The weeks between the second night of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot is the time during which we count the Omer, which were the sacrifices of grain brought daily for 49 days to the Holy Temple. Every night after the evening prayer, Maariv, many Jews say a blessing and count the Omer for that day; it is like re-enacting the bringing of the sacrifice to the Temple. What is the significance of the Counting of the Omer? Why do we recreate the experience of bringing the Omer sacrifice when there were other sacrifices brought to the Temple?
The Torah tells us to count “Seven Shabboses” from Passover to Shavuot. However, there are many other aspects to counting the Omer in addition to the simple act of counting. As with most aspects of the Jewish experience, history and tradition have had an effect on certain rituals, imbuing them with added significance. Unlike the time period between Purim and Passover, which is one of Joy and gladness, and the time period before Tisha B’Av, which is a time of repentance and reckoning, the Omer period is bittersweet, and contains elements of joy, peace, mourning and personal reflection.
Many Jews do not perform work between sunset and nightfall and consider it a mini-Shabbat, since the Torah tells us to count “seven Shabboses” until Shavuot. However, the peace of the Omer period is intermingled with sadness, since it was during this time period that the students of the great scholar of the Second Temple period, Rabbi Akiva, died in a plague. Therefore, many Jews do not take haircuts or purchase new clothes during the Omer period. Tommorrow, Gd willing, I will write more about Rabbi Akiva and his students.
Kabbala tells us that the Omer period is an opportune time to refine one’s character. The 7 weeks between Passover and Shavuot correspond to the 7 Divine Attributes, such as Chesed (Kindness) Severity (Strict Justice) and so on. Each of these 7 Divine Attributes have sub-divisions of the same attributes (i.e. Kindness within Kindness, Severity within Kindness etc..) Gd willing, I will start a Kabbala series to explain these attributes and how they apply to the Omer Period. These attributes do not simply exist in heaven, but are the components of our personalities.
It is typical of Judaism that something apparently simple, like counting, is layered with so much history, association and emotion!