I'll be honest: I was not planning to write about the parsha this week, which contains instructions for the priests, deeming the disabled as unfit to approach the Sanctuary, the "eye for an eye" law, and the calendar of festivals.
Instead of writing about the parsha, I was going to write about counting the Omer.
Perhaps subliminally I remembered that the calendar of festivals includes the bringing of the first sheaf of the barley harvest to the Temple, with the proper offerings, on the second day of Passover, and using that day to begin counting the days until Shavuot.
I only learned about counting the Omer in recent years, and doubt that I will ever do it myself. So in part I wanted to learn more about this strange practice.
So what is this counting, and why do we do it?
From Leviticus 23:
10. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you come to the Land which I am giving you, and you reap its harvest, you shall bring to the kohen an omer of the beginning of your reaping. י. דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם וּקְצַרְתֶּם אֶת קְצִירָהּ וַהֲבֵאתֶם אֶת עֹמֶר רֵאשִׁית קְצִירְכֶם אֶל הַכֹּהֵן:
11. And he shall wave the omer before the Lord so that it will be acceptable for you; the kohen shall wave it on the day after the rest day. יא. וְהֵנִיף אֶת הָעֹמֶר לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה לִרְצֹנְכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת יְנִיפֶנּוּ הַכֹּהֵן:
12. And on the day of your waving the omer, you shall offer up an unblemished lamb in its [first] year as a burnt offering to the Lord; יב. וַעֲשִׂיתֶם בְּיוֹם הֲנִיפְכֶם אֶת הָעֹמֶר כֶּבֶשׂ תָּמִים בֶּן שְׁנָתוֹ לְעֹלָה לַיהֹוָה:
13. Its meal offering [shall be] two tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil, a fire offering to the Lord as a spirit of satisfaction. And its libation [shall be] a quarter of a hin of wine. יג. וּמִנְחָתוֹ שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים סֹלֶת בְּלוּלָה בַשֶּׁמֶן אִשֶּׁה לַיהֹוָה רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ וְנִסְכּוֹ יַיִן רְבִיעִת הַהִין:
14. You shall not eat bread or [flour made from] parched grain or fresh grain, until this very day, until you bring your God's sacrifice. [This is] an eternal statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. יד. וְלֶחֶם וְקָלִי וְכַרְמֶל לֹא תֹאכְלוּ עַד עֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה עַד הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת קָרְבַּן אֱלֹהֵיכֶם חֻקַּת עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם בְּכֹל משְׁבֹתֵיכֶם:
15. And you shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day from the day you bring the omer as a wave offering seven weeks; they shall be complete. טו. וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה:
16. You shall count until the day after the seventh week, [namely,] the fiftieth day, [on which] you shall bring a new meal offering to the Lord.
You bring an offering to the Temple and then on the 50th day after that you bring another offering (wheat this time) and begin the eight-day festival of Shavuot. That is simple enough. But we connect these two holidays by counting out 49 days, seven times seven weeks. A significant number - but this time there is an extra. The festival begins on the 50th day and lasts for eight days.
There is one other Biblical eight day festival exactly half a year after Shavuot - Sukkot. And that holiday has an eighth day, Shemini Azeret, a day to prolong our rejoicing. It is not the start of another week; it is added to the week as an eighth day, an Azeret. I have seen that Azeret compared to this greater extention of rejoicing. Another place the numbers 49 and 50 occur, they are years, not weeks. Every seventh year is a sabbatical, but the 50th year is the Jubilee. It is separate, not the start of a new sabbatical cycle.
Seven is significant in many religions and belief systems, and so 49, seven times seven is very powerful. And when we count out the days of those weeks, we take part in the mystical power. And the holiday at the end of the seven weeks is called Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks. In Temple days it was the time between the barley harvest and the wheat harvest.
Over the centuries, our sages said that, if Passover celebrates the exodus from Egypt, Shavuot must be the day of the revelation at Sinai. So the mystical power of seven times seven weeks leads up to the day of receiving the Torah, and Shavuot has come to be a celebration of receiving Torah.
And psychologically it makes sense. We have all counted the days when we are waiting for a special occasion - a wedding, a vacation, a birthday. The quintessential counting of days is the prisoner counting the days until his release. And for children at least, Advent and the Advent calendar lead up to Christmas, though I understand it has another significance.
And what could be more important than receiving Torah?
But we are near the beginning of the Omer, not yet at its end.
Some modern congregations use this time of counting days for introspection, using each day to look at a different way to improve ourselves. This is especially true since the 33rd day of the Omer, Lag b'Omer, is a day of mourning, said to be the date of the death of many of Akiva's students. For many, the time between Passover and Lag b'Omer is a time of mourning, with no music, and no marriages performed, and letting the hair grow, with exceptions nowadays for business purposes.
So this time of counting is an emotional journey from grief to joy, from slavery to spiritual freedom. I hope your journey this year is fulfilling and meaningful.
Shabbat shalom.