A Taste of Torah in honor of Shabbat
from Rabbi Avi Weiss

Parshat Emor 5759
April 30-May 1, 1999 - 15 Iyar 5759

ENJOYING THE MOMENT

When our oldest daughter Dena was wed to Mark, I found myself in deep thought.  A dear friend came by and said, "loosen up Avi.   Enjoy it.  You'll have time to think later."

This exchange helps to shed light on the mandate in this week's portion to count 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. (Leviticus 23:15).  Sefer Ha-Hinukh asks why we begin the count from the second day and not the first day of Passover.

The way Jewish ritual approaches celebratory and tragic moments in life may reveal the answer. Consider the painful experience of death.  Halakha insists the bereaved be able to become totally involved in the tragedy to the extent that family members are relieved from performing affirmative commandments between death and burial.  Only after burial does the period of Shivah, of deep reflection set in.

Similarly, in moments of joy.  When leaving Egypt Am Yisrael was immersed in the euphoria of the Exodus.  Only following that euphoria, which manifests itself through the Passover Seder do we begin counting towards the receiving of the Torah -- the event that gives meaning and purpose to the Exodus. Jewish law allows for the full experiencing of the event.  Only then does it ask for separate distinct moments of evaluation.

My son Dov noted that there is psychological benefit to this principle. After all, when something of import occurs, we should be encouraged to feel deeply and wholly what is happening.  Only afterwards, from a distance, can we step back and with clarity, contemplate the significance of the event.

Not coincidentally, this portion is read between Israel Independence Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem.  Some erroneously suggest these days should be de-emphasized as we are in the post - Zionist era.  To the contrary.  These days deserve greater focus as we are, in fact, in a new, even more challenging phase within the modern Zionist period.  For fifty years we ecstatically celebrated the coming into being of the State.  Now begins the more reflective period of looking inward and defining what is the significance of the State to the Jewish people and the world at large.

Evaluating only after the event occurs, is a lesson for all of us. For me and my wife, Toby, it came most recently with the birth of a grandchild, Ayelet Sarit, to our children, Elana and Michael.  When the news came, we were absolutely "flying."  Only days later, as the child was named, did we begin to intellectualize what occurred, and did the experience take on new meaning.

And that's why we begin counting from the second day of Passover - so we can enjoy moments when they come and only afterwards reflect and anticipate.

Shabbat Shalom

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Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
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