Question: Why do Jews Count the Omer?
Many Jews celebrate on Lag b'Omer. To understand why, one must first understand why Jews count the Omer.
Answer: The underlying reason for Counting the Omer is because it is written in the Torah to count the days between Passover's second day and Shavuot.
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring the sheaf of wave-offering, you shall keep count until seven full weeks have elapsed: you shall count fifty days until the day after the seventh week, then you shall bring an offering of a new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your settlements two full loaves of bread as a wave-offering ... On that same day you shall hold a celebration, it shall be a sacred occasion for you ..." (Lev. 23:15-21)
The Torah itself does not give us a reason for why we should Count the Omer. Over the years, Rabbis have provided us with several different explanations for this Biblical commandment.
In the Bible, Shavuot was an agricultural festival. Some say we were commanded to count the time from the second day of Passover when we gave an offering of the omer (sheaf of wheat) until the time of the wheat harvest when we needed to bring an offering of the new grain.
In the Bible, there is no fixed calendar date for celebrating Shavuot. Shavuot is defined as the day of celebration after the completion of the Omer Count. The Count tells us when to celebrate Shavuot.
Shavuot later became a celebration of our acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It is said that the Israelites counted the days from their liberation as slaves in Egypt until their reception of the Torah at Mount Sinai. When we Count the Omer, we are anticipating celebrating the day we received the Torah (Shavuot) in the same way the Israelites anticipated receiving the Torah.
Some say the Omer Count links Passover and Shavuot. While Passover commemorates our liberation from slavery to Pharaoh, the Israelites were not truly free until they received the rules and laws of the Torah and agreed to become servants to God. We were given freedom on Passover, and we were given the purpose of our freedom on Shavuot.
Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, says that we Count the Omer because each day of the counting is an ascension from one of the forty nine levels of the impurity we lived as slaves in Egypt. Only after these 49 days of ascension were the Israelites worthy of receiving the Torah.
- What is an Omer?
- What is Sefirat HaOmer?
- Why do Jews Count the Omer?
- Why do Jews mourn during the Counting of the Omer?
- What is Lag B'Omer?
- How do Jews celebrate Lag B'Omer?
