Counting of the Omer (, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days starting with the

Wave Offering The wave offering (Hebrew: ''tenufah'' תנופה) or sheaf offering or omer offering (''korban omer'') was an offering (''korban'') made by the Jewish priests to God (Exodus 29:24, 26, 27; Leviticus 7:20-34; 8:27; 9:21; 10:14, 15, etc.). The s ...

of a sheaf of ripe grain with a sacrifice immediately following the commencement (Hebrew: , ''reishit'') of the grain harvest, and the

First Fruits First Fruits is a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In classical Greek, Roman, and Hebrew religions, the first fruits were given to priests as an offering to deity. In Christian faiths, the tithe is similarl ...

festival celebrating the end of the grain harvest, known as Feast of Weeks/ Shavuot/ Pentecost in Mosaic Law (

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...

tradition, the period between the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

or Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Shavuot. This is the second of the three annual Mosaic Law feast periods. This '' mitzvah'' ("commandment") derives from the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the ''Omer'', a sacrifice containing an '' omer''-measure of

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, was offered in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the ''Omer'' begins on the second day of

(the 16th of Nisan) for Rabbinic Jews ( Orthodox,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

), and after the weekly '' Shabbat'' during

for

Karaite Jews Karaite Judaism () or Karaism (, sometimes spelt Karaitism (; ''Yahadut Qara'it''); also spelt Qaraite Judaism, Qaraism or Qaraitism) is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Torah alone as its supreme a ...

, and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the 'fiftieth day.' The idea of counting each day represents spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah which was given by God on

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...

at the beginning of the month of Sivan, around the same time as the holiday of Shavuot. The Sefer HaChinuch (published anonymously in 13th-century Spain) states that the Israelites were only freed from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

at Passover in order to receive the Torah at Sinai, an event which is now celebrated on Shavuot, and to fulfill its laws. Thus the Counting of the ''Omer'' demonstrates how much a Jew desires to accept the Torah in their own life.

Sources

The commandment for counting the Omer is recorded within the Torah in : As well as in : However, the obligation in post-Temple destruction times is a matter of some dispute. While Rambam (Maimonides) suggests that the obligation is still biblical, most other commentaries assume that it is of a rabbinic origin in modern times.

Background

Wheat sheaves near King's Somborne - geograph

The '' omer'' a ("

sheaf Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics), a mathematical tool * Sheaf toss, a Scottish sport * River Sheaf, a tributary of River Don in England * ''The Sheaf'', a student-run newspaper se ...

") is an old Biblical measure of volume of unthreshed stalks of grain. The Sunday after the start of each farmer's

grain harvest, a sheaf of barley from each farm was waved by a Priest in the

, signalling the allowance of the consumption of ''

chadash In Judaism, ''Chadash'' (or ''Chodosh'') () is a concept within Kashrut (the Jewish dietary regulations), based on the Biblical requirement not to eat any grain of the new year (or products made from it) prior to the annual '' Omer'' offering ...

'' (grains from the ''new'' harvest). Later tradition evolved to: during the

Feast of Unleavened Bread Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or ...

, an ''omer'' of

was offered in the

, signalling the allowance of the consumption of ''

'' (grains from the ''new'' harvest). This offering happened on "the morrow after the day of rest", evolving to be re-interpreted either as the second day of

Unleavened Bread Unleavened bread is any of a wide variety of breads which are prepared without using rising agents such as yeast. Unleavened breads are generally flat breads; however, not all flat breads are unleavened. Unleavened breads, such as the tortilla ...

on the 16th day of the month or as the day following the Shabbat during Passover. On the 50th day after the beginning of the count, corresponding to the holiday of Shavuot, two loaves made of wheat were offered in the Temple to signal the end of the wheat harvest or the re-interpreted beginning of the wheat harvest. The origins of the "omer" count are from the Torah passages on the offerings for the start and end of grain harvest, with the 50th day marking the official end with a large feast. The Torah itself, in , and , states that it is a commandment to count seven complete weeks from the start of the grain harvest ending with the festival of Shavuot on the fiftieth day. Shavuot has evolved to be known as the festival marking the giving of the Torah to the Hebrew nation on the 6th of the

Hebrew month The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...

of Sivan. Some later rabbinic sources link the ''omer'' count to the Israelites' experience in the desert. According to these sources, at the time of

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...

, Moses announced that 50 days later they would celebrate a religious ceremony at

. The populace was so excited by this that they counted the days until that ceremony took place. Later (according to the sources), when the Temple was destroyed and the ''omer'' offering ceased, the rabbis instituted ''omer'' counting as a remembrance of the counting up to Sinai. In keeping with the themes of spiritual growth and character development during this period,

Rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

compares the process of growth to the two types of grain offered at either pole of the counting period. In ancient times, barley was simpler food while wheat was a more luxurious food. At Passover, the children of Israel were raised out of the Egyptian exile although they had sunken almost to the point of no return.

The Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...

was an unearned gift from God, like the food of simple creatures that are not expected to develop their spiritual potential. The receiving of the Torah created spiritual elevation and active cooperation. Thus the Shavuot offering is "people food".

The count

As soon as it is definitely night (approximately thirty minutes after sundown), the one who is counting the ''Omer'' recites this blessing: Then he or she states the ''Omer''-count in terms of both total days and weeks and days. For example, on the 23rd day the count would be stated thus: "Today is twenty-three days, which is three weeks and two days 'of' r'to' (לעומר) r'in' (בעומר) the ''Omer"''. The count is said in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. According to the

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

, a person may only recite the blessing while it is still night. If he or she remembers the count the next morning or afternoon, the count may still be made, but without a blessing. If one forgets to count a day altogether, he or she may continue to count succeeding days, but without a blessing. The Omer may be counted in any language, however one must understand what one is saying.

Karaite and Samaritan practice

and Israelite Samaritans begin counting the ''Omer'' on the day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread –

, rather than on the second day of

(the 16th of Nisan). There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, Shavuot is the only holiday for which the date is not expressly given in the Torah. Instead, the Torah tells us to determine the date of Shavuot by counting 50 days from the "morrow after the day of rest" (Leviticus 23:15–16). A difference between Karaites and Samaritans as opposed to Rabbinic Jews is the understanding of "morrow after the day of rest". Rabbinic Jews take the "day of rest" as the 1st day of Passover, while Karaites and Samaritans interpret this Sabbath to be the first weekly Sabbath that falls during Passover. As a result the Karaite and Samaritan Shavuot is always on a Sunday, although the actual Hebrew date varies (which complements the fact that a specific date is never given for Shavuot in the Torah, the only holiday for which this is the case). The counting of Karaite and Rabbinic Jews coincides when the first day of Passover is on the Sabbath. Because the date of the Samaritan Passover usually differs from the Jewish one, often by as much as a month, the Karaite and Samaritan counting rarely coincides. Other non-Rabbinical religious leaders such as Anan ben David (founder of the Ananites); Benjamin al-Nahawandi (founder of the Benjaminites); Ismail al-Ukbari (founder of a 9th-century messianic Jewish movement in Babylon); Musa of Tiflis (founder of a 9th-century Jewish movement in Babylon); and Malik al Ramli (founder of a 9th-century Jewish movement in the Land of Israel) additionally recognized that Shavuot should fall out on a Sunday. Catholics and the historical

Sadducees The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio- religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. T ...

and Boethusians, dispute the Rabbinic interpretation. They infer the "Shabbat" referenced is the weekly Shabbat. Accordingly, the counting of the Omer always begins on the Sunday of Passover, and continues for 49 days, so that Shavuot would always fall on a Sunday as well.

Omer-counters

"''Omer''-counters" () are typically offered for sale during this time, and are displayed in synagogues for the benefit of worshippers who count the ''Omer'' with the congregation at the conclusion of evening services. ''Omer''-counters range from decorative boxes with an interior scroll that shows each day's count through a small opening; to posters and magnets in which each day's count is recorded on a tear-off piece of paper; to calendars depicting all seven weeks and 49 days of the ''Omer'', on which a small pointer is advanced from day to day; to pegboards that keep track of both the day and the week of the ''Omer''. Reminders to count the ''Omer'' are also produced for tablet computers and via SMS for

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

As a period of semi-mourning

The period of counting the ''Omer'' is also a time of semi-mourning, during which traditional Jewish custom forbids haircuts, shaving, listening to instrumental music, or conducting weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing. Traditionally, the reason cited is that this is in memory of a plague that killed the 24,000 students of

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Yosef (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''ʿĂqīvāʾ ben Yōsēf''; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second c ...

(ca. 40–ca. 137 CE). According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, 12,000 ''

chavruta ''Chavrusa'', also spelled ''chavruta'' or ''ḥavruta'' (Aramaic: חַבְרוּתָא, lit. "fellowship" or "group of fellows"; pl. חַבְרָוָותָא), is a traditional rabbinic approach to Talmudic study in which a small group of stu ...

'' (pairs of Torah study partners), 24,000 in all, were killed (they were either killed by the Romans during the Bar Kokhba revolt 132–136 CE or they died in a "plague") as a sign of Divine anger during the days of the ''Omer''-counting for not honoring one another properly as befits Torah scholars.

Lag BaOmer Lag BaOmer ( he, , ''LaG Bāʿōmer''), also Lag B'Omer or Lag LaOmer, is a Jewish religious holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. According to some Rishonim ...

, the thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer, is considered to be the day in which the plague was lifted, (and/or the day in which the rebellion saw a victory during the uprising of Bar Kochba) so on that day, all the rules of mourning are lifted. Some

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

however, continue the mourning period up until the 34th day of the ''Omer'', which is considered by them to be the day of joy and celebration.

Spanish and Portuguese Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the ...

do not observe these customs. Some religious Jews shave each Friday afternoon during the mourning period of the ''Omer'' in order to be neat in honor of the Shabbat, and some men do so in order to appear neat in their places of employment. In practice, different Jewish communities observe different periods of mourning. Some families listen to music during the week of

and then commence the period of mourning until Lag BaOmer. Some Sephardic Jewish families begin the period of mourning from the first day of the Hebrew month of

Iyar Iyar ( he, אִייָר or , Standard ''ʾĪyyar'' Tiberian ''ʾĪyyār''; from akk, 𒌗 𒄞 itiayari " rosette; blossom") is the eighth month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the second month of the Jewish religious year ...

and continue for thirty-three days until the third of Sivan. The custom among Jerusalemites (''minhag Yerushalmi'') is to follow the mourning practices during the entire Counting of the Omer, save for the day of Lag BaOmer and the last three days of the counting (''sheloshet yemei hagbalah'') prior to the onset of Shavuot. The extent of mourning is also based heavily on family custom, and therefore Jews will mourn to different degrees. Rabbi

Yechiel Michel Epstein Yechiel Michel ha-Levi Epstein ( he, יחיאל מיכל הלוי אפשטיין) (24 January 1829 – 25 March 1908), often called "the ''Aruch haShulchan''" after his magnum opus, Aruch HaShulchan, was a Rabbi and ''Posek'' (authority in Jew ...

(1829–1908), author of ''

Aruch HaShulchan ''Arukh HaShulchan'' (Hebrew: עָרוּךְ הַשֻּׁלְחָן r, arguably, עָרֹךְ הַשֻּׁלְחָן; see ''Title'' below is a work of halacha written by Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829–1908). The work attempts to be a clear, orga ...

'', postulates that the mourning period also memorializes Jews who were murdered during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

(the 11th-, 12th- and 13th-century religious military campaigns),

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

s (19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire) and

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...

s that occurred in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In modern times, the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

is generally included among those events which are memorialized, in particular

Yom Hashoah Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah ( he, יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה, , lit=Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Rem ...

is observed during the ''Omer''. The Jewish calendar is largely agricultural, and the period of ''Omer'' falls between

and Shavuot. On Passover there is a shift from praying for rain to praying for dew and this coincides with the growth period for the fruit of the season. Shavuot is the day of the giving of the first fruits (''bikkurim''). The outcome of the season's crop and fruit was still vulnerable during this period. Over these seven weeks, daily reflection, work on improving one's personality characteristics (''middot'') and potential inner growth from this work on one self was one way to pray for and invite the possibility of affecting one's external fate and potential – the growth of the crop and the fruit of that season. Although the period of the Omer is traditionally a mourning one, on Lag BaOmer Jews can do actions that are not allowed during mourning. Many Religious Zionists trim their beards or shave their growth, and do other actions that are typically not allowed during the mourning period, on

Yom Ha'atzmaut Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...

(Israel's Independence Day).

Lag BaOmer

According to some

Rishonim ''Rishonim'' (; he, ; sing. he, , ''Rishon'', "the first ones") were the leading rabbis and '' poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, , "Set Table", a ...

, it is the day on which the plague that killed

's 24,000 disciples came to an end, and for this reason the mourning period of Sefirat HaOmer concludes on Lag BaOmer in many communities. According to modern kabbalistic tradition, this day is the Celebration of Simeon ben Yochai and/or the anniversary of his death. According to a late medieval tradition, Simeon ben Yochai is buried in Meron, and this association has spawned several well-known customs and practices on Lag BaOmer, including the lighting of bonfires and pilgrimages to Meron. Rashbi

Kabbalistic interpretation

The period of the counting of the ''Omer'' is considered to be a time of potential for inner growth – for a person to work on one's good characteristics (''middot'') through reflection and development of one aspect each day for the 49 days of the counting. In

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

, each of the seven weeks of the ''Omer''-counting is associated with one of the seven lower

sefirot Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof ( The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm ...

: #

Chesed ( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms i ...

(loving-kindness) #

Gevurah Gevurah or Geburah ( he, גְּבוּרָה, Gəvūrā}, Tiberian: ''Găḇūrā,'' lit. 'strength'), is the fifth '' sephirah'' in the kabbalistic tree of life, and it is the second of the emotive attributes of the ''sephirot''. It sits below ...

(might) # Tipheret (beauty) #

Netzach Netzach ( he, נֶצַח ''Neṣaḥ'', in pausa: נֵצַח ''Nēṣaḥ'', lit. 'eminence, everlastingness, perpetuity') is the seventh of the ten Sefirot in the Jewish mystical system of Kabbalah. It is located beneath Chesed ('loving-kindn ...

(victory) # Hod (acknowledgment) #

Yesod Yesod (Hebrew: יְסוֹד ''Yəsōḏ'', Tiberian: ''Yăsōḏ'', "foundation") is a sephirah or node in the kabbalistic Tree of Life, a system of Jewish philosophy. Yesod, located near the base of the Tree, is the sephirah below Hod and ...

(foundation) #

Malchut Modern: ''Malḵūt'' , Tiberian: ''Malḵūṯ'' , Ashkenazi: ''Malḵūs'' , 'kingdom'), Malkhut Malkhuth or Malchus is the tenth of the sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. It sits at the bottom of the Tree, below Yesod. This sephirah ...

(kingdom) Each day of each week is also associated with one of these same seven ''sefirot'', creating forty-nine permutations. The first day of the ''Omer'' is therefore associated with "''chesed'' that is in ''chesed''" (loving-kindness within loving-kindness), the second day with "''gevurah'' that is in ''chesed''" (might within loving-kindness); the first day of the second week is associated with "''chesed'' that is in ''gevurah''" (loving-kindness within might), the second day of the second week with "''gevurah'' that is in ''gevurah''" (might within might), and so on. Symbolically, each of these 49 permutations represents an aspect of each person's character that can be improved or further developed. Rabbi Simon Jacobson (b. 1956), a

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic grou ...

Hasidic teacher, explains these 49 levels in his book, ''The Spiritual Guide to Counting the Omer'', as do Rabbi

Yaacov Haber Yaacov Haber is a rabbi has taught Jews about Jewish heritage for almost thirty years. Biography Rabbi Haber was ordained in Jerusalem by Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg of Yeshivah Torah Ore and by Chacham Avrohom Ochana of Yeshivah Ahavat Shal ...

and Rabbi David Sedley in their book ''Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement through Counting the Omer''. A meditative approach is that of Rabbi Min Kantrowitz in ''Counting the Omer: A Kabbalistic Meditation Guide'' which includes meditations, activities and '' kavvanot'' (proper mindset) for each of the kabbalistic four worlds for each of the 49 days. The forty-nine-day period of counting the Omer is also a conducive time to study the teaching of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from ...

h 6:6, which enumerates the "48 ways" by which Torah is acquired. Rabbi Aharon Kotler (1891–1962) explains that the study of each "way" can be done on each of the first forty-eight days of the ''Omer''-counting; on the forty-ninth day, one should review all the "ways."

References

Works cited

External links

Sefirat ha'omer/Counting the Omer, by Rabbi Julian Sinclair, April 28, 2011; Jewish Chronicle Online

Spiritual practices and reflections for each day from Mishkan Tefilah

* Rabbi

Eliezer Melamed Eliezer Melamed ( he, אליעזר מלמד, born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli Orthodox Zionist rabbi and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, rabbi of the community Har Bracha, and author of the book series '' Peninei Halakha''. Biography ...

–

Peninei Halakha Eliezer Melamed ( he, אליעזר מלמד, born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli Orthodox Zionist rabbi and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, rabbi of the community Har Bracha, and author of the book series '' Peninei Halakha''. Biography ...

�
Counting the Omer
* Rabbi

Yitzchak Ginsburgh Yitzchak Feivish Ginsburgh (Hebrew: יצחק פייוויש גינזבורג; born 14 November 1944) sometimes referred to as "the Malakh" () is an American-born Israeli rabbi affiliated with the Chabad movement. In 1996 he was regarded as one ...

Short video teachings for each day of the Omer

manuscripts about the counting of the Omer

Secret of the Counting of the Omer
Moses of Burgos, 13th - 14th centuries, Ktiv project,

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

Seder Sefireat HaOmer
Amsterdam,

1795 Events January–June * January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the CET records dating back to 1659. * January 14 – The University of North Carolina opens to students at Chapel Hill, becoming t ...

, Ktiv project, National Library of Israel
Kavanot for the Counting of the Omer
Amsterdam, 18th century, Ktiv project, National Library of Israel
Kabbalist Seder of the Counting of the Omer

1782 Events January–March * January 7 – The first American commercial bank (Bank of North America) opens. * January 15 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establish ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Ktiv project, National Library of Israel {{Jewish and Israeli holidays Iyar observances Lag BaOmer Nisan observances Passover Shavuot Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem Positive Mitzvoth