EMOR 5781

Yesterday we celebrated Lag B’Omer—the day the plague that killed 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva ended. We had mourned since Passover the immense loss of Jewish scholarship during that plague. I don’t know any other religion or culture that mourns the loss of scholarship. It’s remarkable!

On the 33^rd day of the Omer the plague stopped. Typically, we mark the occasion by going outdoors, celebrating with barn fires and BBQs. These past 2 years, however, the celebrations have been muted because of our own plague! In in Israel Thursday night at Meron, which usually has the most joyous celebrations, 45 were killed in a stampede. It’s tragic beyond words that this day of celebration has now been turned into a day of mourning.

I think it’s appropriate that instead of the usual celebrations to take a moment to focus on the meaning of the mitzvah Sefirat haOmer (the counting of the Omer), as prescribed in today’s Torah portion (Lev. 23:15). For 7 weeks, each evening we count the days from the 2^nd night of Passover—the holiday of freedom—anticipating Shavuot—commemorating the giving of the Torah. The Sages teach that just as a groom awaits the night of his wedding with great anticipation, so the Jewish people awaited their encounter with Gd on Mt. Sinai from the moment of they left Egypt, with great anticipation to accept the Torah. As we count the Omer, we try to recapture that anticipation, that excitement to accept the Torah with Shavuot.  

               The nightly Sefira counting helps us underscore the lesson that without Torah—the giving of which we celebrate on Shavuot—our freedom has no meaning. My friend and colleague from Israel, Yaakov Fogelman, used to say that the Torah is the manufacturer’s manual for how to live in this world. Through it, Gd teaches how a meaningful life should be lived—how to make our days count.

               We are all great counters. We count our pills. Gd-forbid if we should loose count. We count our vitamins. I personally take more than a dozen each day. We count people in attendance—whether it’s at the braves’ Truist Park or in Shul. We count money in the bank. Young couples will count the days leading up to their wedding. But how much thought do we ever give to the true significance of counting our days. King David prayed to Gd in Psalm 90: “Teach us to count our days, that we may attain a heart of wisdom.”

               If you ever hired a lawyer, you may have seen him set a time clock when he began to talk with you. This demonstrates to us that HIS time is valuable. But how many of us ever realize how valuable OUR own time truly is. How many of us are so busy chasing that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so busy making a living, so busy with who knows what…that we don’t take time to really live.

My colleague Rabbi Kassel Abelson (Spiritual Accounting, (Am. Rabbi Oct. 1993) expressed this so well. He writes:

               We consider a businessman smart, when he knows how to use his money wisely. Imagine a businessman who has made the following arrangements with his bank. Each morning the bank credited his account with $86,400. However, the bank would not allow him to carry over any balance from day to day. Every evening, the bank cancelled whatever part of the money the businessman had failed to use that day. What do you think he would do? Wouldn’t he be wise to draw out every cent and to use it?

         In a real sense each of us has an account at such a bank, and it is called “life.” Every morning life credits us with 86,400 seconds. And every evening, it rules as “lost” whatever we have failed to use for a good purpose. Life carries over no balances. Life allows no overdrafts. If we fail to use the day’s deposit, the loss is irreversible.

         The span of life is shortening with every tick of the clock. And if we’re going to live a meaningful life, we can’t wait for some future date. For life gets briefer with each passing day.

It’s a great thought, isn’t it? The message is that there are 86,400 moments of great potential for us to use each and every day. So treasure every moment! And treasure more those moments you share with someone special—special enough to spend your time with. I’m sure you’ve heard this quote from Bil Keane, in the caption of one of his “Family Circus” cartoons (8/31/94) that’s so true it bears repeating again and again: “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a GIFT. That’s why it’s called the present!”

My friends, this is the time of year when Jews count. We count Sefirat haOmer each night from Passover to Shavuot. It may be trite, even cliché, to say that as we count our days, “we must find a way to make our days count!” It’s an obvious lesson. Perhaps precisely because it’s so obvious, we too often ignore it. The Sefira counting directs us to appreciate just how precious every one of those 86,400 moments are each day.

So yes, make room in your life for fun. It’s important. Gd gave us this world and He would be insulted if we didn’t try to enjoy it. But let’s also become the best selves that we are capable of becoming—the best spouse, the best sibling the best child, the best parent, the best friend—making our time count.

And one last thing. Let’s make room in our lives for Gd and Torah. They are the most crucial elements in making the most of our lives. In a couple of weeks we’ll finish the Covid-extended income tax season, where take an accounting of our finances. At the same time, we will complete the Sefira counting as we celebrate Shavuot. Let’s be deeply concerned now, as we count the remaining days of Sefira, about our spiritual accounting. Think now about what we can change in our lives to truly make our days count. Let us pray with King David, Limnot Yameynu Keyn Hoda, V’navi L’vav Chochma ([Hashem] teach us to count our days that we may acquire a heart of wisdom). Amen!