Counting the Omer Explained: Origins, Laws, and Meaning

Many people wonder about the origin of the name “Counting of the Omer.” When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the Jewish people brought a special barley offering on the second day of Passover called the Omer offering.

Only after this offering was brought were the people permitted to use the new grain harvested that year. Since the counting begins on the day when this offering was brought, the period is called the Counting of the Omer.

Counting the Omer is a commandment from the Torah, as it states: “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Shabbat, from the day you bring the Omer of the wave offering. Seven complete weeks shall there be… You shall count fifty days.”

Preparing for the Giving of the Torah

The purpose of the Omer counting is to prepare for the giving of the Torah on the festival of Shavuot.

When the Jewish people left Egypt, they were spiritually immersed in forty nine levels of impurity. Therefore the counting proceeds from one to fifty. Each day they rose one step higher, leaving behind another level of impurity, until they reached spiritual purity on the fiftieth day and received the Torah.

A Historical Dispute

It may seem obvious that the Omer counting begins on the second day of Passover and ends on Shavuot, but this was not always accepted without debate.

During the period of the Second Temple, the sages of Israel struggled against the Sadducees. The Sadducees interpreted the verse “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Shabbat” to mean that the counting should begin on the Sunday following Passover.

The sages, following the oral tradition, taught that the counting begins the day after the first day of Passover. This disagreement led to repeated attempts by the Sadducees to disrupt the harvesting and offering of the Omer.

The Details of Counting

The counting of the Omer is performed every evening after nightfall, beginning about thirty minutes after sunset.

Before counting the Omer, a blessing is recited for the commandment. However, the blessing may be recited only if the counting is done at the proper time, meaning after nightfall until the following morning, and only if none of the previous days of counting were missed.

The Omer is counted while standing. The sages derived this from the verse: “From the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.”

They interpreted the word that normally means “standing grain” as also hinting at standing upright, teaching that the counting should be done while standing.

If someone asks you which day of the Omer it is and you have not yet counted, you should not answer directly, as doing so would effectively count the day without the blessing. Instead, Jewish law recommends answering by saying what day it was yesterday. The person asking can then calculate which day it is today.

Although the Torah states “You shall count fifty days,” the fiftieth day itself, the festival of Shavuot, is not counted. This is because the verse means that we count up to the fiftieth day, but not including it.

The Mourning Customs of the Omer Period

The days of the Omer are commonly known as a period of mourning, but this mourning is not directly part of the commandment of counting the Omer.

The mourning customs that developed during this time, such as avoiding weddings, refraining from haircuts or shaving, and not listening to music, were established in memory of twenty four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva who died in a plague during this period.

These mourning practices traditionally last thirty three days and, according to most opinions, take place between Passover and Lag BaOmer.