Why Count the Omer_

by Min Kantrowitz

When the Temple was standing, barley was the first agricultural crop in Israel to be ready for harvest in the early spring. Ancient near eastern cultures had different ways of expressing gratitude to the spiritual forces which contributed to a healthy harvest. During Biblical times, a sheaf of barley (known as the Omer), selected from the choicest of the barley grown within the land of Israel, was brought to the Priests as an offering (Lev 23:10-12). The process of harvesting this barley offering involved an elaborate ceremony, described in detail in the Mishnah, an early Rabbinic commentary on the Torah.

The people would choose the most select first-cut barley, harvest it carefully, and bring it to the Temple as an offering to God. The Priests would wave this sheaf of barley, the Omer, in the six directions, North, East, South, West, Up and Down. (This waving process is similar to the formula still used today for shaking the lulav on Sukkoth). Only after that ceremony, called the wave-offering, was completed, was the rest of the community permitted to enjoy the barley crop or any new produce from the spring harvest. In this way, the people acknowledged the role of the Divine in creating the grain.

The Omer was brought to the Temple each day for the next 49 days, during which time the next, and most important grain, the wheat, was ripening. Counting these 49 days is known as Counting the Omer. These 49 days of the counting of the Omer culminate on the 50th day, the first day of Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks. In Hebrew, shavuah means week -- shavuot is plural. Shavuot originally marked the end of the seven weeks of counting the harvest season between the first harvest, the barley, through the growth of the wheat crop and culminating in the harvest of the wheat. Another name for the Festival of Shavuot is Hag HaKatzir, translated as the Holiday of Harvest.

Cutting the Omer offering correctly, and bringing it to the Priests at the proper time, was extremely important in ancient times. Even though Jewish law prohibits doing any work on Shabbat (including harvesting or cutting anything), during the time of the Mishna, the Rabbis considered the proper cutting and offering of the Omer so important that they dictated that it took precedence. The Mishna says "When it is time to cut the Omer, you must do it, even if it is Shabbat" (Mishnah Sheviith 1:4 ).

As time passed, the meaning of the Omer period has changed from marking major landmarks in the agricultural season of the ancient Near East to marking major landmarks in the spiritual cycle of the Jewish year. For the farmer, the growth of crops and success of harvests is evidence of spiritual beneficence.

As Jews moved farther from intimate contact with the land of Israel and its growth cycles, the harvesting of the Omer period transformed from marking an agricultural harvest to a spiritual one. The status of field crops became metaphorically transformed into a kind of ‘inner ecology’ -the state of our own spiritual growth. Shavuot became associated with a spiritual harvesting - receiving the Torah.

Over time, the early spring period also became associated with the historical events following the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. The practice of counting the Omer became understood as representing the ascent of the Israelites,cending a new step each day from the depths of spiritual impurity in Egypt, eventually reaching the level of purity represented by the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. As the Omer period continues through the entire seven week period from Passover until Shavuot, each day of the period is counted and contemplated as another opportunity for spiritual deepening and clarity.

The Omer period begins on the second day of Pesach, the day after we gain our freedom from slavery. Since Jewish days begin after sunset, the first day of the Omer period falls on the evening of the second Seder to the evening of the second Seder, on the sixteenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan.

Spiritually, the start of the Omer period begins transforming us as a people from having a slave mentality, dependent and oppressed, toward becoming an increasingly independent people, a people exploring all the possibilities and responsibilities of freedom.

The first day of Shavuot (the sixth of Sivan), is, according to the Talmud the time when we receive the Torah. Shavuot marks our spiritual harvest, the revelation of our unique way - a set of guidelines and paths within which we choose to move freely as Jews.

Thus the Omer is the time we transform ourselves. We change from newly free people, just beginning to explore the possibilities of growth, awareness and self definition. We start as a collection of wanderers and seekers and become a spiritual community of souls open to receive that which is revealed.

The Omer is a path of the heart, through which we seek wisdom and guidance, a path of action as we take steps to walk in truth and harmony, a road toward increasing our understanding of Spirit in the Universe, a trail of the longing soul. The path of counting the Omer is a wisdom journey that can be imaged as a personal journey of spring; it is an opportunity to nurture each of the many leaves of our internal Trees of Life, to move from the bare branches of winter to a full leafed condition, becoming ready to bear the fruit of our work, our own inner harvest.