How do I want to be in the world? — Kendell Pinkney

As we make our way deeper into the time between Pesach and Shavuot where various communities of Jews count the omer (i.e., a 7 week period where some Jews literally count each day marking them with a set of blessings), we arrive at the mystical, strange, fiery celebration day of Lag Ba’omer (literally, the 33rd [day] of the [counting of the] omer). I say “strange” because on what other minor holiday do Jews light celebratory bonfires, shoot off bows and arrows, have a barbecue, and depending on level of observance, get married, or receive one’s first haircut since Pesach? This obscure holiday is almost a literal grab-bag of observances. However, there are certain stories and traditions that accompany the day that offer profound lessons.

In one of my favorite stories to commemorate the holiday, we find Rabbi Akiva - one of the more famous, colorful characters in all of the Talmud interpreting a seemingly straightforward Biblical bromide from Qohelet in a unique way. The biblical text reads: 

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both alike shall be good. (Qohelet 11:6)

An apparently straightforward admonition to be diligent in one’s harvesting, Rabbi Akiva interprets the verse metaphorically through a peculiar story. According to rabbinic legend, Rabbi Akiva once had 24,000 students who all died from plague in the period between Pesach and Shavuot because they didn’t treat each other with respect. Later on, when he moved to a different location where he founded another rabbinic academy and began to teach Torah again, he produced a group of students who became prolific scholars who would go on to change the rabbinic world. 

From this legendary story, I think we can draw a simple, but meaningful lesson on the value of the omer for our lives. Through engaging in this now semi-ancient practice of counting the days between our holiday of deliverance from bondage (Pesach) to the holiday where we receive Torah (Shavuot), we have a chance to slow-down, pay attention and take stock of how we want to be in the world. For those first students of Rabbi Akiva, they were motivated by competition and engaged in a fair measure of cruelty. These virtues are in direct opposition of the Torah that they studied day in and day out. What is more, the fact that they all perished between Pesach and Shavuot metaphorically communicates an interesting idea: the Torah that they studied didn’t pierce their hearts and minds. As a result, they were never able to move from a place of bondage, to a place of revelation, covenant, and freedom.

As we turn towards these final 15 days of counting the omer, my prayer and challenge for each of us is that we might find a bit of time each day to slow down, take stock of our day, and consider the simple but powerful question, “How do I want to be in the world?” And from that questioning, may we be blessed to make manifest the life-changing wonders of Torah in our world.

Kendell Pinkney is the Rabbinic Mentor at Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy

Sources

יבמות ס״ב:ב

בבקר זרע את זרעך ולערב אל תנח ידך כי אינך יודע אי זה יכשר הזה או זה ואם שניהם כאחד טובים….

ר"ע אומר למד תורה בילדותו ילמוד תורה בזקנותו היו לו תלמידים בילדותו יהיו לו תלמידים בזקנותו שנא' בבקר זרע את זרעך וגו' אמרו שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה והיה העולם שמם עד שבא ר"ע אצל רבותינו שבדרום ושנאה להם ר"מ ור' יהודה ור' יוסי ורבי שמעון ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע והם הם העמידו תורה אותה שעה תנא כולם מתו מפסח ועד עצרת אמר רב חמא בר אבא ואיתימא ר' חייא בר אבין כולם מתו מיתה רעה מאי היא א"ר נחמן אסכרה

Yevamot 62b
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both alike shall be good” (Ecclesiastes 11:6)…. 

Rabbi Akiva says that the verse should be understood as follows: If one studied Torah in his youth he should study more Torah in his old age; if he had students in his youth he should have additional students in his old age, as it is stated: “In the morning sow your seed, etc.” They said by way of example that Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students in an area of land that stretched from Gevat to Antipatris in Judea, and they all died in one period of time, because they did not treat each other with respect. And the world was desolate of Torah until Rabbi Akiva came to our Rabbis in the South and taught his Torah to them. This second group of disciples consisted of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua. And these are the very ones who upheld the study of Torah at that time. Although Rabbi Akiva’s earlier students did not survive, his later disciples were able to transmit the Torah to future generations. With regard to the twelve thousand pairs of Rabbi Akiva’s students, the Gemara adds: It is taught that all of them died in the period from Passover until Shavuot. Rav Ḥama bar Abba said, and some say it was Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin: They all died a bad death. The Gemara inquires: What is it that is called a bad death? Rav Naḥman said: Diphtheria.