Community Blog

Shabbat Shalom! It is time to count the Omer. 

BA-RUCH A-TAH ADO-NAI E-LO-HE-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV VETZI-VA-NU AL SEFI-RAT HA-OMER.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

הַיּוֹם אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם, שֶׁהֵם שְׁנֵי שָׁבוּעוֹת לָעֹמֶר׃ (מַלְכוּת שֶׁבִּגְּבוּרָה)

Today is Fourteen Days, which are Two Weeks of the Omer. (Malkhut within Gevurah) 

The kabbalistic meaning of this day of the Omer, Malkhut within Gevurah, means sovereignty within strength or discipline and boundaries, and it is very fitting with this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Acharei Mot. In this parasha we are told some specifics for ritual sacrifice in direct relation to the death of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron who were smote by God in response to their strange sacrifice a few parshiyot back. The words Acharei Mot translate to “After the deaths” and Aaron and his remaining sons are warned, almost cruelly, to follow these laws of sacrifice carefully, lest they die as their sons and brothers died. The specifics in question in this parasha are mostly in regard to the Yom Kippur ritual.

Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg comments on this in her masterful, concise yet dense way. First, almost in continuation of her commentary from Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, she talks about the royal authority of God that is apparent in this parasha. In her book on Exodus, on Parashat Bo, she points out how the Israelites are technically freed at night, but leave Egypt in the day, showing that their first act of freedom is to defy Pharaoh, thereby declaring God as their one and only Ruler. Now, in her book on Leviticus, she points out that the ritual described in Parashat Acharei Mot is so specific, that it is the sort of thing that can only be required through royal decree. This is the truth of what it means to accept God as Sovereign - that some rituals will be proscribed that are so particular that doing them out of order nullifies having done any of it at all, that making any mistakes damns the whole community to their bloodguilt from the year without atonement, that foregoing them in favor of more personal offerings will result in literal death. 

Zornberg continues by pointing out the harshness of the term “decree” that is used in this parasha, distinct from command. The Hebrew word for “decree” used in rabbinic and modern Hebrew is “gezeira”, a word which also means “cut off from”. The latter translation is its use in this parasha, in verse 16:22, to describe the place the scapegoat is sent off to: “a land cut off”. But the Talmud and Rashi comment repeatedly on this section of Torah using the verb “to decree”, toying with the Hebrew “gezeira” from the parasha, and demonstrating that the consequence of defying such a law is to be cut off from the community and/or from God. It calls to mind the refrain from our Yom Kippur liturgy: “Repentance, Prayer, and Charity temper the severe decree [gezeira].” Zornberg compares the scapegoating ritual and the severity of the word gezeira to the extremity of the story of King Solomon decreeing the baby be cut in half to appease the arguing mothers, and to the irreversability of King Ahasuerus’s decree in the Book of Esther even for the King himself. “The unquestionable has something of the irrational - or, at least, of the nonrational,” Zornberg says. “It focuses on the most radical implication of acknowledging God as King.”

The value of boundaries and discipline within leadership and in understanding law structures as a whole is all over this parasha, and in direct relationship with today’s sefirat haomer. We see the importance of accepting God’s sovereignty for the Israelites and of the boundaries that mark where the community is and the land “cut off” to where the goat must go for Azazel. We also have the opportunity here to understand the necessity of limits and discernment when leadership seeks to mark a scapegoat in our modern society, and the implications that this parasha could have for our worldviews. The Torah simply tells us that the goat marked for Azazel is sent off, carrying the sins of the people. The Midrash suggests that actually the goat becomes possessed by the demon Azazel and is pushed off the cliff, shattering and sending the demon and the sins of the people back to the depths of Gehinom. The story goes from archaic and vaguely magic-y to barbaric and preposterous. We must be wary of our own inclinations to give in to hyperbole and act in the extremes. 

The Gold Herring Omer workbook suggests that this Shabbat be a time to notice how you influence a more just society through your own small actions. Healthy discipline can enhance self-esteem, encourage others to grow, and allow yourself to feel secure and confident. Every day, we each make choices that affect our lives, the people around us, and the world. Now is a good time to pause and assess what those choices and our impacts really are. Are we sending off that which is toxic in our lives or are we becoming mirror images of that toxicity? Are we following the Divine Path or blindly following marching orders from a higher authority? 

May we tread carefully and intentionally, hold fast to our values, and lead the way forward with strength and clarity. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.