Fundamental independence and the counting of the Omer

Parsha and its implementation - Parshat Emor - and the war of the 'Iron Swords' 5784

Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald

Dedicated to the IDF soldiers' success, to safeguard them lest any harm come to them, to the healing of all the wounded and the return of the abducted.

Independence Day is behind us, and the war is still going on. This is the time to look at our independence level and its essence.

In the early years of the state, David Ben-Gurion formulated the principles of its national security. One of the principles he stated was that we must "take care of our security by ourselves and by our own means." In order to exist, be independent, and make the decisions according to our sovereign interests, without being forced to accept dictates from others, we must ensure that we have the ability to protect ourselves without depending on others. We know better than anyone else what is right for us and what our existential interests are. When we depend on others, we may find ourselves in a situation where their interest is against ours. He himself applied this principle. On the eve of the declaration of the state, with the end of the British mandate, US President Truman pressured him to reject it and even imposed an embargo on arms supply. All of this did not prevent him from deciding according to our exclusive interest and proclamation of independence. This is also how he behaved in the issue of the internationalization of Jerusalem. This is also what led him to strive for the establishment of the 'textile factory' in Dimona, etc. Ben-Gurion made strategic alliances with other countries, but he demanded to ensure that the State of Israel could defend itself even without them, when help was really needed, it would be able to maintain its independence and its freedom of action in accordance with its vital interests, without giving in to pressures and dictates from others.

In recent years, this ruling has been challenged. In their opinion, considering regional threats and international interests, the State of Israel can no longer guarantee its existence by itself and is dependent on a strategic defense alliance with the US. This is a problematic approach that means a violation of the state's independence, which invites pressure and dictates.

On Shabbat Simchat Torah 5784 it became clear that there had not been enough ammunition stocking for years, to allow for long and continuous fighting. Israel found itself dependent on aid. This is one of the oversights and failures that will have to be examined as part of the Inquiry Committee after the war.

In recent weeks, there has been a public discourse about the US government trying to dictate how to conduct the war in Gaza. One of the ‘conditions’ that the US government is trying to use to force the State of Israel to accept its decisions is to stop arms shipments. And although we appreciate and respect the US government for standing by our side from the beginning of the war and for the amount of weaponry it has provided us, for standing by our side in the international political arena, recently, however, it has become apparent that the interest of the current American administration and its worldview regarding the manner in which the war should be ended, does not correspond to the existential interest of the State of Israel: the duty to defeat Hamas, to create military pressure to return the abductees, to restore the deterrence that was lost as a result of the Simchat Torah negligence, and to prevent the recurrence of a similar event in the future.

Although there are those in Israel who preach to accept their dictates. They fit their worldview. There are also those who claim that "they (the US) are trying to save us from ourselves by creating hope", but in all the polls that examine Israel public opinion, the vast majority are not ready to accept the American opinions. The State of Israel is the US most important ally in the Middle East; however, it is an independent country and not its protectorate.

It is appropriate that we also look at the essence of our independence and its identity as a unique Jewish state.

Independence Day falls on the days of Sefirat HaOmer. This Sabbath we will read about it in Parashat Emor:

וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם מִנְחָה חֲדָשָׁה לה'

"You shall count from the next day after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Shabbats shall be completed, even to the next day after the seventh Shabbat you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Hashem”. (Vayikra 23:15-16)

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains the meaning of the “counting” Mitzvah, which begins on Pesach and ends on Shavuot – the Matan Torah holiday (ibid):

חגגתם כבר את חג חירותכם, וזכרתם לפני ה׳ את העצמאות שזכיתם בה על ידי הישיבה בארצכם, ואכילת לחם הארץ; כך שהגעתם לחירות ולרווחת העצמאות, אשר, בדרך כלל, הן מטרתן הסופית של כל השאיפות הלאומיות. אולם עליכם לראות עצמכם כעומדים רק בתחילת ייעודכם הלאומי, ולהתחיל עתה לספור לקראת השגת מטרה אחרת. לכן נאמרה מצוות הספירה בספר דברים (טז, ט) בלשון זו: ״מהחל חרמש בקמה תחל לספר שבעה שבעות״. במקום שאחרים חדלים מלספור, שם מתחילה ספירתכם..

"You have already celebrated the holiday of your freedom, and you remembered before G-d the independence you won by living in your land, and eating the bread of the land; So that you have arrived at the freedom and well-being of independence, which, usually, are the ultimate goal of all national aspirations. However, you must see yourself as standing only at the beginning of your national destiny and start counting now towards achieving another goal. That is why the commandment of counting in Sefer Devarim (16:9) is written like this: מֵהָחֵ֤ל חֶרְמֵשׁ֙ בַּקָּמָ֔ה תָּחֵ֣ל לִסְפֹּ֔ר שִׁבְעָ֖ה שָׁבֻעֽוֹת

“… start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain." Where others stop counting, that's where your counting begins...”

The commandment to start counting from Pesach after we have already won national self-sufficiency, towards another goal, towards the giving of the Torah, shows the essence of our unique independence. National independence is the beginning of the process that ultimately leads to spiritual independence, to the holiday of Shavuot, to the giving of the unique Torah of the people of Israel that shapes our self-identity. The war sharpened our self-identity as a Jewish state. The days of counting the Omer are a suitable time to observe to what extent we strengthen it.