Essence of the Mitzvah of Sefiras Ha’Omer.
Handwritten 6-Sided Essay by Rabbi Shimson Raphael Hirsch. Frankfurt, 1855.
This handwritten 6-sided essay by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch was written in German and contains numerous quoted verses and passages in Hebrew.
Essay on Sefiras Ha’Omer by Rabbi Shimson Raphael Hirsch
In this essay, Rabbi Shimson Raphael Hirsch notes that the Torah relates Sefiras Ha’Omer to the early period of harvest. Precisely as the farmers begin cutting their wheat fields and increasing their material assets, a Jew begins counting his spiritual assets—Torah and mitzvos—in order to indicate that material assets are only the means as opposed to the ultimate goal in life.
Throughout this composition, Rabbi Shimson Raphael Hirsch discusses various historical points related to Jewish life in Europe, among them emancipation, which he opined should not have any negative impact on one׳s spiritual life; laws that violated or negated the rights of Jews in Europe. He wrote against the Reform Temples where the congregants prayed with organ accompaniment.
His essay was published alongside its Hebrew translation in Maagalei Hashanah Vol.
3 pgs 139-148. [3] handwritten large double-sided leaves. Page size: 35×21 cm. Paper is thin and fragile; brittle margins with damage to text. Leaves are well-kept and bound in ornate leather binding.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Prophecy
“It is unfeasible to deny a man the natural rights of which he is deserving, based on all laws of righteousness and integrity, and then to attempt to stop the destroyer…All negation of rights…is destined to incite riots and massacre…
“Beware and do not forget!
“For all the bitter and dark fates of our forefathers in the past…The preliminary step of negating the rights of Jews was never deemed significant or of importance; yet it was sufficient to stamp the Jews with the mark of ‘abnormal, ’ and this paved the way for future steps…
“Do you believe that our enlightened and philosophical period is immune due to the antiquation of blind, extreme and unrestrained zealousness?
“Take heed of this warning!”
These words by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch proved tragically prophetic as some eighty years following the drafting of this essay, Germany ratified the infamous Nuremburg Laws which laid the ground for the imminent satanic devastation and massacre of European Jewry.
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