Each Wednesday at this time of the year, our Hebrew school students find pictures of a popular animated television character on the door to the sanctuary. Each Wednesday we attach pictures of Homer Simpson to this door. Today the students will see 25 pictures of Homer Simpson on the sanctuary door. Why Homer? Why 25? Each Wednesday between Pesach and Shavuot we count the pictures of Homer. This is to help the students understand that we are counting the Omer.

When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, on the second day of Passover an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering. This grain offering was referred to as the Omer. We can no longer bring an omer of barley to the temple, but still Jews count the Omer to mark the days between Pesach and Shavuot.

Pesach and Shavuot are linked together. In our tradition they have equal status. I recognize that Pesach is a far more popularly observed holiday among Jews today. But Pesach is only half the story. On Pesach we celebrate freedom. We recall that God took us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

The freedom we celebrate on Pesach is not freedom to go where you want to go, do what you want to do. God does not take us out of Egypt and say, "Have a nice day." God takes us out of Egypt for a specific purpose. God delivers us from slavery in order to go to Sinai and receive the Torah. Pesach commemorates the beginning of the story. Shavuot commemorates the conclusion.

In our congregation we have created new rituals to celebrate Shavuot. The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai is traditionally called Ma’amad Har Sinai, standing at Mount Sinai. On Shavuot we fully unroll the Torah scroll. It encircles the congregation. Leaders of the congregation hold the scroll. We stand inside the circle. Young people who have become Bar/Bat Mitzvah since last Shavuot will stand in front of their Torah portions. In turn, they will each read their Torah portions.

We observe Ma’amad Har Sinai, standing at Mount Sinai by standing and hearing the words of Torah. In hearing these words read by our young people, we link ourselves to those who first heard the words of Torah. We link ourselves to those who have studied these words of Torah over the centuries. We link ourselves to those who will study them in years to come.

We count the Omer from Pesach to Shavuot to connect the Exodus from Egypt to the revelation at Sinai. We count the Omer to remind ourselves of the approach of Shavuot. If today is the 25th day in the counting of the Omer, we can know that Shavuot is 24 days away, on May 26th.

Today is Tu B’Shevat. The number 15 is written in Hebrew Tet, Vav. When said out loud it is pronounced Tu. B’ means "in." So today is the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, often called the "New Year of the Trees."

You may ask, why do trees need a "New Year?" Why can’t they just join us in the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah each fall? Halacha, Jewish law, has a need to measure the age of trees. Because a tithe can only be taken from trees once they reach the age of three years. It would difficult to measure and keep track of the day on which a tree is "born." So the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat is the birthday of all trees. In the land of Israel at this time of year the almond trees begin to bloom.

We do not currently collect tithes. We have not done so since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70. Tu B’Shevat has taken on new meanings.

In the middle ages, Kabbalists, Jewish mystics developed a Tu B’Shevat seder which tied eating fruits and nuts in a particular sequence with the quest for hidden wisdom. In our time this custom has been revived.

In the modern era, Tu B’Shevat has become an occasion to express our connection to the Land of Israel. The early Zionist pioneers planted tress to drain the swamps and reforest the desolate land of Israel. Since 1908, the Jewish National Fund has turned to Jewish children around the world to participate in this process.

For many years we have responded to the Jewish National Fund’s appeal to plant a tree in Israel. I recall as a child bringing dimes to Hebrew School to place in a card board holder. When I reached my goal of 20 dimes, I had enough to buy a tree for Israel.

Many Jews today observe the custom to eat produce of the land of Israel that we have not yet eaten this year. This afternoon our Hebrew school students will enjoy dates, figs, and Israeli olives.

Dreidel is the official game of Hanukkah. Throughout the year we eat many holiday foods, latkes, hamantashen, apples and honey. Throughout the year we have many holiday ritual objects, shofar, lulav, a megilah. Only at Hanukkah do we have an official holiday toy, the dreidel.

What is the origin of the dreidel? Often people seeking to understand the meaning of a ritual ask about its origin. Generally the meaning of the ritual is not found in its origin. The origins questions are reductive. The more important meaning of a ritual is the meaning it has acquired over the years.

So, in this case I can tell you that the origin of the dreidel is from a Medieval German gambling game. The word dreidel comes from the German dreihen-to spin. The Medieval German gambling game was played with Latin letters.

N       Nisht           Nothing

G       Gantz          All

H       Halb            Half

S       Shtel           Put

Jews took these same letters, translated them into Hebrew and gave them new a meaning, Nes Gadol Haya Sham, A great miracle happened there.

For children the surface meaning of the dreidel is sufficient. But adults can see a deeper meaning in the dreidel.

The letters of the dreidel, which remind us of how Judah the Macabee saved the people of Israel, are used in the Torah in the Book of Genesis to describe how the first Judah participated in saving his father Jacob aka Israel. Judah’s coming to Egypt paved the way for Jacob aka Israel. The text says “He had sent Judah ahead of him …to point the way toward Goshen.” The two English words “toward Goshen” are expressed in one Hebrew word, “Goshna” which is spelled, Gimmel, Shin, Nun, Hay. So the dreidel calls us to read this phrase in Genesis as a hint of the future event, a foreshadowing of another Judah, Judah the Maccabee saving Israel.