{"id":5807,"date":"2010-02-02T02:00:35","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=5807"},"modified":"2010-02-02T02:00:35","modified_gmt":"2010-02-02T00:00:35","slug":"05-02-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/05-02-02\/","title":{"rendered":"2 \u2013 The Process of Ascension from Nationalism to Spirituality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By counting the Omer, we draw a line that continuously ascends from Pesach to Shavu\u2019ot.\u00a0 The holiday of Pesach represents Israel\u2019s national side, for the Exodus from Egypt revealed Israel\u2019s uniqueness, in that HaShem chose us from among all the other nations, despite the fact that we were sunken in the forty-nine levels of impurity.\u00a0 The holiday of Shavu\u2019ot, on the other hand, represents Israel\u2019s spiritual side, for that is when we reached the spiritual pinnacle of receiving the Torah.\u00a0 On Pesach, we began the process of liberation from the yoke of Egypt, and on Shavu\u2019ot we completed our freedom from the yoke of desire and human perceptions, receiving a heavenly Torah, which makes all those who engage in it truly free (<i>Avot<\/i> 6:2).<\/p>\n<p>Another angle:\u00a0 On the holiday of Pesach, the simple, natural faith that is hidden in the soul of every Jew, and remained hidden in the Jewish people\u2019s [collective soul] even when they were enslaved in Egypt, comes to the fore.\u00a0 On Shavu\u2019ot, however, we rise to a more developed faith, one that is clarified and expanded by virtue of the Torah.\u00a0 Natural faith is very powerful, and it is the foundation of life, but it is not capable of guiding and perfecting life.\u00a0 By way of the Torah and its commandments, we are able to link all aspects of our lives \u2013 those related to thought, emotions, and actions \u2013 to faith.<\/p>\n<p>It comes out, then, that by counting the Omer we gradually elevate ourselves in two ways, ascending from a level of nationalism to that of spirituality and from natural faith to a sophisticated faith based on Torah and mitzvot.<\/p>\n<p>It is impossible to reach Shavu\u2019ot without Pesach.\u00a0 Once we recognize Israel\u2019s unique nature (<i>segulah<\/i>), we can rise up [and attain] the Torah. \u00a0Once [we realize that] Israel is the chosen nation, as the Exodus from Egypt demonstrated, we can receive the Torah, as we say in the blessing over the Torah, \u201c[Blessed are You, O Lord\u2026] Who has chosen us from all the nations,\u201d and subsequently \u201chas given us His Torah.\u201d\u00a0 Similarly, it is impossible to absorb the complex, developed faith that is assimilated in the intellect without first discovering the simple, natural faith.\u00a0 Therefore, it is very important to connect the holiday of Pesach to that of Shavu\u2019ot.\u00a0 The counting of the Omer is the link and the ladder that connects these two holidays.<sup><a href='#_ze01ftn2_1' id='_ze01ftnref2_1' class='aup1'>[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<div>\n<hr size=\"1\" \/>\n<div>\n<a href='#_ze01ftnref2_1' id='_ze01ftn2_1'>[1]<\/a>. This idea is alluded to in the fact that we are commanded to count \u201c<i>from the day you bring the Omer of waving<\/i>\u201d (<i>VaYikra<\/i> 23:15).\u00a0 The Omer is a unique offering made from barley, which is animal food.\u00a0 This represents the physical-national side of Israel.\u00a0 Before we receive the Torah and attain knowledge of the Divine, we are like animals, which have no intellect.\u00a0 When we finish counting fifty days and are privileged to receive the Torah and reach a lofty spiritual state, then, <i>You shall offer a new meal-offering to the Lord<\/i> (ibid. 23:16).\u00a0 Similarly, <i>matzah<\/i> is bread of affliction, and the Zohar teaches that it is bread of faith, that is, natural faith.\u00a0 The new meal-offering brought on Shavu\u2019ot is made of leavened wheat; it is rich and developed, alluding to the complete revelation of faith in every aspect of this world. \u00a0On Pesach, the revelation of natural faith occurs through limitation \u2013 the restriction against leavened bread.\u00a0 On Shavu\u2019ot, however, it occurs through expansion (see [Rav Kook\u2019s] <i>Orot Yisrael<\/i> 8:1).<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it is possible to say that this is the basis of the dispute whether counting the Omer today is a Biblical or Rabbinic mitzvah (below, 2:4).\u00a0 If the purpose of the count is to raise ourselves from simple faith to intellectual faith, by way of Torah study, then it is Biblically ordained even today.\u00a0 But if [the purpose is] to elevate us from a revelation of faith by way of limitation and abstinence, which expresses itself in the prohibition of leavened bread (see <i>Peninei Halachah<\/i>, <i>Pesach<\/i> 1:5-6), to a level of faith that reveals itself in all areas of life, in the physical world with all its pleasures, then the matter depends on [the existence of] the Holy Temple, which connects heaven and earth.\u00a0 Therefore, as long as we are unable to offer the Omer, which represents the material forces and which enables us to rise to [the level needed to] offer the Two Loaves [on Shavu\u2019ot], we cannot completely reveal faith in all areas of life.\u00a0 Therefore, the counting is only Rabbinically mandated.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By counting the Omer, we draw a line that continuously ascends from Pesach to Shavu\u2019ot.\u00a0 The holiday of Pesach represents Israel\u2019s national side, for the Exodus from Egypt revealed Israel\u2019s uniqueness, in that HaShem chose us from among all the other nations, despite the fact that we were sunken in the forty-nine levels of impurity.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-05-02"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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