Emor
Rabbi Jablinowitz
Parshat Emor
We read in this week’s parsha the command to keep the festivals. Included in the mitzvoth of the Chagim is the mitzvah to count the Omer from the second day of the Pesach until the festival of Shavuos. When the Torah commands us to count from the day after the first of Yom Tov the Torah states (Chapter 23, Pasuk 15), U’Sefartem Lachem Me’Macharas HaShabbos, And you shall count for yourselves from the day after Shabbos. The Torah refers to the Chag of Pesach as Shabbos. Why does the Torah call Pesach Shabbos?
The Meshech Chachmah gives the following explanation. There is a fundamental difference between Shabbos and Yom Tov. On Shabbos, there is a prohibition of Hotza’ah, of removing an object from one domain to the next. The pasuk states (Shmos, Chapter 16, Pasuk 29) Al Yetzei Ish Mimkomo Bayom Ha’Shvi’I, One may not leave his place on the Shabbos. There is a prohibition from cooking on Shabbos. Shabbos is a day where man looks inward and focuses on his relationship with Hashem, not with other members of Clal Yisrael.
Yom Tov is different than Shabbos. On Yom Tov there is a “Heter Ochel Nefesh”. On Yom Tov we cook and invite guests into our homes. There is a mitzvah for all members of Clal Yisrael to come to Yerushalayim and to rejoice and to cause the members of our households to rejoice. Carrying is permitted on Yom Tov. On the festivals the emphasis is on the relationship between the different members of the nation. Yom Tov is a day of “Bein Adam L’Chaveiro”, while Shabbos is a day of “Bein Adam L’Makom”.
This is the reason why Pesach is referred to as Shabbos. At Pesach, Bnei Yisrael did not become a nation just yet. They were still a nation of individuals. At Pesach Mitzrayim Bnei Yisrael are told (Shmos, Chapter 12, Pasuk 22), Lo Taitzu Ish M’Pesach Beiso. The focus was still inward. Bnei Yisrael were told not to leave their homes that night, paralleling the prohibition on Shabbos of not bringing things outside. They couldn’t eat the Karban Pesach unless they became part of a group before Pesach, just like the one who prepares for Shabbos on Erev Shabbos will be the one who eats on Shabbos. Pesach very much resembled Shabbos in that the focus was “Bein Adam L’Makom”. The connection among the different members of the burgeoning nation was their focus on their relationship and service to Gd, not their connection to each other.
Therefore, in commanding the mitzvah of Sefirah, the Torah refers to Pesach as Shabbos. The Torah says, U’Sefartem Lachem Me’Macharas HaShabbos. And when does this last until? Ad MiMacharas HaShabbos Ha’Shevi’is. This lasts until the end of the counting and the day after the seventh Shabbos. For then is the festival of Shavuos where the relationship among the different members of Clal Yisrael is formed. And this bond is a result of Hashem appearing to Bnei Yisrael and giving them the Torah, K’Ish Echad B’Lev Echad. The Bein Adam L’Chaveiro of Clal Yisrael is established when Gd appears to the nation as a whole and gives them the Torah. And this Torah and the study of Torah Shebe’alpeh is the bond. Rabbinic leaders who interpret the Torah and give rulings to the nation is the means of connection. And at Shavuos Moshe Rabbeinu added a day in determining when Shavuos would be since this authority epitomizes the nationhood of Clal Yisrael and was established at Har Sinai.
This explains a well known Gemara in Pesachim. The Gemara in Pesachim 68B says, Hakol Modim B’Atzeres De’Be’inan Nami Lachem. There is a famous dispute between Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer as to whether one should split up Yom Tov; half the day one should be involved in spiritual pursuits, L’Hashem, and half the day in physical pursuits, Lachem. Or perhaps, one can spend the whole day in spiritual activity of learning and davening. But on Shavuos, the Gemara states, there is no dispute that there must be an element of Lachem, of eating and drinking for the Chag. Why is it that precisely on Shavuos, the day of the giving of the Torah there must be eating and drinking? One would think this would be a day to focus exclusively on learning.
According to the Meshech Chachmah, the answer is clear. True, Shavuos is the day of the giving of the Torah. However, it is precisely the giving of the Torah which established the bond and connection between the different members of the nation. Other nations might be united by language or land. But for us, the ultimate connection is the acceptance of the authority of the Torah, including the Rabbis who teach Torah Shebe’alpeh. This is why on Shavuos there must be eating and drinking at meals which strengthen the bond among the people paralleling the general heter on Yom Tov for Ochel Nefesh. And this is in contradistinction to the earlier situation at Pesach where each Jew looked inward, focusing on his individual relationship with Hashem as we do on Shabbos. This is why the mitzvah of Sefirah is given with the words U’Sefartem Lachem Me’Macharas HaShabbos, which ultimately was transformed to, Ad MiMacharas HaShabbos Ha’Shevi’is, the unity of Clal Yisrael established through the receiving of the Torah.
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