Happy Mother’s Day! And, in about an hour I will wish you Happy Pesach Sheini! And, on Thursday night Happy Lag Ba’Omer! While these three days seem unconnected, other than all occurring during the same week this year, they intersect somehow. What do these three days have in common?
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg (Yavneh graduate!), shared in his article from a few years ago “What Do Lag Ba’Omer and Mother’s Day Have in Common?” (I guess he noticed their “intersection” as well!) “…we will celebrate Lag Ba’Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer. Each day of the omer is characterized by another kabbalistic attribute. Lag Ba’Omer is hod she’b’hod, the glory of glory, reflecting our appreciation of God’s greatness and glory. Alternatively, though, hod can be understood as coming from the same word as hodu, or modeh, meaning thanks. Lag Ba’Omer is a day characterized as thankfulness within thankfulness, or a day to celebrate gratitude.”
But, continues Rabbi Goldberg, it is not just about gratitude. He quotes the Chasam Sofer who says that the מן- manna began falling from heaven on Lag BaOmer. The Jews greeted the manna the first day with excitement. As time went on, they took it for granted and were not as appreciative as they had been. Says the Chasam Sofer, Lag BaOmer is the “time that we identify and say thank you for all of the blessings that regularly descend into our lives, but unfortunately, like the manna, that we take for granted.” On Lag BaOmer we express gratitude for things we take for granted.
So too with Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is a day we celebrate the person “without whom we would literally not be here, but who often goes unappreciated.” We usually take our mothers for granted. Mother’s Day is the day we stop and realize how much our mothers do for us - they are” blessings that regularly descend into our lives that we often take for granted”- and say thank you.
Both Lag BaOmer and Mother’s Day are days of gratitude for things we take for granted.. Interestingly enough, I came across a post from a mother (not Jewish) who said: “It’s Psalm 100 all day long for me on Mother’s Day.” Psalm 100 -
מִזְמ֥וֹר לְתוֹדָ֑ה הָרִ֥יעוּ לַ֝ה כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־ה בְּשִׂמְחָ֑ה בֹּ֥אוּ לְ֝פָנָ֗יו בִּרְנָנָֽה׃
דְּע֗וּ כִּֽי־ה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫קים הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ (ולא) [וְל֣וֹ] אֲנַ֑חְנוּ עַ֝מּ֗וֹ וְצֹ֣אן מַרְעִיתֽוֹ׃
בֹּ֤אוּ שְׁעָרָ֨יו ׀ בְּתוֹדָ֗ה חֲצֵרֹתָ֥יו בִּתְהִלָּ֑ה הוֹדוּ־ל֝֗וֹ בָּרְכ֥וּ שְׁמֽוֹ׃
כִּי־ט֣וֹב ה לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּ֑וֹ וְעַד־דֹּ֥ר וָ֝דֹ֗ר אֱמוּנָתֽוֹ׃ {פ}
A psalm for thanksgiving.-
Raise a shout for the LORD, all the earth;
worship the LORD in gladness;
come into His presence with shouts of joy.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God;
He made us and we are His,-b
His people, the flock He tends.
Enter His gates with praise,
His courts with acclamation.
Praise Him!
Bless His name!
For the LORD is good;
His steadfast love is eternal;
His faithfulness is for all generations.
Somehow, she connects the gratitude for our mothers on this day to gratitude to G-d. On Lag BaOmer and on Mother’s Day we focus on the gratitude to G-d- for all that we take for granted and especially our loving mothers.
Perhaps this is the connection between Mother’s Day, Lag BaOmer and Pesach Sheini. In Bamidbar 9 it discusses how Pesach Sheini came about:
זוַיֹּֽאמְר֠וּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֤ים הָהֵ֨מָּה֙ אֵלָ֔יו אֲנַ֥חְנוּ טְמֵאִ֖ים לְנֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֑ם לָ֣מָּה נִגָּרַ֗ע לְבִלְתִּ֨י הַקְרִ֜יב אֶת־קָרְבַּ֤ן ה֙ בְּמֹ֣עֲד֔וֹ בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל:
Those men said to him, "We are ritually unclean [because of contact] with a dead person; [but] why should we be excluded so as not to bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time, with all the children of Israel?
These men approached Moshe asking since they were impure when the Korban Pesach was brought, could they have a second chance to bring it later. And, in fact they were given a second chance- the 14th day of Iyar. (See my column from 2024- Second- chance Parenting and Pesach Sheini). This second chance is in actuality the ability to start fresh with a clean slate.
We often take for granted this ability to start fresh and have a do-over. Every day the first thing we do in the morning is say Modeh Ani- we actually express gratitude daily for this ability to start fresh. In my Beur Tefillah class we had discussed that before we say Shema at night we say a tefillah:
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם הֲרֵינִי מוֹחֵל לְכָל־מִי שֶׁהִכְעִיס וְהִקְנִיט אוֹתִי אוֹ שֶׁחָטָא כְנֶגְדִּי בֵּין בְּגוּפִי בֵּין בְּמָמוֹנִי בֵּין בִּכְבוֹדִי בֵּין בְּכָל־אֲשֶׁר לִי בֵּין בְּאֽוֹנֶס בֵּין בְּרָצוֹן בֵּין בְּשׁוֹגֵג בֵּין בְּמֵזִיד בֵּין בְּדִבּוּר בֵּין בְּמַעֲשֶׂה בֵּין בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה בֵּין בְּהַרְהוֹר בֵּין בְּגִלְגּוּל זֶה בֵּין בְּגִלְגּוּל אַחֵר לְכָל־בַּר יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא יֵעָנֵשׁ שׁוּם אָדָם בְּסִבָּתִי: יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ ה אֱלֹקי וֵאלֹקי אֲבוֹתַי שֶׁלֹא אֶחֱטָא עוֹד וּמַה־שֶּׁחָטָֽאתִי לְפָנֶֽיךָ מְחוֹק בְּרַחֲמֶֽיךָ הָרַבִּים אֲבָל לֹא עַל־יְדֵי יִסּוֹרִים וָחֳלָיִים רָעִים: יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי־פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶֽיךָ ה צוּרִי וְגֹֽאֲלִֽי:
I hereby forgive anyone who has angered me, or sinned against me, either physically or financially, against my honor or anything that is mine, whether accidentally or intentionally, inadvertently or deliberately, by speech or by deed, by thought or by speculation, in this incarnation or in any other: any Israelite [is forgiven], may no man be punished on my account. May it be Your will, Adonoy, my God and God of my fathers, that I shall sin no more nor repeat my sins, neither shall I again anger You nor do what is wrong in Your eyes. The sins I have committed, erase in your abounding mercies, but not through suffering or severe illnesses. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable before You Adonoy, my Rock and my Redeemer.
What does asking for and granting forgiveness have to do with going to sleep? We want to start our next day with a clean slate, so before we go to sleep we want to rid ourselves of all that did not go right that day. And, we awaken the next morning with gratitude:
מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מלך חַי וְקַיָּם שֶהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ
I thank You, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.
Hashem has returned my soul to me each morning with the ability to have a fresh start and a clean slate. And, in fact, each night when we go to sleep, Hashem takes our souls and each morning when we awake it shows that Hashem decided to give our souls back to us. Notice that the word “מוֹדֶה” means to be grateful, but also means to admit. In being grateful I admit that my daily waking up- that I take for granted- is from Hashem. Hashem is “faithful”- He is always there giving me a fresh start- day in and day out, and I often take Him and that daily fresh start for granted.
Rabbi Goldberg quotes Tony Robbins- a world-renowned life-coach. He says that the secret to happiness and success in life is starting each day with gratitude, and literally expressing verbally all that you have in your life that you do not take for granted. Hmm. Sounds like Modeh Ani to me! It is so easy to fall into a sense of entitlement and to forget to be grateful. Mother’s Day, Pesach Sheini and Lag BaOmer remind us of this message.
So, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, Pesach Sheini and Lag BaOmer let us remember the theme that connects these three days- to be grateful and to not take our blessings for granted. Let us not take for granted and remember to say “Modeh Ani” for the love that our mothers give us each day and for the love that our Father in Heaven showers upon us as well
Advisory Update:
Sixth Grade: Students learned about the impact of social exclusion using technology.
Seventh Grade: Students discussed some of the myths about Israel that are spreading and what we can do to be upstanders for Israel.
Eighth Grade: Students began their first lesson in the substance abuse unit discussing the physiological dangers of substance use on the brain.
No comments:
Post a Comment