In Judaism, we learn that our accomplishments are reason for joy and religious satisfaction. Isn’t this the sense we have when we celebrate a siyum (completion)? Indeed, the occasion itself can be seen as a culmination of anticipatory moments. Our actions and our thoughts bring us into ever sharper focus on the event and the celebration. We anticipate the coming of a special occasion. The very movement of time imbued with meaning carries power. But still, if these moments simply “happen upon us,” then the meaning and significance that we find would be fleeting at best. We count time and find meaning in the events that define moments in time. In both cases, we see a clear example of finding meaning and significance in a moment in Jewish time. Another is the link between Lag Ba’Omer and the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire. Why “pause” at Lag Ba’Omer to celebrate when the Torah makes no mention of the holiday? One reason for the holiday is that it is the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Our sefirah, or counting, is celebrated first on the thirty-third of the counting (Lag Ba’Omer or Lag LaO’mer among the Sephardim) and the at the culmination of the counting, Shavuot. Each day, rather than measuring the ticking of time, we are to mark the day with the counting of the Omer. Each day, we count the period from the second day of Passover through Shavuot. The Jewish year is an uneven temporal landscape, where festivals and holidays, solemn observances and fasts alter the meaning and significance of what might otherwise be just another day or season.ĭuring no period are we any more conscious of the movement of time toward a festival as we are now, during the sefira, the counting of the Omer. With the Sabbath’s arrival, we celebrate joyously only to reluctantly say farewell at havdalah before we start the cycle again. The week is a continual crescendo to the Sabbath. Certain moments and days are more significant than others. But G-d has created us to be the opposite we have been created to be subjective, to engage with the world and with each other in such a way as to animate and give meaning to our experiences within the context of time. The clock is relentless, objective, mechanical. Could you imagine how terrible it would be if the totality of our experience of time was as unchanging as its actual measure? In equal, perfectly differentiated, precise segments. The ticking of the clock is uniformly, maddeningly constant.
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