During these days of counting from Pesach until Shavuos we mourn the loss of thousands of students of the great Talmudic Sage Rabbi Akiva. A plague consumed them and a dearth of Torah excellence and study ensued in their absence until Rabbi Akiva was able to begin anew. Obviously, their stature was imposing and their prudence in Talmud was extraordinary.

We live in a very liberal society where feeling victimized is the vogue of the day. Whether the culprit is a parent, your teacher, or perhaps a friend, we are seldom the cause of our failure. Rather, the reason for our inconvenience or frustration is on account of others. Of course, this is not realistic and certainly not honest.

The parsha opens with an in-depth discussion of the olah sacrifice which is totally burnt on the altar. Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh has a lengthy dissertation expounding how the olah sacrifice alludes to the tremendous difficulties that we have suffered over the years from the nations of the world.

We begin sefer Vayikra dealing with the various offerings that were sacrificed in the Mishkan. Some of them were in the category of voluntary ‘donations’ to elevate the owners of those particular sacrifices. However, there were many obligatory sacrifices both on the individual level and communal offerings.

Rashi cites the Talmud that the sin of the Golden Calf will plague us for all generations. The gravity of their iniquity was such that a deeply engrained flaw had penetrated into their construal. Although we had so passionately stated that we were primed and ready to accept the Torah without even knowing the details, shortly afterwards we seemingly dissented and displayed a lack of trust in Hashem. Even though we were under duress, having apparently lost our cherished leader, nonetheless, we failed to live up to our expectations. And that was forgiven but not forgotten!

Perhaps one of the most embarrassing episodes in the history of our nation is that of the Golden Calf. Rashi explains that Moshe told the people that he was going to be gone for 40 days. However, they misunderstood how to count the 40 days and they included the day that he left. Since they were off by a day they expected Moshe to return one day earlier and when he didn’t they were terrified that they had lost their leader.

After the Torah gave us a detailed explanation of the components of the Mishkan and the magnificent garments that they donned, the ceremonial procedure to install Ahron and his children as the Kohanim to service the Jewish nation took place.

In the desert we merited that Hashem dwelled with us. However, this phenomenon requires a deep explanation. How can Hashem in His infinite genre ‘fit’ into a finite place? Furthermore, did Hashem really need a place to call His home?

The parsha concludes with Moshe ascending to Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. En route, he was accompanied by Yehoshua. Rashi poses the question why was Yehoshua there? He answers quite profoundly that we see the devotion of a disciple. Moshe engaged Hashem and merited to directly receive the Torah from the ‘mouth’ of Hashem.

Yisro became enamored with the Jewish people. He was informed about the splitting of the Sea, the Manna, the war against Amalek and the well of Miriam. Surely, even one of those miraculous events would be sufficient to persuade anyone to join our team and definitely all of them together! However, Yisro comments that now he realizes the Hashem is the greatest of all the powers of the universe.