I wanted to discuss briefly a little bit, we've discussed this in past years as well, the period of Sefiras HaOmer. We're all familiar with the fact that based on the Gemara in Yevamos of the tragedy that befell talmidei Rabbi Akiva during this time, that we have minhagei aveilus during Sefiras HaOmer. It always bothered me, the Ramban in the parsha HaTorah says that al pi nistar the time between Pesach and Shavuos is a bechina of Chol HaMoed. And that really, the same way by Sukkos we have a seven-day Yom Tov and then we have an Atzeres, so al pi nistar the same is true for Pesach and the Atzeres of Pesach is Shavuos. Here too you have a seven-day Yom Tov, but instead of having the Atzeres immediately, we have a hiatus and the Atzeres is Shavuos. And he says that al pi sod this tekufa of Sefiras HaOmer has the status of Chol HaMoed. Has the status of Chol HaMoed. Obviously it doesn't, it doesn't mean that al pi halacha in terms of, in terms of issur melacha, but that's what the Ramban says. The problem is that in light of that our minhagei aveilus seem incongruent at best. That we should have, it's true that talmidei Rabbi Akiva, talmidei Rabbi Akiva died. If talmidei Rabbi Akiva had died on Chol HaMoed, so we certainly would not have observed any aveilus then, we would not have adopted minhagei aveilus. And while it's true again obviously this is just, it's al pi nistar, there's no, there's no issur melacha, there's no kedushas hayom, but nevertheless it appears incongruent that we should have these minhagei aveilus at a time which is a bechina of Chol HaMoed, which is a bechina of Chol HaMoed. Ella mai, perhaps the pshat is as follows. The Baal HaMaor, the famous Baal HaMaor at the end of Pesachim discusses the question of why there's no Shehecheyanu on Sefiras HaOmer. Says that the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer is לאגמת נפשינו לחורבן בית אוויתינו and is a tarti de'sasri with simcha. Birchas Shehecheyanu is occasioned by simcha. When a mitzvah is לאגמת נפשינו לחורבן בית אוויתינו, so that's the biggest contradiction imaginable to a Shehecheyanu. So of course you can't say Shehecheyanu. So parenthetically the Rav zichrono l'vracha always said pshat, it's true that the Gemara in Menachos samech vav says that, that Sefiras HaOmer is zeicher l'mikdash, it's true. But by other zeicher l'mikdash we don't say, we don't say that, that it's l'agmas nawsheinu and l'churban beis aviyoseinu. I don't know, we don't associate with lulav kol shiva that a person is supposed to experience experience agmas nefesh that it’s לאגמת נפשנו ולחורבן בית מאוויינו. On the contrary, if you look in the Mishnah Berurah, for some reason you forgot to say Shehecheyanu the first day Sukkos, you can say Shehecheyanu later. You can say Shehecheyanu. We don’t say that it’s l’churban, that it’s לאגמת נפשנו ולחורבן בית מאוויינו. So the Rav zecher tzaddik livracha used to say that the Gemara says אמימר מני יומי ולא מני שבועי אמר זכר למקדש. That Ameimar says there’s no need to count shavuos also. All I have to do is say היום תשעה ימים לעומר. You don’t have to say shehem shavua echad. It’s zecher l’Mikdash. So obviously the Ba’al HaMa’or was bothered, it’s zecher l’Mikdash, so it’s such a tremendous tircha to say שהם שבוע אחד ושני ימים לעומר? All right, true, there were no calculators yet. It was, nowadays it would be hard, but they were used to thinking that. So it was so, it was so, it was so difficult that since it’s only zecher l’Mikdash, we don’t, we can’t impose upon people to calculate what the, what it will be in units of weeks? So the Rav said that the Ba’al HaMa’or learned pshat that there, that there are two kinds of zecher l’Mikdash. There’s a zecher l’Mikdash b’vinyano, meaning that we’re supposed to remember how things were bizman Beis HaMikdash. ציון היא דורש אין לה מכלל דבעיא דרישה. We’re supposed to be aware of how things were bizman Beis HaMikdash. So we shouldn’t forget that there was a din of לולב ניטל כל שבעה בזמן שבית המקדש היה קיים, so התקין רבן יוחנן בן זכאי that we should take lulav kol shiva now to remember zecher l’Mikdash b’vinyano, how the, what, how things happened bizman Beis HaMikdash. But then there are other dinim of zecher l’Mikdash. Clearly, clearly the dinim quoted in Shulchan Aruch at the end of, at the end of Hilchos Tisha B’Av of, you never, you always omit one course from the fanciest, from the fanciest dinner, and you don’t finish a house and you have a brick missing, v’chulu v’chulu. So that obviously is to remember the fact that the Beis HaMikdash is chorev, zecher l’Mikdash b’churbano. So there’s a zecher l’Mikdash that we should remember how things were bizman HaMikdash, and then there’s another zecher l’Mikdash b’churbano that we should be aware and mindful of the fact that right now the Beis HaMikdash is in a state of destruction, that the Beis HaMikdash is b’churbano. So the Ba’al HaMa’or learned pshat zecher l’Mikdash that Sefiras HaOmer is not a zecher l’Mikdash b’vinyano, but rather zecher l’Mikdash b’churbano, and that’s why אמימר מני יומי ולא מני שבועי to accentuate that we don’t have the mitzvah b’shleimusa. That not the pshat because it’s too much of a, since it’s only zecher l’Mikdash it’s enough to be moneh yomei. No, but bedavka Ameimar said you should be moneh yomim and not shavuos to underscore the fact that the Beis HaMikdash is b’churbano. Look at this impoverished mitzvah that we have. אמימר מני יומי ולא מני שבועי. Okay, so parenthetically that’s where the Ba’al HaMa’or inferred the idea that Sefiras HaOmer is zecher l’Mikdash b’churbano. Okay, al kol panim, wherever he gets it from, so the Ba’al HaMa’or says that Sefiras HaOmer is לאגמת נפשנו ולחורבן בית מאוויינו. Or in other words, the whole period of Sefiras HaOmer, the whole period of Sefiras HaOmer is, is devoted in a certain sense according to the Ba’al HaMa’or to being especially mindful of the churban Beis HaMikdash. And for this particular tekufa of the year, for these seven weeks, Chazal introduced a special mitzvah d’rabbanan zecher l’Mikdash b’churbano that we should be mindful with all the natural consequences and ramifications of that, of the churban Beis HaMikdash, of the churban Beis HaMikdash. What’s the Bayis Sheni we know, Bayis Sheni we know was chorev because of sinas chinam. Bayis Sheni was chorev because of sinas chinam. So what that means is that in the agmas nefesh about churban Beis HaMikdash, so it’s not supposed to be an empty or or sterile type of agmas nefesh, but rather an agmas nefesh which provokes us to teshuva. And the main tikun is on the, the sin of sinas chinam, since that was the, the cause of the churban Beis HaMikdash, so any tekufa of aveilus devoted to that certainly only means that we have to be preoccupied with correcting that flaw of sinas chinam. Why did talmidei Rabbi Akiva die? So the Gemara says שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה. שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה.
And again obviously it means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu מדקדק עם צדיקים כחוט השערה. But that notwithstanding it remains the same flaw. The talmidei Rabbi Akiva שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה was basically the same flaw as that which brought about the Churban Beis Hamikdash. שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה also felt in in the ahavas Yisrael. Okay so again it wasn't wasn't chas v'shalom that they that they were nichshal to the extreme of sinas chinam. But nevertheless it was the same flaw. שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה was the same flaw as that which brought about the Churban Beis Hamikdash of sinas chinam in the bein adam l'chaveiro, in the in the lack of of an ahava of ahavas Yisrael. So that's what brought about the Churban Beis Hamikdash. Now the question is why is it what is to be inferred from the fact that talmidei Rabbi Akiva died punkt in this tekufah of bein Pesach l'Atzeres? Presumably their behavior was uniform year-round. And presumably if again according to the exacting standards to which the Ribbono Shel Olam held them, they were found wanting שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, so presumably they didn't measure up all year long. Why is it that the middas hadin was poge'ah in them at this time of year? So lichora the teretz is as follows. The days of Sefiras Ha'omer, the days between Pesach and Shavuos, are intended as a preparation for Matan Torah. In order to have kabbalas Torah, so Chazal tell us ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר כאיש אחד בלב אחד, that since the Torah was being given to Klal Yisrael as a as one unit as one entity, it wasn't being given to yechidim, so Torah could only be given when Klal Yisrael would achieve this madreiga of כאיש אחד בלב אחד. Only if ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר could the Torah be given. And therefore every year as we try to as we try to ready ourselves for another kabbalas Torah, so we're supposed to be devoting ourselves to achieving once again this very very difficult goal of כאיש אחד בלב אחד. And that's why lichora the middas hadin was especially strict with the talmidei Rabbi Akiva in this time of year. Again whatever they were lacking so subtly that we probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but whatever they were lacking in לא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, mistsama they were lacking all year long. All year long was one thing. But bein Pesach l'Atzeres when the avodah of these days is to try to achieve כאיש אחד בלב אחד, so punkt in these days that the talmidei Rabbi Akiva should have been לא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, so then that accentuated the flaw. That magnified the flaw. In these days when we're supposed to again as much as possible we're supposed to be working to achieve כאיש אחד בלב אחד, the talmidei Rabbi Akiva should have been לא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, so then that magnified the flaw and therefore the middah k'neged middah the middas hadin was poge'ah in them exactly in these days. Now in light of everything we just discussed comes out as follows. Forgetting forgetting aveilus, forgetting the Churban Beis Hamikdash for a moment, forgetting talmidei Rabbi Akiva for a moment, from the time of our first Pesach, so what is the chol hamoed of yemei ha'omer given to? What's the avodah of the chol hamoed of of of these seven weeks is to prepare for kabbalas Torah. To prepare for Kabbalas Torah. To prepare for Kabbalas Torah how? To try that we that come Vav Sivan, it should be ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר כאיש אחד בלב אחד. That's the avodah. That's the avodah. That's that ahavas Yisrael. What is the aveilus of Sefiras HaOmer according to the Baal HaMaor and the aveilus of talmidei Rabbi Akiva focus on? So it focuses on mamash the same yesod. The aveilus of the churban Beis HaMikdash by focusing on the sinas chinam, on the sinas chinam. The aveilus of talmidei Rabbi Akiva by focusing on לא נהגו כבוד זה בזה converges with what the Chol Hamoed of Sefiras HaOmer dictates. A preoccupation with ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר כאיש אחד בלב אחד. And perhaps that's why the these the notion of Sefiras HaOmer being a Chol Hamoed and our minhagim of aveilus are not a tarei deshasi because because they both converge, they converge on the avodah of ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר.