they crossed the Land is only possible if we truly A mitzvah with the status of brit influ- the Jordan, the manna stopped and feel that everything not only came ences all of the other 612 mitzvot, as they no longer received their bread from Him but continues to come from indicated by the gematria of the word effortlessly but became partners in Him: “When you come to the Land .What is so special about the its creation. Partnership with G-d is that I give you,” in the present tense .ברית mitzvah of the omer that bestows upon certainly advantageous but contains a it the status of brit? Other mitzvot with great risk as well. When a person toils May G-d grant us the ability to truly this status – mila, Shabbat, learning and succeeds, he may mistakenly con- feel that everything emanates from Torah – influence our lives in major clude that his own efforts caused his Him, and through this may He grant ways. But why does omer receive this success, not any input from G-d. us evermore. status as well? The mitzvah of omer counteracts this The answers to these questions lie misperception. The Torah commands Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, a prominent Israeli in the definition of the word omer. us to sacrifice barley, animal fodder, so scholar and educator, is a Rosh Yeshiva has three we understand that even the lowliest of Yeshiva University’s Mazer School of ע-מ-ר In Hebrew, the root definitions: of foods comes from G-d. In order to Talmudic Studies | 47.

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