From Beast To Man

The most comprehensive description in the Torah of the cycle of festivals appears in the 23rd chapter of Vayikra. Some, like the Shabbat and Yom Kippur, appear in familiar guise. Others, like Zichron Terua (a/k/a/ Rosh Hashanah) can be discerned from context. Finally, there is the case Shavuot -- the holiday that completed the process of redemption from Egypt with the giving of the Torah -- which is not named and which is nearly hidden as a simple "day off" in the midst of a detailed description of the Omer and Two Loaves offerings. What is the Torah trying to teach by emphasizing these offerings and minimizing the holiday?

The better question might be, why is the Torah not simply describing and reinforcing recorded history and what that particular generation of Jews personally experienced? A more direct rendition would emphasize 1) that Chag HaPesach and Chag Hamatzot were the days of their liberation from slavery and degradation in Egypt; 2) the Omer period then allowed them the opportunity to cast off the influence of alien culture and prepared them spiritually; so that they could 3) receive God's law and accept his sovereignty on Shavuout. Of course, the Torah could have gone even further and explicitly mentioned how the Children of Israel had reached the 49th and lowest level of impurity in Egypt and that during each of the days leading to Sinai they climbed one rung closer to deservedness. Instead, we get barley and wheat!

In an agrarian, society barley and wheat represent different perspectives. Barley is a grain used to feed animals. Wheat, on the other hand, represents the staple of man's sustenance. The Omer itself was an offering of a dry measure of unprocessed barley. An animal does not care how its food is prepared, only that it is available to satisfy its hunger. The offering on Shavuout consisted of two loaves of bread - wheat that was harvested, processed, ground into flour, kneaded into dough, and baked into bread. It may be basic staple for man, yet it requires complex preparation.

The slaves that left Egypt were little more than beasts of burden. They had little ethic, morality, or refinement. They were no more deserving of the Torah than their flocks of sheep and cattle. However, in forty-nine days God transformed them into a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." As they received the Torah and its commandments, including, or perhaps especially, the annual holiday cycle that gave them mastery over time - something a slave never has, God did not want to record in His Torah and explicitly remind them how low they had once been. Instead of embarrassing the fledgling nation, God compassionately presented the metaphor of barley and wheat.

These offerings were not reserved solely for that first generation. They are part of the corpus of our ritual observance. They stand as an eternal testament to God's compassion and sensitivity. Far too often we succumb to our animalistic sides. The consequence of this behavior is that we push ourselves farther away from God as we feel less and less worthy. The weeks of the Omer show that we all can wave the barley, the animal, goodbye and embrace the wheat, the refined and human. In the end, how low one started is of no consequence to God, it is not even worthy of mention.

The Omer and Honey
Peaks and Valleys - The Good Omer and the Bad Omer
Omer Personalities - R' Akiva and R' Shimon Bar Yochai
From Beast to Man
From Matzos to Cheesecake
Lag B'Omer - Breaking up the Count
Mitzvah lesaper et haMispar hamesaper
Not Fowl, but Foul
One Long Party: Pesach to Shavuot
Oops, I forgot to Count the Omer
Sheva Shabbatot temimot tiyenah
The Best Unbroken Chain
The Mourning after the Night Before
The Students of Rabbi Akiva
What Does Lev Tov Have to do with Sfira?
The Counting of The Omer
Lag B'Omer - The 33rd Day