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| Praised are you O' Lord God
who is King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through
His commandments and commanded us to count the omer. |
Barukh ata adonai eloheinu melekh HaOlam
asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al sefirat ha'omer |
Found in Siddur Sim Shalom on page 55
"The 'Omer' (literally sheaf) refers to an
offering from the new barley crop, brought to the ancient Temple
on the sixteenth of Nisan, the eve of the second day of Pesah."
(Siddur Sim Shalom page 55) The omer was brought for seven week
until the holiday of Shavuoth. It is the holiday of Shavuoth that
recalls God's giving of the Torah through Moses to the Jewisjh
people. Therefore, the period of the counting of the omer comes
to signify the period from redemption to slavery to the time of
the giving of the Torah.
Though historically this period of the year has
come to represent a time of mourning for the Jewish people because
of the slaughter of the students of Rabbi Akiba, these seven weeks
were originally a time of great excitement. Each night, as the
custom of beginning each day at night, we recite this bracha along
with a declaration of the day. As the weeks and add up the specific
number day and week is counted. For example, the 45th day in the
counting of the omer is counted as the 45th day, which is 6 weeks
and 3 days in the counting of the omer. The halakha explains that
although each day is a separate mitzvah the entire process of
counting all 49 days are associated. Therefore, one must recite
a bracha each night when counting the omer. However, if one forgets
to count one night then he/she can count in the morning without
a bracha. If one forgets to count for an entire day then one may
continue to count without a bracha for the remaining days.
The details of this ritual ar somewhat confusing
but the purpose is not. The Torah teaches shelah et ami v'yavduni,
Let my people go that they my serve Me. The important part of
that statement is not the freedom but freedom to serve God. Freedom
without purpose is anarchy. Freedom without direction is meaningless.
So we count from the moment we left bondage to the time when we
receive the Torah. Much like a child counts the days until the
end of school or until their birthday. When we anticipate something
wonderful we look forward and we count how many days until that
event. So too, with the Jewish people and the opportunity to receive
the greatest gift of all the Torah.
But with the introduction of mourning rituals because
of the death of the students of rabbi Akibah, we learn another
significant lesson. Not only must we count our days, but we must
make each day count. Carpi Dium, seize the day. We must not simply
place an 'X' mark on the calendar as we move forward in time.
We must not always look towards the next day, but rather we must
make today worthwhile. As all of the clichés teach, we
must not put off until tomorrow what we can do today.
The counting of the omer reminds us that with each
day we are afforded the opportunity to make something more of
our world and of ourselves. The counting of the omer, reminds
us that we only have a limited time here in this world and we
must make the most of it.
Copyright © 2001 Rabbi
Yohanan Stein. All rights reserved.
New Jersey Region United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism
PO Box 390; 1025 St. Georges
Ave
Linden, NJ 07036-0390
Phone: 908-925-USCJ (8725)
/ Fax: 908-486-USCJ (8725)
E-mail: njersey@uscj.org
Copyright © 2000 -
2003 New Jersey USCJ. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: July 2003
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