In Legal Concepts, we have been studying the mitzvah of Sefirat Haomer, which occurs in this week’s parsha, Emor, Perek 23. The Ramban focuses on the similarities between two mitzvot that require ספירה, counting:
(טו) וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת ...שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃
You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath (Yom Tov)... seven weeks, they shall be complete.
(טז) עַ֣ד מִֽמָּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖ו חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם ...
Until the day after the seventh Sabbath (week)you will count fifty days…
The second mitzvah is in next week’s parsha, Behar, Perek 25.
ח וְסָפַרְתָּ לְךָ, שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת שָׁנִים--שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים, שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים; וְהָיוּ לְךָ, יְמֵי שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת הַשָּׁנִים,
תֵּשַׁע וְאַרְבָּעִים, שָׁנָה.
And you will count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven years, seven times. And they will be for you, the days of seven Sabbaths of years, 49 years...
וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּם אֵת שְׁנַת הַחֲמִשִּׁים שָׁנָה וּקְרָאתֶם דְּרוֹר בָּאָרֶץ לְכָל יֹשְׁבֶיהָ
...And you will sanctify the 50th year and you will call liberty in the land for all its inhabitants
The Ramban explains that these counts are similar, one leading to Chag Hashavuot, a day of kodesh, and one leading to Yovel, a year of Kodesh.
והטעם בהם אחד - and the reason for them is one
Our class attempted to define this similarity. Miri Mizrachi noted that both mitzvot refer to freedom. B’nei Yisroel left Mitzrayim on the first day of Pesach and then began a process of 49 days in preparation for Matan Torah. Similarly, the process of seven Shemitot leads to the year of Yovel, when all Jewish slaves go free.
Chana Jaimovitch asked if the freedom of Mitzrayim is only about physical freedom. We realized that the Jews were granted physical freedom in one day, but the path to the psychological and philosophical freedom necessary for kabalat haTorah took 49 days.
A Jewish slave should ideally go free after six years, when he is rehabilitated and ready to assume his place as a responsible member of the nation. In some cases, though,he may want to remain with his master in a life where all his needs are attended to. The Torah obligates the master to bring him to the door, by the mezuzah and to pierce his ear. He then becomes a slave and must go free at the onset of the 50th year.
This piercing by the door and mezuzah is designed to remind the slave of another group of slaves who struggled to leave their shackles behind in Egypt. Hashem doesn’t want us to serve him because we are dependent victims, afraid to confront life, looking for someone to take care of us. He wants us to develop self-confidence and be able to meet the challenges of reality. The Torah teaches us how to think clearly and view reality objectively, so that we can exercise free will and choose the “good” that Hashem has offered us.
During this time of Corona, our physical freedom is curtailed. We feel emotionally uncertain and insecure, dependent on Amazon,Walmart Grocery and the changing statisics of Covid-
19. As we count the days and look towards Shavuot, we can strengthen our family relationships, align our values with t
he precepts of the Torah and gain the
self-confidence that we will need to resume normal life that will be enhanced with a true sense of” freedom”
. אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה
There is no free person except the one who engages in Torah.
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