Emor 5771

This week's parsha contains the mitzvot (commandments) concerning the Omer offering. In the times of the Holy Temple, on the second day of Pesach (16 Nisan), we are commanded to bring an Omer, an offering of barley, to the Temple. The Torah further instructs us to count 49 days from the offering until the day before the festival of Shavuot (6 Sivan). Today, without a Holy Temple, only the second mitzvah can be performed – the counting – which in Hebrew is known as Sefirat HaOmer. "From the day following the first rest day [of Pesach] – the day you bring the Omer as a wave offering – you should count for yourself seven weeks…You should count up until [but not including] fifty days, the day following the seventh week."
 
Sefer HaChinuch writes that the purpose of Sefirat HaOmer is to count towards the day of Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah, which the festival of Shavuot commemorates. We count to demonstrate our excitement about reaching this holy day, and to prepare ourselves spiritually. Rav Yosef Salant in his work Be'er Yosef points out that from the Sefer HaChinuch's explanation, it is difficult to see a connection between the Omer offering and Shavuot; it simply seems that there were 49 days between the two events and so we count from one towards the other. 
 
What is the connection between the seemingly separate occasions of the Omer offering and Shavuot?
 
Rav Salant answers by noting the other time the word Omer is used in Torah: in parashat Beshalach, G-d commands the people to gather from the manna "an omer per person." During their time in the desert the people do not have to exert any effort to attain their sustenance; the manna comes directly from heaven and people receive exactly the amount they need, even if they try to gather more. Free of the need to work for food, the people spend time engaged in spiritual activities.

Upon entering the Land of Israel, on 16 Nisan, the manna from heaven stops and the people must begin to work for their food. Torah recognizes that when this change occurs, people might begin to think that their own physical labor is responsible for the success of their crops; they may forget that they still must rely on G-d for successful results. To prevent this, Torah commands us to make the Omer offering, so that we may acknowledge G-d's hand in the success of our endeavors. Torah commands that we begin counting the Omer on the day that the manna stopped, reminding us that the sustenance represented by the Omer is a continuation of the sustenance epitomized by the manna. Rabbi Yohonasan Gefen writes on www.aish.com, Sefirat HaOmer stands as a constant reminder that there is no benefit in working beyond the boundaries of acceptable physical effort, because ultimately G-d is the sole provider of our livelihood. 
 
As parents, the need is great to balance the amount of time we spend working, with the amount of time we are involved with learning Torah and engaged in other spiritual pursuits. During this period of Sefirat HaOmer we should think about the balance of our involvement in spirituality and physicality. Do we make our days count? Do we work more than is really necessary? In our spare time, do we focus on family and learning Torah, or do we bring our work home with us? By asking these questions, we can internalize the lessons of the Omer.