Basic Laws of Sefirat HaOmer
(Counting the Omer)
(www.ou.org)

Sefirat HaOmer - The Basic Meaning

The word "Sefirah" basically means "counting" or "the count."

What is being counted?

bulletOne counts things of value.
bulletOne counts units of time till a desired goal; for a child, it might be, "How many days till vacation?" For an adult, "How many weeks or months till I get my degree?" or "How many years till I'll be eligible for a promotion?"

Frequently, as in the example above, the items which are counted are units of time. In Judaism, "time" has great value; it is forbidden to waste it, or to "kill time."

In the Jewish Tradition, the term "Sefirah" also has a specific meaning, and refers to a count of the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot: between the Festival of "Physical Redemption" and the Festival of "Spiritual Redemption."

On Pesach, the Jewish People were redeemed from a terrible period of physical slavery in the "House of Bondage" of Egypt. On Shavuot, which commemorates G-d's giving His precious gift, the Torah, to the Jewish People at Mt. Sinai, we celebrate our going from Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Freedom.

The purpose of Physical Redemption is Spiritual Redemption. Without the Spiritual, the Physical would have no meaning. The only source of Morality is G-d; the human being is very inventive, but he or she is incapable of inventing a moral code. The best that the human can do on his own, is establish rules that prevent society from descending into chaos. As Rabbi Chanina, the Assistant to the High Priest says in Pirkei Avot (Chapter 3, Mishnah 2) " 'Pray for the welfare of the government,' any form of government, because if people did not fear it, one person would eat his neighbor alive."

The Torah prescribes a way of life which lifts the human being above his purely physical nature to the level of a moral and spiritual and physical being. It enables him to realize that the conscience within him was planted there by G-d, and that he has the ability to be in touch with, and to model his behavior, to a limited extent, after that of his Creator.

He or she comes to realize that the exit from Slavery was only to become again a Servant, but this time not to any human so-called "master," but rather to be a Servant of G-d, the true Master of the Universe.

 

Harvesting the "Omer"

The following is the text of the RAMBAM with regard to the harvesting of the "Omer:" (Chapter 7: "Laws of Continual Offerings and Additional Offerings")

"On the Second Day of Passover, which is the Sixteenth of Nisan, a sacrifice in addition to the regular Additional Sacrifice of the Holiday is brought, and that is the lamb as a burnt offering together with the Omer which is moved forward, backward, right, left, and up-and- down. And the Omer is a communal grain-offering…"

"This grain offering is brought only from the Land of Israel… It is best to bring it from an area near Yerushalayim; if it could not be found there, it may be brought from grain growing anywhere within Eretz Yisrael…"

"It is best to harvest it at night, the night of the sixteenth, whether on a regular day of the week, or even on Shabbat…"

"It is best if it is brought from the standing grain, but it is permissible to be brought from the bundled grain…"

"It is best if it is brought from the moist grain, but it is permissible if it is brought from the dry grain…"

"This 'Omer' is brought from barley, and this is a Halachah L'Moshe MiSinai…"

"All the nearby cities would gather, so that it should be conducted with 'pomp and circumstance'."

"And three sa'im of barley (equivalent to ten om'rim (plural of 'omer') were harvested by three men, with three baskets and three scythes."

When it became dark, the harvester would say to all those assembled the following:

"Has the sun set?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Has the sun set?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Has the sun set?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "

"Is this a scythe?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Is this a scythe?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Is this a scythe?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "

"Is this a basket?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Is this a basket?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Is this a basket?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "

And, if it were the Shabbat, he would say to them the following:

"Is it Shabbat today?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Is it Shabbat today?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "
"Is it Shabbat today?"
"And they answered him, 'Yes!' "

And, after that, he would say to them,

"Shall I harvest?"
"And they answered him, "Harvest!' "
"Shall I harvest?"
"And they answered him, "Harvest!' "
"Shall I harvest?"
"And they answered him, "Harvest!' "

Everything was done three times for emphasis, because a dispute had arisen between the Rabbis of the Talmud and a deviationist sect, and the Rabbis wanted to make it clear that the interpretation of that sect was wrong!!!

After the barley grain was harvested, and placed in the baskets, it was taken to the courtyard of the Mishkan or, later in history, the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple. There the grain was beaten to extract the kernels. They were winnowed (wind-sifted), and singed with fire.

Afterwards, they were spread in the courtyard, and the wind blew through them. The original three sa'im were ground, and, after all the processing, an "esaron," a tenth of an "ephah" was obtained, which had been sifted thirteen times.

The fine flour was now ready to be used for the "Minchat HaOmer," the Omer Grain Offering.

 

The "Omer" Offering - "Something Old, Something New"
"Yashan" and "Chadash"

What the Torah Says

Some Words of Explanation

What the Torah Says

The Torah says, in the context of introducing the commandment of "Sefirat HaOmer," the following: (Vayikra 23:9-14)

"And G-d gave this instruction to Moshe, to communicate: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the Land which I Am giving to you, and you harvest its crops, you shall bring the "Omer," (the Omer is a dry measure, containing the volume of 43.2 average eggs. It is the amount of barley flour that had to be brought, and is also the name of the offering) the first of the harvest, to the Kohen. And he shall move the Omer forward, backward, right, left and up-and-down, before G-d, as an expression of your free will, on the day after the 'Shabbat,' shall the Kohen move it in the manner described."

"And you shall make, on the day of the ritual movement of the Omer, a lamb, unblemished, in its first year, as a burnt offering to G-d. And its associated grain offering should be two tenth-"ephahs" (another dry measure) of fine barley-flour mixed with oil, a burnt offering to G-d, with a pleasant aroma, and its libation of wine, one fourth of a "hin" (a liquid measure). And you shall not eat bread, nor roasted kernels, nor full kernels, until this very same day, until you bring the offering to your G-d; an eternal statute for all of your generations, wherever you may live."

Some Words of Explanation

There are five types of grain; they are:

  1. "Chitin" - Wheat
  2. "Seorim" - Barley
  3. "Kusmim" - Spelt
  4. "Shibbolet Shual" - Oats
  5. "Shifon" - Rye

There are two categories of "age" of these grains:

  1. "Yashan" - "Old"
  2. "Chadash" - "New"

The definitions of "Old" and "New" in this context depends on when the plant took root. If it took root prior to the Sixteenth of Nisan, the Second Day of Passover, in a given year, then subsequent to the Sixteenth, it is considered "Yashan," Old. Prior to the Sixteenth, it is still considered "Chadash," New.

If the grain took root after the Sixteenth of Nisan, it is not considered "Yashan" till the following year, after that year's Sixteenth of Nisan.

What is the practical application of all this?

The practical application is that there is a dispute among the authorities on Halacha, Jewish Law, as to whether these laws apply outside of the Land of Israel, where they certainly do apply. Some say they do not apply in the Diaspora; others (including the Gaon of Vilna, one of the greatest of modern (18th Century) authorities), say that the laws do in fact apply.

 

 

What are the Biblical sources?

We find in the Third Book of the Torah, "VaYikra," or Leviticus (so-called because much (but far from all) of its content is directed, for practical purposes, at the Tribe of Levi) Chapter 23, verses 15-16, the following:

"U'Sefartem lachem Mi'Mochorat HaShabbat,…"

"And you shall count for yourselves - from the day after the holiday, from the day on which the waved Omer Offering is brought, seven complete weeks. Until (but not including) the day after the Seventh Week, you shall count (until) the fiftieth day, and you shall bring a new Meal Offering to Hashem."

Jewish Tradition interprets the words "Mi'Mochorat HaShabbat," as meaning "from the day after the holiday," rather than the day after Shabbat, or Sunday. "Holiday" here means the first day of Passover. Thus, the day of the week on which Shavuot, the fiftieth day after the beginning of the count, falls, varies and is not always Sunday.

There was a group, called the Tzedukim, who rejected the Traditions of the Rabbis. They interpreted the Torah strictly literally, and insisted that HaShabbat, as in the above verse, meant only the Seventh Day; for them, Shavuot therefore always fell on Sunday. They accepted only the Written Law, but rejected the Oral Law.

For example, when the Torah says, "Lo teva'aru esh b'chol moshvoteichem b'Yom HaShabbat," "Do not light any fire in all your dwellings on the Day of Shabbat," they understood that to mean that Jews were to stay in cold, dark houses, and eat only cold food on Shabbat. The Oral Law would explain that a pre-existing flame, lit before Shabbat, was OK; it was not the Torah's intention that we should not have any flame, just that we should not light a flame! (How could we possibly have survived without hot chicken soup and chulent?)

The beauty of "Halachah," the Jewish way of life, which recognizes both the Written and the Oral Law as being of Divine Origin, is that it is able to harmonize statements which may appear unreasonable by themselves with the clarifying light and interpretation of the Oral Law, which also came from Sinai. (What, after all, was Moshe doing for forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, if not learning and internalizing the Oral Law from the Master Teacher!)

When does the Count begin?

The Count begins on the night of the sixteenth day of Nisan, preceding the day on which the Omer Offering was brought at the Temple. In modern times, in Israel, this is the First Intermediate Night of Passover. In the "Golah," the Exile or Diaspora, it is the night of the Second Seder.

When does the Count end?

The Count ends on the forty-ninth night, the night before the Festival of Shavuot. Shavuot would be the fiftieth night. But it's not part of the Count. Instead, it is like the "Yovel," the Jubilee Year, the fiftieth year which follows seven Shemittah cycles, the Year of Freedom. Shavuot, which commemorates the Giving of the Torah by G-d to Man, represents Spiritual Freedom, in that it raises man above idol worship, self-worship and superstition. Our act of accepting the Torah also represented our decision to dedicate our lives to the service of the one legitimate "master," Hashem, the Creator.

Should a person be in any particular position when counting (sitting, standing, leaning (on one's left side) lying down)?

Every person who is able to, should stand while counting.

How Does One Count?

a bracha, before the counting and something said - a (short) prayer, after the counting, as follows:

 

Before blessing:
"Baruch Ata Adon-y, Eloh-ynu Melech Ha-Olam,"
"Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the Universe,"
"asher kiddeshanu b'mitzvotav,"
"Who sanctified us with His commandments,"
"v'tzivanu al Sefirat HaOmer."
"And Commanded us regarding the Counting of the Omer."
 

Today is one day of the Omer

......

Today is ten days, which are
one week and three days of the Omer

........

28  Ha-yom shemonah v'esrim yom, shehaym
      arba-a shavuot ba-omer (or la-omer)

...........

Today is twenty-eight days, which are
four weeks of the Omer

.......

Today is thirty-three days, which are
four week and five days of the Omer

........


Afterwards prayer:

"HaRachaman hu Yachazir Lanu"
"O Compassionate One! May He return for us"
"Avodat Bayt HaMikdash Li'mekomo"
"the Service of the Temple to its Place"
"bimhayra be'yameinu. Amen; Selah."
"speedily and in our time. Amen; Selah.

Various customs exist which include additional prayers before and after the counting.

 

And much more at:  www.ou.org

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Sefirat HaOmer Date Counter - 2002/5762

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Sefirat HaOmer - The Basic Meaning

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Basic Laws of Sefirat HaOmer - Part I

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Basic Laws of Sefirat HaOmer - Part II

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Transliterated Version of Sefirat HaOmer

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Basic Laws of Sefirat HaOmer - Part III

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Basic Law Difference - Purim vs. Sefirat HaOmer

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Emotions of Sefirat HaOmer

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Expressions of Mourning in Sefirat HaOmer

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Celebration of Lag BaOmer

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Two Heroes of Sefirat HaOmer

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The Omer Offering

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Harvesting the "Omer"

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The "Omer" Controversy

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Omer Reminder e-mail Service

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Glossary