Vol 1.41 - Emor                              Spanish French Audio  Video

Hebrew Text:

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Summary:
Advantage of the month of Iyar: The whole month contains Sfirat HaOmer; Roshei Teivot: Avrohom, Yitzchak, Yaakov ,Rochel.

Par 1) The reason it states concerning Sfirat HaOmer: 'miMacharat haShabbat' - the day after "Shabbat", according to the esoteric explanation of  Sfirat HaOmer whose aspect is refinement of the animalistic soul and the power to do this is from a "very high place" , The aspect of Shabbat

Par 5)  Sfirat HaOmer is a distinct Mitzvah every day, but it is based on the days that have been counted. According to this, the difference between a servant that has been freed and a minor that has matured.

Par 7) And the difference whether Moshiach can come in the middle of Sfirah.
 

Translation:

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem commands the Jewish people to count the 49 days from the 2nd day of Passover till the giving of the Torah (Shavous): “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of rest (2nd day of Pesach), from the day which you will bring the Omer wave-offering (2nd day of Pesach), seven complete weeks they shall be (49 days). Until the day after the seven weeks (Shavous) you shall count 50 days and you shall bring a meal offering to Hashem” (see Leviticus, Chapter 23, Verses 15 and 16). 

2. The Rebbe now begins discussing “the counting of the Omer”:

The Law is that if one forgot to count one of the 49 days between Passover and Shavous (the giving of the Torah) he continues counting the other days but without a Blessing.

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem commands the Jewish people to count the 49 days from the 2nd day of Passover till the giving of the Torah (Shavous): “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of rest (2nd day of Pesach), from the day which you will bring the Omer wave-offering (2nd day of Pesach), seven complete weeks they shall be (49 days). Until the day after the seven weeks (Shavous) you shall count 50 days and you shall bring a meal offering to Hashem” (see Leviticus, Chapter 23, Verses 15 and 16).

2. The Rebbe now begins discussing “the counting of the Omer”:

The Law is that if one forgot to count one of the 49 days between Passover and Shavous (the giving of the Torah) he continues counting the other days but without a Blessing. 

For example: If one counted the first 20 days (with a Blessing of course) and then forgot to count the 21st day- he should continue counting on the 22nd night (and the subsequent nights) but he does not make a Blessing.

This law is the outcome and compromise of two conflicting opinions regarding the counting of the Omer:

1 opinion holds that each day of the 49 days of the Omer is its own entity, each day is its own Mitzvah (commandment). Therefore if you forgot to count one night, it does not affect your counting of the subsequent nights because each night is a whole new Mitzvah. So this opinion would hold that if you did not count the 21st night (following with our example) you can still count the 22nd night with a Blessing.

A 2nd opinion holds that there is only one Mitzvah for the whole Omer, all 49 days fall under the same category of “count for yourselves seven complete weeks”. Therefore if you miss out one night you cannot have “seven complete weeks” and you cannot fulfill the Mitzvah of counting the Omer. And this opinion would hold that if you did not count the 21st night there is nothing you can do anymore since you cannot fulfill the Mitzvah of counting “sevencomplete weeks” of the Omer so you do not even have to count the subsequent days without a Blessing.

The blend of these two opinions is the law we mentioned earlier: If one forgot to count one of the 49 days between Passover and Shavous he continues counting the other days (like the first opinion) but without a Blessing (like the second opinion).

3. The Rebbe now asks 2 questions on the second opinion:

Question#1: If all 49 days of the Omer are one Mitzvah (“Count for yourselves seven complete weeks”) only one Blessing should be said! The Blessing should be said either at the beginning of the 49 days or at the end of the 49 days, but only one Blessing, not a new Blessing for each day!?

Question#2: Since this opinion holds that each of 49 days is a part of one big Mitzvah, if someone does not count a certain night, all the other nights are missing something. Not only are the nights which come after the missed night missing in completion, but even the nights which came before the missed night are missing in completion. So how could this opinion hold that we make a Blessing on every night that we count? We should only be allowed to make the Blessing (on the 49th night) after we have definitely counted all 49 days and it was a complete Mitzvah!?

4. The Rebbe now answers the 2 questions:

The second opinion must hold like this: Really each day is its own Mitzvah. But since you need to count a full 49 (consecutive) days you need the previous day to be able to continue counting. For example: In order to be able to count the 22nd day you need to have had all ready counted 21 days.

Now our 2 questions are answered:

The answer to our first question: We make a Blessing on each day because really this opinion also holds that each day is its own Mitzvah.

The answer to our second question: If one misses the 21st night it does not disqualify the previous nights because each night is its own Mitzvah. However it does disqualify the 22nd night because you have not counted 21 nights already (and the same goes for all the nights after the 22nd night)

5. The Rebbe now proceeds to talk about the greatness of the month of Iyar which is the month which we are in right now:

The month of Iyar has something special that no other months of the year have: Every single day of the month has a Mitzvah on it to be counted. 
The month of Nissan (which is the month before Iyar) has some days in it which are a part of the Omer and they must be counted, but only some of its days, not all the days. The same goes for the month of Sivan (which is the month after Iyar), it has some days in it which are a part of the Omer and must be counted, but only a few days. However the month of Iyar has all of its days a part of the Omer and they must all be counted.

When we count the Omer we cleanse ourselves from any “dirt” which we may have put on ourselves throughout the year. Every night of the Omer we cleanse a different aspect of ourselves. In short- counting the Omer represents a person’s Avoda (service) to his Creator. Therefore the month of Iyar has the greatness of having every single one of its days connected to man’s service to his Master.

6. The Rebbe now explains to us what this means to us in our lives:

Each day of the month of Iyar is equal in that they are all connected to man’s service to his Creator.

This is a lesson for all of us: All of Hashem’s commandments must be equal to us. Every commandments of Hashem is His will and therefore no matter how “big” or “small” a Mitzvah is we must fulfill it with the excitement of knowing that we are serving our Master in the way He wants to be served.

How do we do this?

The name of the month- “Iyar”- tells us the answer: 
The name “Iyar” is an acronym. In Hebrew is the word “Iyar” is spelled “Aleph Yud Yud Raish” and this is an acronym for Avraham Yitzchok Yaacov and Rochel (our 3 forefathers and our mother Rochel). They were “the 4 legs of Hashem’s chariot” (see Beis Shmuel on Shulchan Aruch Even Haezer, Chapter126, Law 20). This means that they were totally subservient to Hashem’s will, just like a chariot is totally nullified to the will of its rider. When the rider turns the chariot to the right the chariot turns to the right without even a moments hesitation and this was the same by our forefathers and our mother Rochel- they had no will of their own, Hashem’s will was their will.

And this is what the name “Iyar” tells us: Just like Avrahm Yitzchak Yaacov and Rochel were totally nullified to Hashem, so-too we must get rid of our own desires and then we can do everything Hashem commanded us to do with equal vigor.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos Chelek Aleph, 3rd and 1st Sicha.

 

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