On Tuesday evening, April 18, Chazaq hosted a beautiful shiur l’zeicher nishmas Luba bat Mazal at the Beth Gavriel Center.
Each speaker spoke about the S’firas HaOmer period as a time to work on ourselves in every area in order to grow spiritually. Rabbi Tomer Zino, well-known speaker, shared that we practice minhagim of mourning now because 12,000 pairs of students of Rabbi Akiva died during this time between Pesach and Shavuos. Why do we mourn now? How does this connect to us? He asked. It is suggested that they died because they didn’t give enough honor to one another. Everyone was involved in his own life and didn’t see the other person’s life. The Ben Ish Chai explains that they were paired because they needed to work together.
Rabbi Zino shared that many times in our lives we judge others from what we see on the outside. We find it hard to get along with others. Many times, we focus on the negative. We don’t see the whole picture and all the good that people do. Rabbi Akiva’s students didn’t collaborate – they weren’t a group. The Sages teach that the Torah is acquired in a group. “A person only gains in Torah by spreading Torah.”
This is our avodah during the S’firas HaOmer time. A person should not let personal gain mix in with the Torah. Many people came to Yiddishkeit because of a group and warm rabbis. They became inspired to do t’shuvah. “When Jewish people care about each other, great miracles can happen in klal Yisrael.”
We need to help one another. Hashem says, If you take care of another person, then I will take care of you.
Rabbi Akiva accepted this harsh decree and proclaimed that everything that Hashem does is good. He didn’t give up; rather, he acquired five students who became great. We have to learn from Rabbi Akiva. We get up and continue, no matter how bad or difficult things are.
We need a mindset of realizing that every person matters. We can’t have Jewish people without community. He added the best way to show respect for our loved ones is to have a united family. That gives them real nachas. This is the biggest message for this time period. No matter what we are going through, we can’t let money or anything else come between us. We need to see the good in others and to make peace.
Next, Rabbi Ilan Meirov, Director of Chazaq, spoke. He shared that Luba bat Mazal has many great descendants in this world. He posed the question of how we can make these days count. How do we make them have an impact on our lives?
The Gemara tells us that learning Torah is greater than saving a person’s life. Hashem created all different time zones so that someone will always be learning Torah, because this is what keeps our world going. “Torah is the oxygen of this world.”
He shared that we count up rather than down [starting with one, and ending with 49] because every day is building to the great day of receiving the Torah on Shavuos. We have to build ourselves to Shavuos. Increase Torah, increase T’hilim. Conquer anger and jealousy. Do more chesed. We want to reach Shavuos with full spiritual energy.
Next, Rabbi Paysach Krohn spoke. He shared that the son of the S’fas Emes, the Imrei Emes, told his brother that his father had length of days. His brother questioned this. He only lived to be 56. The Imrei Emes explained that length of days is not the same as length of years. No one can guarantee how many years he will have in this world, but we can have length of days by making every day count.
We are in the middle of the time between Pesach and Shavuos. We need to make every day special. If we can do this, then we will have “length of days.” Rabbi Krohn stated, “We count them to make every day count.”
Rabbi Krohn posed the question of why we don’t recite She’hecheyanu on counting the Omer. He shared two answers. The Ran explained that She’hecheyanu is recited when a mitzvah brings simchah. When we count the Omer, we think about the Omer korban that we can’t bring because we don’t have the Beis HaMikdash. That ties in with the phrase we recite after we count, when we say: Hashem, please help us to have the Beis HaMikdash come back again. So, there is some sadness.
B’nei Yisas’char states a different reason. We are counting upward every day because we have to move higher to reach our goal of Shavuos. Then we can recite She’hecheyanu.
Rabbeinu Bachya taught that these days are like Chol Hamoed between Pesach and Shavuos. Shavuos is the last day.
So how do we prepare? The B’nei Yisas’char asks why we count 49 days? In Pirkei Avos we learn that the most important trait a Jew should have is a good heart, which will encompass having a good eye, being a good friend, and being a good neighbor. If you add the gematria of the Hebrew letters in “leiv tov,” amazingly it adds up to 49. We have 49 days to work on developing a good heart.
Rabbi Krohn then shared some heartwarming stories that illustrated how people can go outside of themselves and really think about and care about others.
In one story, there was a man who prepared coffee and tea every day for a learning group of men. He always gave only a half cup to everyone. The reason came out one day that he did this to protect two older men from embarrassment as their hands shook and he didn’t want them to spill on the gemara. He didn’t want to single them out with half cups, so he gave everyone a half cup.
In another story, a woman donated a dress to an organization in Israel and she pinned an envelope with over 900 dollars inside the dress. The recipient was so grateful and amazingly the amount of money was exactly what she desperately needed for rent. A woman in the Five Towns anticipated the needs of a woman in Israel.
He shared a teaching of Rav Aharon Kotler, who taught the tenth way to acquire Torah is to be close to your friends. These are the days we talk about giving Torah over to the next generation. If you don’t honor your friend, you can’t teach him Torah. A parent, a rebbe, or a morah who doesn’t love and respect his students will never be successful in transmitting Torah.
“When you love them, then you can be a teacher.”
He added how important it is to tell your children you love them.
This shiur can be viewed on TorahAnytime.com.
By Susie Garber
