A Season of Anticipation is About to Begin
Shabbat Hagadol 5785
Russ Resnik, UMJC Rabbinic Counsel
Cecil B. DeMille’s classic 1956 film about Moses and the Jewish liberation from bondage in Egypt includes some fabulous scenes. It used to be (and maybe still is) rerun in various media during this season but it’s easy to pan as well as to enjoy. For example, I grew up in the burgeoning and diverse Jewish community of Southern California and never met another Jew who looked anything like DeMille’s Moses, aka Charlton Heston (which doesn’t sound very Jewish either). Many details of the film evoke Hollywood more than the Book of Exodus. How about the sultry Yvonne de Carlo as Sephora, the renamed wife of Moses? And what about Cecil B. DeMille himself? That name alone declares he’s not a member of the tribe.
But the movie does get one important thing right: its title, The Ten Commandments.
De Mille creates some great scenes, a couple of which might well have led to a glorious conclusion, like the hordes of liberated Hebrew families joyously departing the magnificent Egyptian cities that they helped build. Or the iconic special-effects parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army as the waters come crashing down. Great endings! But the screenplay rightly takes us to Mount Sinai and the awesome drama of receiving the Torah, represented by the two stone tablets Moses clutches inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
The film goes on a bit after that, but this is the true climax, and it reflects the biblical portrayal of Passover. The culmination of the story that we commemorate each year isn’t our departure from Egypt, but the encounter with the Eternal One at Mount Sinai, fifty days later. To emphasize this point, the Torah commands us to begin counting the Omer, or sheaf of firstfruits, during Passover.
Then you are to count from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the omer of the wave offering, seven complete Shabbatot. Until the morrow after the seventh Shabbat you are to count fifty days, and then present a new grain offering to Adonai. . . . You are to make a proclamation on the same day that there is to be a holy convocation, and you should do no regular work. (Lev 23:15–16, 21 TLV)
This “holy convocation” is Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks, as in Deuteronomy 16:9–10.
Seven weeks you are to count for yourself—from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you will begin to count seven weeks. Then you will keep the Feast of Shavuot to Adonai your God. (TLV)
In both these passages the start date for the seven-week period of counting the Omer is unclear. At first glance, “the Shabbat” mentioned in Leviticus 23 would seem to be the weekly Shabbat that occurs during Passover, but rabbinic tradition says “the Shabbat” in this context refers to the first day of Passover, which like the weekly Shabbat is a day of holy convocation and freedom from work (Lev 23:7). The seven “Shabbatot” of 23:15 can be translated simply as seven “weeks” as in CJB. The term is used in exactly that way a little later, in Leviticus 25:8, where it refers to seven “weeks” of years, to equal 49 years.
This traditional interpretation continues to be the subject of friendly debate, but many of us in the Messianic community opt to go with it so that we celebrate Shavuot in solidarity with the rest of the Jewish world. In addition, it would seem out of place for one of the three great annual festivals to have a floating date, as it would if the seven-week count began on the Shabbat of Passover week, which would be a different date each year. So, the sixth of Sivan it is every year!
But if Shavuot always falls on the same date, why do we need to keep count at all? Aha! This question gets to the heart of Sefirat ha-Omer, or counting the Omer. The count is not primarily about calculating a date, but about spiritual anticipation. We count the days until the giving of Torah with eager expectancy as we prepare to receive anew the Word of God.
Passover is the central story of the Hebrew Scriptures. All the rest of the stories flow into it or out from it. It is the story that makes Israel a people, and every year we affirm our status as God’s people by retelling the story in the Passover Seder. The custom of counting the Omer connects the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai with the grand narrative of Passover redemption. We might say that our central narrative isn't just Passover, but the combined Passover-Shavuot story, the season of our freedom and of the giving of our Torah.
As Messianic Jews we have another, equally compelling narrative that is an organic part of this one; the story of Messiah Yeshua, who walked and taught among us, and died and rose again during the Passover season. Our Jewish identity as followers of Messiah hinges on the truth that this story is not separate, but inextricably intertwined with the grand narrative of Passover-Shavuot. Yeshua presents himself in Jerusalem at the time the Passover lambs are being selected. He eats a final Passover meal with his followers, dies—according to the Besorah of John at the time when the Passover lambs are being slain—and rises from the grave as the firstfruits of the dead, about the time that the firstfruits of new grain are being presented in the Temple. Messiah is our Passover, not replacing the old, but renewing and carrying it forward.
After his resurrection, Messiah appears to his followers and instructs them to remain in Jerusalem and await the promised immersion in the Spirit, Ruach ha-Kodesh, for “you will receive power when the Ruach ha-Kodesh has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 TLV ). Yeshua instructs his followers that his glorious resurrection and ascension to the heavenly court are not the end of the story, but prepare the way for the fullness of the Spirit to come upon them. Accordingly, the followers wait in eager anticipation during the days of Sefirat ha-Omer, until the promise is fulfilled on Shavuot (Acts 2:1–4).
As the Ruach is moving upon the Yeshua-followers in palpable ways, one of them, Kefa or Peter, steps forward to explain what is happening. He tells the crowds gathered in the Temple courts for the festival that what they’re seeing and hearing fulfils the Lord’s promise in the book of Joel:
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”
(2:28–29 ESV, 3:1–2 in Jewish Bibles)
This is the culmination of the Passover-Shavuot cycle in the days of Messiah Yeshua, and we will reflect it this year in the UMJC community with a unified prayer effort, calling on the Lord to “Renew Us in Your Spirit.” Our focus on spiritual renewal will widen each week, beginning with personal renewal in the Spirit on week 1 and ending on week 7 with prayer for awakening and renewal in the Spirit upon the whole people of Israel.
Just as Passover sets the stage for Shavuot and the giving of Torah, so does the resurrection of Yeshua set the stage for the outpouring of the Spirit. And today we desperately need to not only remember this outpouring, but to experience it again. We need a fresh move of the Spirit to regain the energy and passion that will fuel our devotion to Messiah Yeshua once again.
Unified prayer during Sefirat ha-Omer has been a custom in the Union for years, a custom that both boosts our communal prayer effort and provides a focus for our personal spiritual practice during this intense and uplifting season. So, I invite you to join in this year, beginning Sunday night, April 13, and continuing for seven weeks until Shavuot on the fiftieth day, beginning Sunday evening, June 1. Click here to download your guide to counting the Omer, complete with the traditional blessings.
May you experience a joyous Passover and uplifting days of anticipation this year in Messiah Yeshua, as we pray together for renewal of the Spirit’s presence and work among us.