By Ariel Horowitz, St. Louis

Regional VP Education

Parshat Emor

We are right now in the period called Sefiras HaOmer; counting the days between Pesach and Shavous. The Sefirah begins with the offering of the Korban Omer on the second day of Pesach. We actually read about the Korban Omer in this week’s parsha. The Korban Omer was a barley offering that needed to be offered before any produce could be eaten of the new crops. Why is the offering that was to represent all new produce made of barley? Barley usually was animal food-shouldn’t wheat, which was eaten by people, be the grain offered up? Another question: Why when we count the days of the Omer, we count up; shouldn’t we be counting down with excitement to the approaching day of receiving the Torah? The answer is that this time period is a time of self improvement. We need to improve ourselves, both in character and determination. When we leave Pesach, we offer a barley offering. The barley offering represents the inner beast within us, the inner animal that lusts for physical pleasure and selfishness. As we get closer to receiving the Torah, we want to get rid of that inner beast and become more human. We want to uplift ourselves so we can serve G-d with everything he gives us. Then we can enter Shavous and offer the Shtei HaLechem( the two wheat breads that is burned in the Beis HaMikdash on Shavous) and be human. NCSY, in this period of counting, work on yourself to become to true human you are capable of being.