Pemikiran Yahudi Imamat 23:10: Akeidat Yitzchak

From the belief in G'ds power, we proceed to the belief in Torah prophecy as being of Divine origin. This was proved by the collective experience at Mount Sinai, on the occasion of which Israel exclaimed "today we have seen that it is possible for G'd to speak with man, and for man to survive such an encounter alive."(Deut. 5,21) Before dealing with that experience in detail, in remembrance of which we observe Shavuot, Pentecost, we read about the mitzvah of Omer, the offering of the new barley harvest, and the counting from that day. This adds to our appreciation of what had transpired at Sinai. Teaching us the proper appreciation of Torah and what it stands for, involves three preliminary phases. Firstly, while Torah knowledge without physical and material well being is difficult to achieve by the average person, (see Mishnah "im eyn kemach eyn Torah," where there is no flour there is no Torah Avot, 3,17) this material blessing is necessary, but at the same time its function must be clearly delineated. Before matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, we read about the Omer "when you come to the land which I give you and you will reap its harvest, you shall bring the Omer, the first of your harvest, to the Priest." (Leviticus 23,10) Already Isaac had used this formula when he blessed Jacob i.e. "and may the Lord give you." (Genesis 27,28) The conjunctive letter vav indicated the subordinate nature of material blessings to spiritual rewards. Though the latter had not been spelled out, the former is introduced merely as an addition to the spiritual reward which had not been specified. When Solomon says in Proverbs 3,16, concerning Torah and its rewards, "long life is at its right, wealth and honour at its left," he emphasizes the greater reward which will be handed out by the right hand. The reward to be handed out by the left hand, being temporal in nature, is of course, inferior. Oredi chayim, long life, or better "length of life,” refers to the life in the world to come, a world of infinity. Elsewhere, Kohelet, 10,2, contrasting the wise man and the fool, says "the heart of the fool is on his left, the wise man's heart is on the right side." He who prefers the rewards that originate from the left side is foolish, because he does not have his priorities right. Our striving must be directed towards obtaining the rewards that originate from the right. The fool, in his folly uses wisdom as an instrument to gain transient values, whereas the wise strives for material wealth, transient though it is, to enable him to pursue gains of enduring, eternal value. Psalm 67, which is recited when we count the Omer, contains forty nine words, paralleling the symbolism inherent in the seven arms of the menorah, candelabra in the tabernacle.