Dor L’Dor |
r«us‰k r«us |
|
|
Temple Beth-El Religious School April 15, 2003 Number 26 |
5763 ixhb 13
|
|
Counting the 49 Days from Passover to Shavuot
It has four letters, and the clue is: Hebrew measure. The answer? Omer. Omer is an essential word to have as part of one’s crossword puzzle vocabulary, but what exactly is this Hebrew measure? And how is the omer significant for today’s Jew? The origins of omer are found in the Torah. An omer was a measure of grain, the first pick of the harvest. The exact measure was a “sheaf.” In the book of Leviticus the Israelites are instructed, “ . . . When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf (omer) of your harvest to the priest” (23:10). The omer was also a measure of time equal to seven weeks (49 days). In the book of Deuteronomy Moses speaks to the people, “You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God, . . .” (16:9-10). This Feast of Weeks we call Shavuot. The first harvest is the barley harvest, which comes during Passover; fifty days later is the wheat harvest on the festival of Shavuot. In the Torah the omer was linked solely to the harvest.
Later on, the Rabbis of the Talmud gave a new layer of meaning to the omer. They emphasized the significant events which took place in the lives of the Jewish people on these two festivals :
Passover = the Redemption of the Israelites from Egypt; Shavuot = the time of the Giving of Torah to the people at Sinai. Thus the 49 days of the omer became a time marking a spiritual movement of a people: from Redemption to Revelation, from freedom from the Egyptians to a new service to God. This new layer of meaning became significant for people who no longer lived an agricultural life. After the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, sacrificial offerings ceased as did the agricultural overtones of the omer. The spiritual layer of the omer remained and remains today.
For us, the omer can serve as a countdown (or a count-up, as it were) in anticipation of the Jewish festival of Shavuot. This period of 49 days reminds us that today we as a Jewish people still have the freedom to study and worship with the Torah. The privilege we have to openly learn and do mitzvot of the Torah is not to be taken for granted. During the omer we are mindful of that privilege as we count the days until we celebrate that Zeman Matan Torateinu, that Time of the Giving of our Torah, in our Festival of Shavuot.
This year we begin counting the omer on Thursday evening (as all Jewish “days” begin in the evening), April 17, 2003.
The omer is a Hebrew measure of 49 days, which connects Passover to Shavuot and freedom to Torah. So even if you don’t do crossword puzzles, this year, let the word omer become a part of your vocabulary as we count the days from Passover to Shavuot.
Important Progress Reports Information For All Teachers
Progress Reports will be coming to you Sunday, April 27th . Please have them completed by Sunday, May 11th. The goal of the Progress Report is not only to inform the parents of their child’s behavior in class, but also to inform the parents of what is being taught in class and what their child’s specific Judaic interests happen to be. Please be honest, constructive and informative. Nothing should come as a surprise to the parents. Contact them by phone now if you need to so that the report card is not a surprise. For suggestions on how to phrase your comments please, call me, email me or visit this website: http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/endofyear/personalcomments061400.html
Lesson in the Morning - Shiur BaBoker
The teachers and ma’aseh at Beth-El Religious School love to learn as much as they like to teach. I have devised a new idea that will happen every morning before Religious School. From 8:15 to 8:45, any teacher who chooses to strengthen their Judaic knowledge and community amongst the teachers and ma’aseh may come and join us for learning, conversations and lesson planning. I plan to lead the first few and then I hope that everyone will be willing to sign up to share with us. This program is completely on a volunteer basis. It is to strengthen our teaching community and to expand our knowledge of Judaism and ourselves. The first one will be this coming Sunday. We will discuss the haggadah as a teaching tool.
On staff meeting days, there will be no Shiur BaBoker.
Pinat Amy
Spring is in the air and with Aviv comes Passover. There was a great deal of Passover activity in the air this week in Religious School. Everything from Shauna’s Bonimers making chamitz search bags to matzah covers being made in art with Rachel, and Elijah and Miriam’s cups being made in Kibbutz. Tzadikim made Passover place mats for the Dessert Seder and Rose’s Yisrael class made salt-water bowls. These activities all look great and looked like such fun.
I have spoken with Rabbi Bergman Vann. She would rather not be scheduled to a class visit, but would rather “pop” in on you throughout out the semester. She will only take up 4 – 6 minutes of class time. If you are in the middle of a lesson, she will sit back and watch. Then if you could incorporate her that would be great. She will start her “pop-in” visits this upcoming week. Hang loose and enjoy your visit with Rabbi Bergman Vann. Rabbis Block and Bearman will remain scheduled.
April 16
First night of Passover – No afternoon or evening classes at Temple
April 17-23
Pesach
April 22
Dessert Seder, No Weekday Hebrew at JCC
April 23
Last day of Pesach, No weekday Hebrew at Temple , evening classes at Temple resume
April 27
7th Grade, Tzofim Family Education, Parents attend school with their children from 9:00 to 11:00
April 28
Erev Yom HaShoah
April 29
Yom HaShoah