Meditations on Counting the Omer - Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Okay, so you have the little book. So, we're on page 685. I want to talk today about about Sefiras Omer, counting the Omer. It happens to be this week's parsha. This is um chapter 23 verse 15, middle of page in the book of Leviticus. Vayikra. >> [snorts] >> I'll read through the two verses that are important here and then we'll meditate on them. >> [snorts] >> You shall count for yourselves from tomorrow What's tomorrow? It's tomorrow. It means the day after. Tomorrow means the day after. We're We're on 685. From the day after the rest day. From the day when you bring the Omer of the waving. Seven weeks they shall be complete. Not sure a period belongs here. Until tomorrow day after of the seventh week you shall count 50 days. I shall bring a new offering. >> [snorts] >> So, everyone wants to know right away the counting seven weeks they shall be complete. And then it says 50 days. >> [snorts] >> That's a contradiction. Seven days they shall complete Complete is 49 days. But the truth is that the situation is worse than that. Well, let's try it again. You shall Seven weeks they shall be complete until the day after the seventh week. Okay, let's say we start counting on Tuesday. So, we count seven times, the last day is a Monday. That's 49. The day after the 49 [clears throat] is the that final Tuesday, the eighth Tuesday. >> [clears throat] >> What does until mean? Until in English and ad in Hebrew are both ambiguous. >> [snorts] >> When you say until X you could mean until and including X or you could mean until and excluding X. Both are appropriate ways to talk. We're on page 685. >> [snorts] >> So, for example, if I say you're

Jump to a moment

1. 0:04Okay, so you have the little book. So, we're on page 685. I want to talk…
2. 2:46>> [clears throat] >> What does until mean? Until in English and ad in Hebrew are…
3. 5:25the mark, the musical mark in verse 16, "Until tomorrow of the seventh day shall you…
4. 8:02But it creates a unit. So, by counting the 49, somehow that's what you do in…
5. 10:34very, um, shall I say, very striking. A boy a baby boy is born on Tuesday.…
6. 13:14together. Being seven days old gives you access to eight days. And it's the access to…
7. 15:49all of the creative efforts of the previous week, all the creative efforts of the previous…
8. 18:25because otherwise, there wouldn't have been anything to save. We would have been lost entirely. How…
9. 21:02receiving of the Torah at at Sinai. Are we together so far? Now, get a siddur…
10. 23:45Yeah, for us meditating means reciting. Um after having counted the Omer. Master of the universe.…

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