Iyar

After the fourth grade finished their Rosh Chodesh davening, their teacher, Rabbi Goldman, told the class: “Today is the first day of the month of Iyar. There is something very special and different about this month. Does anyone know what I mean?”

Many hands were raised.

“We celebrate Lag BaOmer in Iyar” said Itzy. It’s different from the other holidays of the year.”

“And we have Pesach Sheni,” added Yonah. “There is no other holiday when we are given a second chance to fulfill its mitzvah.”

Rabbi Goldman shook his head. “True, Lag BaOmer and Pesach Sheni are special days, but there are important holidays and fasts in many other months as well. I am thinking of something which makes every single day of the month of Iyar different.”

The class was thinking quietly when Benny suddenly called out, “Oh! I get it.” All the boys turned towards Benny as he pointed to the chart on the classroom wall. “We have a mitzvah every single day of this month, sefiras haomer. Every night, we recite the berachah and count the omer.”

“But we count the omer during the months of Nissan and Sivan too,” argued Leibel.

“There’s a difference,” insisted Benny. “We count the omer only on some of the days of those months. In Iyar we count the omerevery single day of the month.”

“Good thinking, Benny,” Rabbi Goldman complimented him. “And besides counting there is something else we are working on every day of this month. The Hebrew word sefirah also means “shining.” During every day of the Counting of the Omer, we should try to make our middos shine.”

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. I, p. 263ff)