{"id":35308,"date":"2013-04-22T17:40:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T17:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=35308"},"modified":"2016-09-19T10:24:40","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T10:24:40","slug":"carpe-diem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/carpe-diem\/","title":{"rendered":"Lag B’Omer: Carpe Diem!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carpe Diem!\u00a0 Seize the Day!<\/p>\n

\"calendars\"This simple Latin phrase has come to define the thrust of our modern age \u2013 live life to its fullness; go for it; do it now<\/i>!\u00a0 But does it accurately capture the importance of each day to Jews?\u00a0 At the least, does it remind us that days are not like seconds on the clock, ticking away, one indistinguishable from another.\u00a0 There are so many days that we single out in our calendar, days imbued with particular holiness that they demand particular ritual and observance.\u00a0 But certainly, these days are particularly <\/i>holy and each and every day demands an urgency on the part of Jews.\u00a0 But not simply to satisfy our temporal wants.\u00a0 Each day merits\u2026 no, demands\u2026 the urgency of holiness.\u00a0 Yet it is often a \u201cspecial\u201d day that causes us to pause and appreciate what it means to truly \u201cseize the day\u201d each day.<\/p>\n

There are two Torah commandments whose obligation is constant and ever-present, to learn Torah and to repent.\u00a0 The Torah is clear about this urgency in the Sh\u2019ma<\/i>:\u00a0 \u201cThese words, which I command you this day<\/i>, make them as a sign upon your heart and between your eyes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Sages comment that the word hayom<\/i>, \u201cthis day\u201d means that \u201cthe Torah should be ever fresh in your mind, as though you received the Torah today<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This matter of the urgency of days and Torah is fresh in our minds as we turn our attention to S\u2019firat Haomer<\/i> and the coming of Shavuot.\u00a0 For what more concrete example of the importance of Torah and the power of days than the counting down from the end of Pesah <\/i>to the Chag Matan Torah<\/i>?\u00a0 \u00a0Our counting of days is an anticipation of what is to come\u2026 and yet, what are we counting towards<\/i>?\u00a0 We celebrate the revelation at Sinai, yet the chag <\/i>is not even named in the Torah.\u00a0 Does this diminish the power of that day at Sinai?\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 It simply teaches us that the commemoration of the giving of the Torah must not be limited to a particular time.\u00a0 It applies at all times .\u00a0 This day <\/i>is each and every<\/i> day is matan Torah<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0 As it is written, \u201cThis day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The joy and satisfaction of Torah study must not be limited to special days, or occasions. It is to be ongoing, continually renewed and continually renewing.\u00a0 Torah study must always spiritually excite and emotionally uplift.<\/p>\n

For the thoughtful Jew every\u00ad day is a Yom Matan Torah<\/i>.\u00a0 Embracing this attitude might also help us understand Lag B\u2019Omer, the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer <\/i>when, according to the Talmud, the plague that caused the death of 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva finally abated.<\/p>\n

24,000 brilliant young scholars!\u00a0 Lost!\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 According to Talmudic and Midrashic sources, they died because they did not sufficiently respect one another. Their scholarship, Torah learning, and erudi\u00adtion were taken for granted. \u00a0For them, Torah learning was pursued as if any other knowledge, without an excitement, en\u00adthusiasm, and fire resulting in new insights, renewed motivation, and novel ideas.\u00a0 They reveled in their brilliance rather than the brilliance of Torah.\u00a0 They were \u201csatisfied\u201d with their learning, not challenged or enlivened by it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their learning was no different than the \u201ccounting\u201d of days rather than the \u201cseizing\u201d of days.<\/p>\n

Lag B’Omer came to be known as \u201cScholar’s Festival\u201d to remind those who devote themselves exclusively to the pursuit of Torah learning that there is more to Torah learning than the \u201cquantity\u201d of knowledge.\u00a0 Torah learning encompasses the \u201cquality\u201d of learning, the love and devotion for fellow students, an excitement for the Divine word, a reaction to learning Torah that is to be likened to that of Matan Torah.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

This is Carpe Diem! to the Jew, to make each day of learning like Yom Matan Torah<\/i>.\u00a0 The responsibility to do so <\/i>rests not only with students but with their teachers as well.\u00a0 Teachers must reflect and ask, Am I seeking new methods and exciting approaches for our Torah presentations? Am I creative and innovative in my Torah methodology and curriculum?<\/p>\n

Students must learn, but teachers must teach as we want our students to learn, with enthusiasm and holiness, so that each day is a unique experience for students.\u00a0 They should leave their classrooms as our forefathers departed from Sinai \u2013 awed and inspired.<\/p>\n

Each and every day.<\/p>\n

Carpe Diem.<\/p>\n

\n

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran serves as OU Kosher\u2019s vice president of communications and marketing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Hayom” IS the day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":296,"featured_media":35313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[355],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lag-baomer"],"yoast_head":"\nLag B'Omer: Carpe Diem! - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every\u00ad day is a Yom Matan Torah. 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