Colors: Blue Color

In what was a unique and extraordinary experience, over 50 Stern College students had the opportunity to spend Shabbat with YU Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, and his wife, Rebbetzin Shoshana Schachter. The special Shabbaton took place on April 12-13 at the home of Shoshana Schechter, associate dean of Torah and Spiritual Life at Stern College for Women, and her husband, Dr. Yitzchak Schechter.

The Torah commands us to count the days from Pesach to Shavuos in order to connect the Exodus on Pesach with the Giving of the Torah on Shavuos. The days of S’firas HaOmer are a time to rectify character attributes. Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that the name “Shavuos,” literally “Weeks,” so beautifully conveys this idea, since the holiday of Shavuos is an outcome of the weeks that precede it. For this very reason, the date of the holiday of Shavuos is determined by the 49 days of S’firas HaOmer, and not the date, because the 49 days prior, that are used to prepare, are essential to the holiday, and are required in full (see Sheim MiShmuel, BaMidbar 5675).