Sefirat HaOmer

First of all, what do you mean by emotions one is “supposed to feel?” Doesn’t a person just feel one way or another? How can one be commanded to control one’s emotions? Good question(s)! But in Judaism, the approach is that thoughts, and even one’s emotions are, to some extent, under one’s control. As proof, [...]

Vive le Difference! It would seem that in connection with Purim, the obligation is one of “Mikra Megillah,” “Reading the Megillah.” The definition of communal “Reading” is “Mashmia L’Ozen,” “Making known to the Ear;” that is, transferring information from the parchment where the living words lie dormant, to the (heart and brain via the) ear. [...]

The following is a transliterated version of “Sefirat HaOmer,” from the Alef-Bet into the English Alphabet. (Note the variation indicated by “ba-omer (or la-omer)” which refers to the two traditional texts in use for the Sefirat HaOmer. In one translation, “ba,” the preposition is “in” as in “in the count of the Omer.” In the [...]

What are the Biblical sources? We find in the Third Book of the Torah, “VaYikra,” or Leviticus (so-called because much (but far from all) of its content is directed, for practical purposes, at the Tribe of Levi) Chapter 23, verses 15-16, the following: “U’Sefartem lachem Mi’Mochorat HaShabbat,…” “And you shall count for yourselves – from [...]

The word “Sefirah” basically means “counting” or “the count.” What is being counted? One counts things of value. One counts units of time till a desired goal; for a child, it might be, “How many days till vacation?” For an adult, “How many weeks or months till I get my degree?” or “How many years [...]