From weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs to business functions and lectures, our facility is a great setting and location for your special occasion. BAS Rabbi's Message for April 2010
The Counting of the Omer
posted March 23, 2010
Jewish people today continue a tradition mandated in the Torah to count the days from the second day of Passover until, but not including, Shavuot (this year March 30 to May 18), 7 weeks—49 days in all (Leviticus 23:15-16). At Bnai Abraham we perform the ritual as well.
In explaining the verses, the Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary, states, “From the second night of Pesah until Shavuot, we count 49 days of the Omer. Jewish communities hold varying segments of this time period known as the S’firah (literally ‘counting’), as a time of semi-mourning during which weddings and festive occasions do not take place.” 1) Why count? 2) Why is the number 7 once again so prominent? (7 x 7 weeks of days to be counted)? 3) Why the sadness?
The omer was a measure of the new barley harvest—the first grains of barley being a barometer of the new season’s fruitfulness, which was brought as a wave offering on the first day. Then seven full weeks were to be counted off, and on the fiftieth day (when the wheat crop has ripened) two loaves of wheat bread were to be waved as an offering. The fiftieth day was celebrated as the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot). Why is the number 7 prominent? Perhaps, some scholars say, because there are 7 complete phases of the moon from the time the first grains are ready until the harvest in the fall (April through October, Passover until Shavuot). Thus the specialness of the number 7 may have its roots in the agricultural cycle.
Why the sadness? The sages state that during this period in Roman times, the students of Rabbi Akiba were smitten with a plague that abated on the 33rd day, Lag B’Omer. Originally, though, the period which determines whether the year’s crops will be fruitful or not is one of anxiety and trepidation. Will there be both enough rain and good weather so that the new plants will thrive?
Why the counting? It is during this season in Israel that a dreaded hot desert wind (the hamsin) may swoop down on the crop and destroy it overnight.
Hamsin is the Arabic word for 50, and may be related to the Hebrew word Haminshim, 50.
It might well have been that the ancient Israelite farmer counted each day of the growing season as a blessing if the hamish did not come and their crops were not suddenly destroyed.
Modern interpreters tell us that even with all of our technology, life is indeterminate. A hamsin, a hurricane, a tornado, can come at any time and blow our homes, our crops, our plans away.
Nonetheless, our actions and our attitudes do matter within the system. Our careful counting of each day affects us. It affects our appreciation of our fleeting life, and makes us aware of the blessings we have within it.
How can we teach ourselves and our children to be more aware, to be more sensitive, to be more conscious, to be more grateful for the blessings in our lives and for the bad things that don’t happen in our lives?
Perhaps this additional final answer is to be found in the vital link that the sages established between Pesah and Shavuot.
At Pesah, we gained our freedom. At Shavuot we received the Torah. With freedom comes responsibility. The tradition of freedom must be cultivated and nurtured so that creativity and productivity will have a field day. According to the rabbis “Only one is truly free who engages in the study of Torah.” In the words of the psalmist, “Teach us to count our days, so that we may acquire a heart of wisdom.”
Shalom!
Rabbi Mark L. Shrager
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