The Omer
Counting the Days from Passover to Shavuot
The counting of the Omer forms a connection between Passover and Shavuot in a number of ways. Biblically, the image of the sheaf of grain brought to the Temple is repeated in the gathering of the sheaves in the Book of Ruth, which is read on Shavuot. In Midrash, the 49 days of Omer are considered to be 49 steps leading to personal improvement. This self-improvement makes the individual worthy of receiving the Torah (granted to Jewish people collectively and individually on the first day of Shavuot). In Jewish mysticism, counting the Omer is an important process leading to tikkun olam, the correction of the world. In this kabbalistic approach, the individual must cautiously count the Omer every night in order to be able to participate in the mystical tikkun olam. Excerpted from The Jewish Religion: A Companion (Oxford University Press).
The Omer (“sheaf”) was a harvest-offering brought to the Temple on the second day of Passover (Leviticus 23:9-14). There is a further command that, from the day when the Omer was brought, seven weeks were to be counted, and on the 50th day a festival was to be celebrated (Leviticus 23: 15-21). This festival was later called Shavuot, “the Feast of Weeks” (because it falls on the day after the seven weeks have been counted).
In the Rabbinic tradition, all this was understood to mean that, even after the destruction of the Temple, each individual should actually count these days, by saying each day, “This is the X day of the Omer.” Among the many interpretations given to counting the Omer is that Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah while Passover celebrates the Exodus from Egypt. The free man, as he reminds himself of the bondage in Egypt, counts each day towards the even greater freedom enjoyed by those who live by the Torah.
In the Middle Ages, the Omer period became one of sadness and mourning. Various conjectures have been made about why what was presumably a joyous period in Temple times was transformed in this way. Orthodox Jews do not have a haircut during this period, and weddings do not take place. There are, however, different customs regarding the duration of the mourning period. Some observe it from the end of Passover to Lag Ba-Omer (the 33rd day), others from the end of Passover until Shavuot or until three days before Shavuot, and there are other variations.
In the kabbalah [Jewish mysticism] each of the 49 days of the Omer represents one of the combinations of the seven lower Sefirot (divine emanations, i.e., in each one there are all seven) and in a kabbalistic prayer the worshipper entreats God to help him [or her] lead pure life and pardon him [or her] for the flaw he [or she] has produced in the Sefirah of the day.
Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs (1920-2006) was a Masorti rabbi, the first leader of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom, and a leading writer and thinker on Judaism.
