First Day of Chul HaMoed Passover and the counting of the Omer & Happy Passover from President Donald J. Trump & Metal Detectorists Were Scanning the Beach—and Found a Stunning 2,800-Year-Old Dagger & with those we have lost & Rabbi Schwartz jokes
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
The Three are Rabbi Yehuda Glick, famous temple mount activist, and former Israel Mk, and then Robert Weinger, the world's greatest shofar blower and seller of Shofars, and myself after we had gone to the 12 gates of the Temple Mount in 2020 to blow the shofar to ask G-d to heal the world from the Pandemic. It was a highlight to my experience in living in Israel and I put it on my blog each day to remember.
The articles that I include each day are those that I find interesting, so I feel you will find them interesting as well. I don't always agree with all the points of each article but found them interesting or important to share with you, my readers, and friends. It is cathartic for me to share my thoughts and frustrations with you about life in general and in Israel. As a Rabbi, I try to teach and share the Torah of the G-d of Israel as a modern Orthodox Rabbi. I never intend to offend anyone but sometimes people are offended and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. The most important psychological principle I have learned is that once someone's mind is made up, they don't want to be bothered with the facts, so, like Rabbi Akiva, I drip water (Torah is compared to water) on their made-up minds and hope that some of what I have share sinks in. Love Rabbi Yehuda Lave.
Counting of the Omer
Counting of the Omer (Hebrew: סְפִירַת הָעוֹמֶר, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira) is a ritual in Judaism. It consists of a verbal counting of each of the 49 days between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. The period of 49 days is known as the "omer period" or simply as "the omer" or "sefirah".
The count has its origins in the biblical command of the Omer offering (or sheaf-offering), which was offered on Passover, and after which 49 days were counted, and the Shavuot holiday was observed. The Temple sacrifices have not been offered since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, but the counting until Shavuot is still performed. Shavuot is the only major Jewish holiday for which no calendar date is specified in the Torah; rather, its date is determined by the omer count.
The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover (the 16th of Nisan) The 49-day count ends the day before Shavuot, which is the 'fiftieth day' of the count.
The omer ("sheaf") is an old Biblical measure of volume of unthreshed stalks of grain, the amount of grain used for the Temple offering.
The commandment for counting the Omer is recorded within the Torah in Leviticus 23:9–21:
When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf (omer) of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the day of rest the priest shall wave it. ... And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete; even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto the LORD. ... And ye shall make proclamation on the selfsame day; there shall be a holy convocation unto you; ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee; from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God...
As soon as it is definitely night (approximately thirty minutes after sundown), the one who is counting the Omer recites this blessing:
Barukh atah, A-donai E-loheinu, Melekh Ha-ʿolam, asher qid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu ʿal S'firat Ha-ʿomer. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.
Then he or she states the Omer-count in terms of both total days and weeks and days. For example:
On the first day: "Today is one day of the omer"
On the eighth day: "Today is eight days, which is one week and one day of the omer"
The wording of the count differs slightly between customs: the last Hebrew word is either laomer (literally "to the omer") or baomer (literally "in the omer"). Both customs are valid according to halakha.[4]
The count is generally in Hebrew; it may also be counted in any language, however one must understand what one is saying
The counting is preferably done at night, at the beginning of the Jewish day. If one realizes the next morning or afternoon that they have not yet counted, the count may still be made, but without a blessing. If one forgets to count a day altogether, he or she may continue to count succeeding days, but without a blessing.
Symbolism
Modern barley fieldModern-day wheat sheaves
In the rabbinic chronology, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai happened on Shavuot. Thus, the omer period is one of preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah. According to Aruch HaShulchan, already in Egypt Moses announced to the Israelites that they would celebrate a religious ceremony at Mount Sinai once 50 days had passed, and the people was so excited by this that they counted the days until that ceremony took place. Homiletically, in modern times when the Temple sacrifices of Shavuot are not offered, counting the omer still has a purpose as a remembrance of the counting up to Sinai.
One explanation for the Counting of the Omer is that it shows the connection between Passover and Shavuot. The physical freedom that the Hebrews achieved at the Exodus from Egypt was only the beginning of a process that climaxed with the spiritual freedom they gained at the giving of the Torah on Shavuot. The Sefer HaChinuch states that the Israelites were only freed from Egypt at Passover in order to receive the Torah. The Counting of the Omer demonstrates how much a Jew desires to accept the Torah in their own life.
According to Maharal, there is a symbolic contrast between the omer offering (offered on Passover) and the Shavuot sacrifice (shtei halechem) offered upon conclusion of the omer. The former consists of barley, which is typically an animal food, and represents the low and passive spiritual level of the Israelites immediately upon leaving Egypt; while the latter consists of wheat and represents the high and active spiritual level of the Israelites upon receiving the Torah.
In Israel, the omer period coincides with the final ripening period of wheat before it is harvested around Shavuot. In this period, the quality of the harvest is very sensitive, and can easily be ruined by bad weather. Thus, the omer period stresses human vulnerability and dependence on God.
According to Nahmanides, Passover and Shavuot effectively form one extended holiday, with the seven weeks of the omer paralleling the seven days of Passover or Sukkot, and the omer period paralleling Chol Hamoed. Last night we counted the first night of the Omer and this is the first day of the Omer. Tonight we will count day two of the omer!
Metal Detectorists Were Scanning the Beach—and Found a Stunning 2,800-Year-Old Dagger
Experts are only just beginning to investigate its mysterious history.
Sid and Al were sitting in a Chinese restaurant. "Sid," asked Al, "Are there any Jews in China?"
"I don't know," Sid replied. "Why don't we ask the waiter?"
When the waiter came by, Al asked him, "Are there any Chinese Jews?"
"I don't know, sir, let me ask," the waiter replied, and he went into the kitchen. He returned in a few minutes and said, "No, sir. No Chinese Jews."
"Are you sure?" Al asked.
"I will check again, sir." the waiter replied and went back to the kitchen.
While he was still gone, Sid said, "I cannot believe there are no Jews in China. Our people are scattered everywhere."
When the waiter returned he said, "Sir, we have no Chinese Jews but we have orange Jews, prune Jews, tomato Jews and grape Jews, but no one ever heard of Chinese Jews!"
In the grapevine school, a teacher asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
One grape said, "A raisin
Another shouted, "Juice!"
The shy grape in the back whispered, "I just want to be a little less 'cluster-phobic.'"
Why did the grape stop going out? It was tired of being "picked" on!
Why did the grape stop in the middle of the road? Because it ran out of "juice"!
What did the grape say when it was crushed? Nothing, it just let out a little "wine."
Why did the grape refuse to fight? Because it didn't want to get in a "jam."
How does a grape enter a party? It "raisins" the roof!
So I'm standing here waiting for fruit juice when my buddy asks where we are.
I told him we're in the punchline.
What kind of cancer does fruit get? Melon-oma
Have you read the nutritional information on a box of Fruit Loops? You're better off eating the toucan.
A vegan said to me that people who sell meat are disgusting. I said people who sell fruit
and vegetables are grocer.
I firmly disagree with putting fruit in cake. There's just no good raisin for it
Why does fruit dislike being preserved? The process is jarring.
Ana is no longer allowed to the fruit market. Banana.
Those we have lost
Stories of civilians and soldiers killed since Hamas's onslaught on Israel on October 7, 2023
Every day you can look at another victim and send him/her prayers
