Passover II 5782-2022
“Counting the Omer”
(Revised and updated from Passover II 5768-2008)
The period of the counting of the Omer commences on the second night of Passover. In ancient Temple times, it was on the second day of Passover that the barley offering was brought, allowing the use and consumption of the newly harvested crop. Today, the Omer period is an ambivalent period on the Jewish calendar. Although it is a period of semi-mourning, it is also a period of significant optimism, when Jews look forward toward redemption and revelation, just as the Exodus led the ancient Hebrews to Mount Sinai and the receiving of the Torah.
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B’ha’a’lot’cha 5776-2016
“Moses Realizes that His Dreams Were Not Going to be Fulfilled"
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik provides new insights into a well-known narrative in parashat B’ha’a’lot’cha, explaining why Moses’ dreams of entering the Promised Land were not realized.
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Emor 5774-2014
“The Sadducees and the Counting of the Omer”
One of the best known and most formidable disagreements between the Sadducees (the literalists) and Pharisees (the traditionalists) during the final years of the Second Temple concerned the counting of the Omer.
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Passover: The Second Days 5768-2008
"Counting the Omer"
The period of the counting of the Omer commences on the second night of Passover. In ancient Temple times, it was on the second day of Passover that the barley offering was brought, allowing the use of the newly harvested crop. Today, the Omer period is an ambivalent period on the Jewish calendar. Although it is a period of semi-mourning, it is also a period of significant optimism, when Jews look forward toward redemption and revelation, just as the Exodus led the ancient Hebrews to Mount Sinai and the receiving of the Torah.
0 Comments7 Minutes