Rabbi's Blog

This Dvar Torah is dedicated to the memory of 

Mr. Mendel Flaster, Menachem Ben Yitzchak Zev HaKohain, Z”L, 

who passed away 8 Iyar 5774. 

The Torah is a living piece of every Jew’s life. Some Jews take this to heart and others leave it or pick and choose the parts they like. Those of us who approach the Torah as very much alive understand that it gives each of us direction and focus for all aspects of life. People often remark that the Torah is not alive, that it’s an old relic with nothing applicable to the current era in which we live. There are many different ways to respond to that rhetoric. The first is the easiest: the Torah is timeless because we must do the Mitzvos we are commanded to perform regardless of time and place. Perhaps one reason which resonates more among those not enamored with doing the Mitzvos is the idea that the Torah gives us Mussar, lessons in moral conduct, which guide us throughout our lives. 

I would like to share an explanation of a verse in two ways: (1) through the understanding of a Mitzva and (2) through Mussar, moral conduct, instruction, or discipline. 

In this week’s Parsha B’Har there are a few different counting’s. The first is the Shmittah cycle, which is comprised of six years during which we are permitted sow and work the land and the seventh year, the Shmittah year, which requires work stoppage on almost every level. The second counting is a seven year series of counting seven years for a total of forty-nine years, capped off with the Yovel/Jubilee in the fiftieth year. Vayikra 25:8 mentions the counting for these two cycles. We find a difference in the two: the counting of the Yovel does not have a Bracha affiliated with it, while the counting of the omer does have a Bracha. The Chizkuni answers with regard to the Yovel that it is incumbent upon the Beis Din – Court of Law - to count, therefore no blessing is necessary. On the other hand, the Omer is mentioned twice in the Torah, once in Parshas Emor, and also in Re’eh: one time to command the Beis Din and the second to command the people. 

In Vayikra 25:8 the Passuk states “V’Safarta L’cha Sheva Shabsos Shanim, Sheva Shanim, Sheva P’Amim, VHayu Lcha Yimei Sheva Shobsos HaShanim Teisha V’Arbaim Shana”. “You shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven years seven times; and the days of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be for you forty-nine years”. A question is asked: why so much detail in describing the Yovel year? Notice the verse has specifics in counting seven Sabbatical cycles. It then generalizes with seven years seven times, and concludes with another general phrase giving a total of forty-nine years. Even though we don’t enjoy the practice of Yovel in today’s day and age, lacking our Beis Hamikdash, we can still learn a special discipline through this Mitzva of Yovel. This verse instructs us to keep different calculations, accounting for the different stages of life which applies to us today, even without the trimmings of the Jubilee year. 

There are three kinds of personal accounting every individual should observe during their lifetime: 1) on a daily basis 2) on a yearly basis and 3) a review of a person’s entire life. There is a parable told of a very poor man who, in his own city, collected from door to door. One day he travelled to a city where he was not known and dressed and acted as a very wealthy man. Lo and behold, another man from his own city saw him and recognized him. The man stared him down and said, “You who are accustomed to go from door to door collecting small coins worth very little have stored them in your pockets, giving the impression that you are a wealthy man, causing you to be treated differently here. Why not go to the bank and transfer all the small change for some larger, more valuable coins. Take a thousand pennies and exchange them for a ten dollar bill, which is smaller and less obtrusive. Then no one will think you are rich anymore because they don’t see your pockets bulging from coins. Exchanging many small coins into a few larger bills or coins makes people think you possess only a small amount of money. 

When a person makes the calculations of this life in this world he counts the days and years, reasoning that he has a fortune of seventy, eighty, or perhaps ninety years in this world. A person who has lived for seventy, eighty, ninety years starts to believe that he is a permanent fixture in this world. He becomes comfortable thinking he is a citizen of this world and no longer a sojourner or a guest whose stay is only temporary. When a person counts his life and counts an entire Yovel of fifty years, he can start calculating how many years are remaining in this world, thereby not allowing himself to become too comfortable, not taking the remaining allotted time for granted. 

This concept is flushed out by Dovid HaMelech in Tehilim 39:5 “Hodieini Hashem Kitzi Umidas Yaumai Mah Hee Eidah Meh Chaudeil Ani”. “Make known to me, Adonoy, my end and the measure of my days, what is it; let me know how short lived I am”. It’s not about what I have, rather it’s about what I don’t have. The Yetzer Harah tries to convince us of all the years we’ve had and the security we should feel in this world. But King David tells us otherwise: that which we had already is done and we must make the best of the future. 

We count many things in this world: blessings, money, health, years, etc. It’s not what we have already amassed but rather what we will do with it in the future. This is the significance of counting in different ways, focusing on life through examining it from different angles. Hopefully we will use the method of counting to make our lives more constructive in this world so as to reap the benefits in the world to come. 

Ah Gut Shabbos 

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky