Redemption through sefira

The Mei Hashiloach describes the concept of sefira as follows:  On the night of redemption from Mitzrayim, when Hashem revealed His Kavod and His Essence and redeemed us, He made His Shefa, (His influence) exceedingly great.

Hashem already included all the redemptions, including the final redemption in that moment!

This is what we are saying when we daven the first Bracha after Shema in Maariv, in the bracha of  וֶאֱמוּנָה כָּל־זֹאת “Ve’emuna Kol Zos” , and we say:

וַיּוֹצֵא אֶת־עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתּוֹכָם לְחֵרוּת עוֹלָם

And He brought out His people, Israel, from their midst to everlasting freedom.[1]

To Hashem, the redemptions were complete on the first night of Pesach, therefore. It is just that we, as human beings have yet to perceive, and know it as such, so He gave us the Mitzvah of Sefira, וספרתם לכם to access the Light of redemption He made available to us.

Meaning, that we should count and take in the Light of redemption we received directly from Hashem.  Therefore we are counting 50 days until the day of Shavuos to understand that which we attained.

It is similar to a father that is walking with his little boy, and finds a treasure of precious stones, and pearls. The value is not discernible to the young boy . The father tells him to grab as much as he can carry.  The boy asks his father, what is the value? The father responds, “Now is not the time to tell you the value of these gems, instead it is the time to take what you can quickly with strength.  When you come home you can count what you attained, and then I will tell you the value.”

So too, each year Hashem illuminates His Elevated light from above from that which was attained on the first night of Pesach, and throughout the days of Sefira, a person will gain comprehension and recognize what he attained, little by little until the day of Shavuos.^[2]

Which is also perhaps the reason Klal Yisroel was able to respond to Hashem at Har Sinai with the words of Naase Vinishma, we will do and then hear.  How beautiful it is to me,  to know that we have an opportunity to practice this and prepare for Naase Vinishma right now during sefira!

Perhaps this is why we associate the Geula, redemption with “B’mhaira” alluding to the steps of redemption, and in truth the way we received our Torah in order to access our true purpose, of attaching to Hashem Who is beyond our comprehension.

I think that perhaps the step of “one at a time” , the Mitzvah of Sefira was forgotten in the moment of the sin of the golden calf.  Meaning Klal Yisroel seemed to have been saying that they could not relate to Moshe Rabeinu as it says  כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֽוֹ (Shmos 32:1)

“Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for this man Moshe—the man who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.”

We see that Moshe Rabeinu broke the Luchos, perhaps to remind them, they can now gather as much as they can of the broken luchos, and slowly process each spark, one at a time…

Tefillah Application:

When we say the Bracha of Shmone Esrei, אַתָּה חוֹנֵן לְאָדָם דַּֽעַת, and we begin first with a reference to  “Chochma”, as it says:

חָנֵּֽנוּ מֵאִתְּ֒ךָ חָכְמָה בִּינָה וָדָּעַת

We can use this bracha to request of Hashem, His Divine Help, מֵאִתְּ֒ךָ help to process  the “Chochma Elyona” His Higher Wisdom, His Light of redemption that He already shared on Pesach night but impossible for us to grasp without His help.  We ask for the gift of Bina (understanding)  during the days of Sefira. We ask for understanding of  His ways, His action of redemption, of His Love to us  until it becomes internalized as Daas.  Meaning we ask for His Divine Wisdom to be accessible and personalized now,  for His true eternal redemption to be revealed Biezras Hashem, B’mhaira.

 

[1] This concept is also in the Zohar (Vayakhel, 216)

 

^[2] וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת. ענין הספירה הוא שבליל גאולת מצרים שנגלה הקב”ה בכבודו ובעצמו וגאלם, וגדלה ההשפעה מאוד כי אצל השי”ת נגמר אז כל הגאולות עד גאולה אחרונה, כי כל הגאולות נכללים בגאולה ראשונה, כמו שאנו אומרים בתפלה ויוצא את עמו ישראל מתוכם לחירות עולם, וכדאיתא בזה”ק (ויקהל רט”ז:) ובגין דא בעי לאחזאה פורקנא דאית ביה ארבע גאולות וכו’ ועל דא אית לאדכרא בההיא גאולה ד’ זמנין אמת עד עזרת אבותינו וכו’ ומתמן ולהלאה ארבע זמנין אחרנין אמת, והיינו שהוא לרמז שבשורש יצאנו מכל הארבע גליות, אכן לא היה אז בכח תפיסת ישראל להשיג ולידע בתפיסתם את האור שהאיר להם השי”ת, לכן צוה השי”ת וספרתם לכם, היינו שתספרו ותמנו מה שהשגנו כן תספרו חמשים יום עד שביום העצרת תתבוננו מה שהשגתם, כמו אב ההולך עם בנו הקטן ומצא מטמון מאבנים טובות ומרגליות ולא היה בכח הבן ובתפיסתו להבין ערך יקרות הדברים היקרים, ואביו צוה לו לקבל אותם כמו שיוכל שאת, ושאל אותו הבן מה הוא ערך יקרותם, והשיב לו אביו עתה אין עת לעסוק עמך ולהודיעך ערך יקרותם רק כעת חזק ואמץ בני וקח כל מה שתוכל בהתחזקות ובמהירות, ובבואך לביתך תספור ותמנה מה שהשגת ואז אודיעך ערך יקרותם, וכן בכל שנה ושנה מאיר השי”ת אורו הלמעלה מתפיסת אדם בליל א’ של פסח, ואח”כ במשך זמן ימי הספירה יתבונן האדם ומכיר בתפיסתו מעט מעט עד שביום העצרת מתבונן האדם ערך יקרות האור הזה (ועיין בפ’ משפטים בחלק זה בענין נעשה ונשמע)

Mei Hashiloach, Volume II, Leviticus, Emor

Wonderful, thank you. Based on what you said it seems to me that sefira as a function of reassembling the broken pieces of the luchot also relates to reassembling my specific cheilek in Torah. We come into this world with our Torah forgotten, broken, and we have to pick up what we lost and piece together our personal connection to Hashem. Perhaps that’s what ונתן לנו את תורתו means, the ET, that is, the letters comprising the Torah come together as a function of Hashem’s matanah to us.