Make the Days Count

The seven-weeks between Passover and Shavuot is known as “the omer” period. The counting of the Omer (S’firat HaOmer), which lasts for 49 days, takes place at night, commencing on the second night of Pesach. Those who "count the Omer" recite a blessing each night of the 50-day period. Our counting reminds us that no two days are the same. We are encouraged to make each day count. In addition, our Counting of the Omer encourages us to see this seven week period as a pilgrimage. On Passover, we celebrate leaving Egypt, which represents a narrow place of constriction and limitation of choice. We journey out into the open space, which is liberating but also uncharted terrain, where we may encounter doubt, uncertainty and fear. As we learn to be in the unknown, we also internalize a vision of faith and discover ourselves feeling a new sense of belonging, more connected and at home. Today we will reflect ton how this tradition of counting might help us move through this unusual and lengthy time of the "Stay at Home" order.

Rabbi Aryeh Carmel, Masterplan, Feldheim - p. 205 [England (1917-2006)]

The Omer on Pesach was from the barley harvest. The offering on Shavuot was of wheat. Barley is mainly food for animals. Wheat is food for human beings. The Torah hints to us that physical independence by itself still leaves man – from the Torah perspective – on the animal level. The counting of the forty-nine days signifies a sevenfold refining process and marks our progress to full human status with our acceptance of the Torah at Sinai, seven weeks after the Exodus.

In Jewish Living, Rabbi Mark Washofsky writes, “Reform Judaism has generally regarded this ‘counting’ as a regulation of the calendar.” In other words, it’s a way to make sure Shavuot will take place exactly seven weeks after Pesach, so the spring harvest will conclude with Shavuot. Jewish tradition considers counting the omer a mitzvah that connects our liberation at Pesach with its fulfillment in the giving of the Torah at Shavuot. Yet another way to understand it is to see counting the omer through the lens of the ancient farmer. In a largely agrarian society, the Israelites were highly dependent of the whims of the natural elements. Sun, storms, rain, wind, and insects were beyond their control and could severely affect their livelihood—even their very survival. In the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, the people were in a state of limbo, vacillating between fear that weather or pests would destroy the harvest and hope for a bountiful crop. Counting the days could certainly have been a steadying factor, a way to dispel doubts and focus prayers and dreams toward God, and strengthen faith while away from the Temple. There were no sacrifices specified for the time between Pesach and Shavuot, so the practice of counting the omer was as much for the benefit of the people as it was for God—it gave them a way to count their blessings.

And Fly: A Poem for Counting the Omer

by Stacey Zisook Robinson

Count your things.
Add them up.
Amass a pile of More.

Grab and gather
in forty-nine steps,
the firsts
of your herd,
your horde
your heart.
Count them
in countless succession:

All your best -
Your hopes.
Your sins.
Fill your tent;
load the baskets and bags
with counting
and counted riches that
smell of excess
and succulent
ripeness:
A bursting of Ready,
sweet and sour and sharp
all at once
on your tongue.

Count them all.
Gather them up;
Breathe in
seven breaths of seven
and lay them at
the waiting altar
that stands in the shadow of God.
Lay your counted glory there -
an offering:
a psalm of blessing
and hopeful benediction.

Lay it all down
and fly.