Peaks and Valleys - The Good Omer and the Bad Omer

Looking historically at the period of the Omer we succinctly see the good and the bad. Initially, the Omer period seems very good. It represents elevation from the spiritual depravity of Egypt and anticipation of the revelation at Sinai. Later it becomes very bad, a period when we commemorate the deaths of the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva during the time of Roman occupation. Thus, we seem to have two very different characterizations for the one set of dates on the calendar associated with the Omer. This is almost spiritual schizophrenia. How are we to resolve this contradiction?

Paraphrasing the famous teaching of R' Yishmael, that is incorporated into our daily prayers, the best way to resolve a conflict between two sources is to find a third. Believe it or not, there is another Omer that converges with this time of year. However, it is not an Omer of barley, it is one of manna.

The Children of Israel left Egypt on the 15th of Nissan. As we know from the Torah, they brought some food with them (such as the dough that was baked into the first matzot). This food ran out on the 15th of Iyar. The Jews started to panic and complain. In response, beginning on that date (which falls on the 30th day of the current Omer), God provided them with a miraculous substance called manna. God continued to provide them with manna for forty years.

The Torah narrative detours from the chronological flow that began with the creation of the world has led up to the initial encounters with manna to detail an interesting command that God would give to Moshe at a later time. This detour presents the first times that the term Omer is used in the Torah (the term is finally defined several at the end of the section as a unit of measure).

In Shemot 16:32 Moshe states that " a full Omer of it shall be a safekeeping for your generations...." However, in Shemot 16: 33 Moshe tell his brother Aaron, "take one jar and put a full Omer into it, place it before God [in the Holy Ark next to the tablets] for a safekeeping...." Thus in this one section we have two declarations of the commandment regarding safeguarding the Omer that are subtly different. In the first version, the "safekeeping" is the end to itself. In the second version, the safekeeping is before God [i.e., placed with the Torah in the Holy Ark].

It could well be that these two references foreshadow the two Omers that are one. When the Omer is associated with and safeguarded by the Torah, when it is the Omer of anticipation and preparation for Torah, then it is the good Omer. However, if the Omer tries to stand by itself on its own merit, then it is the bad Omer. According to the Talmud (Yevamos 62b), the students of Rabbi Akiva died because they did not accord each other proper respect. For such great scholars to be deficient in such a fundamental way could only mean that they tried to stand as individuals and not partners in Torah. To reverse this bad trend and to restore the good Omer we must focus on how to safeguard the Omer with Torah.

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