We have been talking about the concept that, during Sefirat HaOmer, we have to work on our love for our fellow man, and on our Middot. The Chida asks an age old question. The Dayenu that we say in the Haggadah lists 15 things, such as:
If God took us out of Egypt, and did not punish the Egyptians…, that would have been enough.
It would have been fine if they weren’t punished. And each one of those Dayenus, on their own, is something that is worthy of saying thank you for. But one of the Dayenus that we say is, “
אלו קרבנו לפני הר סיני ….
Ilu Kervanu Lifne Har Sinai/If You brought us close to Har Sinai, but You didn’t give us the Torah, Dayenu.”
That is hard to understand. It’s like saying, “If you brought me to the restaurant, but you didn’t serve me any food, that would’ve been enough.
But if you didn’t get any food, why is it worth it to sit in the restaurant? Coming to Har Sinai is very nice, but without the Torah, we weren’t served anything.
The Chida answers that we see from here that there was obviously something great that happened before the meal.
Actually coming to the restaurant did some thing to us. Maybe the restaurant has nice hors d’oeuvres that you get before the meal., Maybe there’s a nice aroma in the restaurant. Maybe there’s a nice ambience. So too, just being at Har Sinai did something to us. It cleansed us. It purified us, and made us into better people, which enabled us to receive the Torah.
And every year this repeats itself. We are going through a process called Kervanu Lifne Har Sinai.
We have to appreciate that. And, of course, we have to do our own work. The rabbis tell us, of the days of Sefirat HaOmer, that we get a surge on the night of Pesach, when God lifted us up. Then He brings us back down to earth, and we have to work on and earn it through our own work over the next 49 days, which we are currently in the middle of.
It’s all about character perfection, working on our Middot, and getting ourselves ready to receive the Torah. But we get help. God helps us during these times, just like He helped us then.
I heard a beautiful thought from Rabbi Avraham Schorr, in his Hagaddah shel Pesach. He says that we usually read “Ilu Kervanu LHar Sinai, to mean “If He brought us close to Har Sinai,” but he reads it as, “If You brought the people close to each other in front of Har Sinai.”
This process brings us together, the process of making the Jewish people join and come together. That is what we are supposed to be working on during these days.
Each person has to do his own introspection on what separates him, and what will help unite him. This has to be our focus during these days; Kervanu/Bringing us close, before Har Sinai.
Have a wonderful day.