![]() ![]() ![]() Rather, as we add a day, we can figure out how to make each day count. We’re not simply counting off days on a calendar, wishing them to pass more quickly. Today is the 8th Day, (Tonight is the 9 th) making 1 week and 1 day of the omer. Each evening, we announce the number of days that have already passed, instead of those yet to come. Usually, when we’re anticipating something great, we count down, as kids do at the end of the school year. The counting of the omer has a very specific method to it. The custom of counting, however, has remained with renewed significance. As with many cultic rites since the destruction of the Temple, we no longer bring that offering to the priest. In doing so, they linked these two holidays not only because they were both agricultural festivals but also to teach us that the freedom of Passover was given to us for the purpose of receiving the Torah on Shavuot.įreedom only has meaning because Jewish living has purpose through Torah. As each day passed, our ancestors would count the days between Passover and Shavuot, 49 in all. ![]() The word, omer, refers to the first sheaf of the ancient barley harvest that was brought to the priest as an offering on the first day after Passover began. In the Jewish calendar now we are in a period of counting, the counting of the omer, sefirat haomer. Six days and then the seventh for Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast here.Ĭounting is part of the Jewish way. And so on, through the pattern of seven qualities within qualities.Welcome again to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. Within each week, we give our reflection a different nuance each day. In practice: rising to do what we have been appointed by God to do. ![]() In practice: the moral commitment that is the foundation for human social life. In practice: pursing peace in every situation. In practice: discerning what is of enduring importance in life. In practice: acting without ulterior motives. In practice: the personal resolve to make necessary personal sacrifices without faltering. WEEK TWO: Gevurah - Strength of character. In practice: the ability to love others in a way that enables them to draw close to the Divine. The seven qualities are described using the language of the seven sefirot, seven qualities of God described in the Zohar (the “Big Book” of Jewish Mysticism). Each week, we should increase our capacity to express on that quality. SPIRITUAL REFLECTION: Kabbalistic and Hassidic teachers suggest that we read the Hebrew words “sefirat ha’omer,” the counting of the Omer, as “sefirot ha’omer,” the divine attributes that emanate into the world during the period of the Omer.įor each of the seven weeks, they teach, we should reflect on a particular personal quality. We make ourselves able to receive new meanings when we actively engage in reflective preparation. Today, we can still look forward to receiving the Torah as if it is new, by finding in it inspiration for new stages of ethical and spiritual growth. Because they were excited to move on to the new, they counted the days until they could receive the Torah. Giving shape to their new life as a nation was a second, even more significant, step. But we do still count! What meanings have recent teachers of Judaism given to the counting? Freedom from slavery was the first step for the Israelites. POST-TEMPLE OMER: At present, we do not fulfill the mitzvah of counting the Omer by bringing grain offerings. THE ORIGINAL INSTRUCTION: The Torah instructs us: “You shall count for yourself from the morrow of the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer for the offering, seven complete Sabbaths there shall be, until the morrow of the seventh Shabbat, you shall count fifty days.” (Vayikra 23) Traditionally, the count begins the on second day of Passover, and culminates on the 50 th day with the Festival of Shavuot, a holiday celebrating the spring harvest and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. ![]()
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