Torah Talk for Parashat Emor
May 17, 2016 by
In this parasha, Hashem gives Moshe a series of laws specific to the cohanim (priests); Hashem then instructs Moshe to tell the people about the festivals in addition to the laws of blasphemy and murder.
The Torah commands us the following (23:15-16): “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of rest, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete; even until the day after the seventh week shall you number fifty days; and you shall present a new meal-offering to Hashem.” This is the mitzvah of counting the Omer, a mitzvah which we are currently in the midst of fulfilling. This coming Thursday will be Lag B’Omer. Lamed-Gimel or Lag equals 33 in the gematria system of associating Hebrew letters with numbers, hence the name of the 33rd day of the Omer.
What is this Omer about and specifically why is Lag B’Omer singled out for special consideration? Read more >
