Mourning in a Season of Joy: The Essential Lesson of Sefiras Haomer

By Howard Karesh

The Midrash, quoted by the Ran at the end of Pesachim, teaches us that when Bnei Yisrael were told of their future exodus from Egypt, they also were informed they would receive the Torah, as suggested by the word “ta’avdoon” – you will serve (Shemot 3:12),

ויאמר כי אהיה עמך וז לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלוקים על ההר הזה

And He said: 'Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.'

Not only were Bnei Yisrael told what they were to receive, but also when. The letter nun in the word ta’avdoon appears to be extraneous; we learn from this nun – which has the gematria of 50 – that Bnei Yisrael were to receive the Torah on their 50^th day after leaving Egypt.

This teaching raises one simple but important question. Why did Hashem make Bnei Yisrael wait 50 days before giving us the Torah? The Rambam (Hilchos Avoda Zarah, 1:3) tells us that Bnei Yisrael, immediately before Yitzias Mitzrayim, had been steeped in the ways of the Egyptians, so much so that the influence of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov was barely felt. We had sunk to the 49^th level of tum’ah.

To have lifted Bnei Yisrael from such dire spiritual circumstances straight to Matan Torah would not have worked. Therefore, Hashem gave us one day for each of the 49 levels of tum’ah to prepare to receive His Torah.

If, then, the days of Sefiras Ha’omer are all about preparation to receive the Torah, they should be days of simcha! Why and how do we allow most of this period of time to be overtaken by mourning? The Gemara in Yevamos (62b) says that during Sefira, 12,000 pairs of R’ Akiva’s students died because “lo nahagu kavod zeh b’zeh” – they did not act respectfully toward one another.

But why punish these Torah giants – those tasked with transmitting the Torah sheb’al peh – with a punishment not found in the Torah for this type of aveirah? And of all periods of time, why now when Klal Yisrael is preparing to receive the Torah? Finally, why are we still actively mourning their passing 2,000 years after the fact?

The Tashbetz explains that the aveirah for which the talmidim of R’ Akiva were punished was a chillul Hashem caused by their behavior, an aveirah punishable by death.

But what about the Torah they were preparing to teach to Klal Yisrael? Why punish future generations of Klal Yisrael by removing the Torah of these talmidim from the scene? One possibility offered by Rav Aharon Kotler, zt’l, is that while we will mourn the Torah lost through this punishment forever, Torah tainted by the stain of disrespect is not the Torah that Hashem wants transmitted throughout the generations. Since the talmidim of R’ Akiva were deficient in this key area, they were punished with death so that the Torah that was ultimately transmitted by R’ Akiva – through R’ Meir, R’ Yehudah, R’ Yosi, R’ Shimon and R’ Elazar ben Shamua – represented a pure, complete Torah (“Toras Hashem Temima”).

With this explanation we can understand the severity of the punishment of the talmidei R’ Akiva: it was about preserving the Torah as Hashem intends for us to embrace it – with respect for others, through individuals who are complete not only in their learning, but in their interpersonal relations and treatment of others.

This dvar Torah is adapted from the sefer Hegyonai Halacha, chelek 2, by HaRav Yitzchak Mirski, shlita.