PARSHA SHEVI'I SHEL PESACH:LAST DAY OF PASSOVER:
EXODUS 13:17- 22, 14:1- 26 , COUNTING THE OMER
Excerpted from Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz:
In the Torah reading there is a description of the event known as the Parting of the Red Sea. If we look carefully, from the order of things, it seems that the Children of Israel were commanded to walk into the sea even before it split. They were told to enter the sea and only then the sea split. The Children of Israel were being asked to partner in a Divine act.
Indeed, God is omnipotent, but He demands that man be an active partner, taking part in progress. When the Children of Israel stood on the banks of the sea, the active role they were asked to take was entering the sea with faith that God had not abandoned them, and He who had taken them out of Egypt would save them from the current adversity as well.
We note that after the Parting of the Red Sea, they sang the Song of the Sea, something they had not done when they were liberated from Egypt. The song stemmed from a sense of partnership. The Children of Israel felt they had a part in the victory over the Egyptians, and so they saw themselves as worthy of expressing their feelings in a lofty and transcendent song.
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Although, not part of the Torah reading, Miriam had her own song regarding the Parting of the Seas. Watch "Miriam's Song" by Debbie Friedman:
https://youtu.be/QZdSEsZ8bMo?
At 15:20-21 we find Miriam, leading all the Jewish women:
וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן, אֶת-הַתֹּף--בְּיָדָהּ; וַתֵּצֶאןָ כָל-הַנָּשִׁים אַחֲרֶיהָ, בְּתֻפִּים וּבִמְחֹלֹת.
"And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out following her with tambourines and with dances."
Is there some significance to the verse “and all the women went out following her…” in the sense of emphasizing that all the Jewish women went out from Egypt...that is leaving idolatry behind, but maybe not all the men doing so?
If you look hard, in the word וּבִמְחֹלֹת, “and with dances”, you can see the Hebrew word חֹלֹ.
חֹלֹ has a military connection as in army or force or maybe bastion.
These Jewish women were a mighty force to contend with, and it is still true today.
Bastion is an institution, place, or person strongly defending or upholding particular principles, attitudes, or activities.
No doubt these are Jewish women.
The IDF women in these photos are not carrying tambourines. They are carrying assault rifles.
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The Haftarah portion is from 2 Samuel 22:1-51.
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We began counting on the evening of the second night of Pesach: Sunday, 13 April 2025 , corresponding to the 16th of Nisan, 5785. The counting concludes on the night before Shavuot: Sunday,1 June 20245, corresponding to the 5th of Sivan, 5785. Between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot, the Omer is counted each evening for a total of seven weeks or 49 days.
The Scriptural basis for beginning the counting is found is found in Leviticus
23:9-10 -
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you come to the Land which I am giving you, and you reap its harvest, you shall bring to the kohen an omer of the beginning of your reaping.
And in Deuteronomy 16:9 -
You shall count seven weeks for yourself; from[the time] the sickle is first put to the standing crop, you shall begin to count seven weeks.
The omer ("sheaf") is a Biblical measure of volume of unthreshed stalks of grain, the amount of grain used for the Temple offering. In Israel, the omer period begins with the harvesting of barley and concludes with the final ripening period of wheat before it is harvested around Shavuot. In this period, the quality of the harvest is very sensitive, and can easily be ruined by bad weather.
Thus, the omer period stresses human vulnerability and dependence on Hashem.
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The counting is a method for preparing oneself for receiving the Torah on the holiday of Shavuot. This preparation in a certain sense is a purification process, making one ready for the revelation of God at Mt. Sinai where the Torah was received. The purification process involves a detailed emotional refinement that is undertaken at each of the day’s counting.
Its roots are in Jewish mysticism that is called Kabbalah. The counting is based on a rationale that we have been created in the image of God, and then sets out, if you will, to clothe God in seven Divine Attributes.The seven Divine Attributes whose focus changes week by week and within a particular week day by day are:
Chesed - Loving-kindness
Week 1 of the Omer
Gevurah — Justice and discipline
Week 2 of the Omer
Tiferet - Harmony, compassion
Week 3 of the Omer
Netzach - Endurance
Week 4 of the Omer
Hod - Humility
Week 5 of the Omer
Yesod - Bonding
Week 6 of the Omer
Malchut - Sovereignty, leadership
Week 7 of the Omer
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Rabbi Simon Jacobson reflects on the connection between the Omer count and the attributes of Hashem.
As per the Rabbi:
This week we begin the Omer Count. The emphasis of the first week is that aspect of our Creator called Chessed, or Love.
Love is the single most powerful and necessary component in life. Love is the origin and foundation of all human interactions. It is both giving and receiving. It allows us to reach above and beyond ourselves. To experience another person and to allow that person to experience us. It is the tool by which we learn to experience the highest reality – Hashem In a single word: love is transcendence.
The second week of the Omer counting focusses on Gevurah, or Discipline.
If love (Chessed) is the bedrock of human expression, Discipline (Gevurah) is the channels through which we express love. It gives our life and love direction and focus.
Gevurah - discipline and measure - concentrates and directs our efforts, our love in the proper directions. Another aspect of Gevurah is - respect and awe. Healthy love requires respect for the one you love.
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