1. Today is Lag BaOmer. You are invited to light a candle today in honor of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, as this is the anniversary of his passing, and of course to pray and learn.
2. This week's Torah portion is Parashat Emor, the eighth parsha in the book of Leviticus.
3. The parsha first deals with the Kohanim and their work. The Kohanim are the spiritual leaders of the people of Israel, and they receive an instruction not to come near the dead and cemeteries, from then until today. One explanation for this: our spiritual leaders focus on life, not death.
4. The parsha continues with the Jewish holidays. It's moving to find in it the holidays and special times, exactly as we celebrate them even today, thousands of years later: the sukkah and the four species, fasting on Yom Kippur, matzah on Pesach, the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, and more.
5. We continue to count the Omer, from Pesach to Shavuot. After Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day, on Shabbat we will already count 34 days of the Omer.
Shabbat Shalom.
