What Even IS the Omer?! Ancient Spiritual Refinement for Modern Times
What is the Counting of the Omer? The Omer is a period of seven weeks, or forty-nine days, from the second Passover Seder to the summer holiday of Shavuot. This year, the Omer period runs from the evening of April 23 to June 11. When we say we “count” the Omer, we really mean counting out loud all of those 49 days sequentially with special blessings.
Since October 7, many of us have been counting the days that hostages have been held in Gaza. As Pesach continues and more than 130 people have remained captive for more than 200 days, adding the practice of counting the Omer brings a stark reminder of how long the hostages have been praying for release. While we know that counting the Omer will end on the 49th day, as we celebrate Shavuot and the revelation of the Torah at Sinai, we count days without an end to captivity in sight for the hostages.
Why is counting the Omer significant?
- Agriculturally: This period of time marks a transitional moment from season to season, spring to summer. Thousands of years ago when the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, this was the period of time when Jews brought their new barley crops as a sacrificial offering. The word omer literally means “sheaf” and refers to these early offerings.
- Biblically: The Omer period connects the anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt (Passover) with the festival that commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai (Shavuot). Tradition teaches us that enslaved Israelites were so comforted by the promise of receiving the Torah 50 days after fleeing Egypt that they began to count the days, saying each time, “Now we have one day less to wait for the giving of the Torah.” Miraculously, this promise was kept, and the Omer period has since symbolized the eagerness with which the Torah was received by the Israelites.
- Practically: Jewish wisdom teaches us that seasonal shifting is a profound opportunity to check in on our relationships with ourselves, with the people in our lives, and with the world around us. As the world turns, so do we and so do our relationships!
- On a metaphysical level: It is said the Omer period is also a special opportunity to connect to the divine through many different mystical channels.
What’s the deal with all the colors, values, and names of people?
Jewish mystics imagined God as having multiple faces or attributes called sefirot, including chesed (love or expansiveness), gevurah (strength, severity, or judgment), etc. The mythic characters of the Torah represent these attributes. For example, Abraham represents chesed, while Esther represents malchut (majesty, and the presence of the indwelling feminine face of God known as the Shekhinah). Some Jews who studied the kabbalistic system saw the counting of the Omer as a way to meditate on seven of these sefirot and include them in one’s own life.
But people aren’t the only ones who contain these qualities. Mystically speaking, so do colors, foods, and even parts of the body! One modern understanding is that each of us embodies the divine in a unique way. Through understanding that God appears in many different earthly outlets, we can move beyond the idea that God is only one thing — only a father, only a king, only male, has human features — and come to understand that God moves through our world in multiple ways.
A time of emotional complexity
On the one hand, the Omer period is a time to connect deeply to the divine and to celebrate a daily escalation of closeness with the Torah. On the other hand, many massacres recorded in Jewish history purportedly took place in the spring months:
- The first spring tragedy began with the martyrdom of Rabbi Akiva and his students and continued through the three Crusades (1096-1192).
- The last great deportation to the gas chambers, that of the Hungarian Jews, took place during the period of the counting of the Omer.
- The Israeli Knesset named the 27th day of Nisan as a national Memorial Day (Yom Hashoah) for those slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II.
- In addition, the day before Israel Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut) is called Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) for those who died in the War of Liberation.
These sad events are traditionally memorialized by refraining from participation in joyous events during the Omer period. According to the Code of Jewish Law, Orakh Hayim 493:2, no weddings should take place, and it is customary not to cut one’s hair with one exception: Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, is observed as a semi-holiday, and suspends many of the mourning customs for 24 hours of the Omer period.
Some ways to observe the Omer period this year:
- Count! Begin counting on the evening of April 23rd. You can learn how to count the Omer on this wonderful resource page by My Jewish Learning and you can download apps on your phone (like this one) or even visit a Simpson’s themed website to find all the blessings to count every night.
- Turn inward: For the kabbalists (Jewish mystics), the Omer period became an ideal time for introspection and self-perfection, with each week in the process dedicated to one of the sephirot, or cosmic aspects of being – Pure Giving; Boundaries; Balance; Eternality; Ephemerality; Bonding; and Manifestation. Consider adopting a 49-day journaling practice (like this one from the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks) during the Omer and reflect on these qualities for a few minutes each morning.
- Learn something new: The Omer is a wonderful invitation to start a new practice or establish new connections with your spiritual self. Check out these creative and inspirational Omer rituals from RitualWell.org to get some ideas for how to connect this season.
- Give tzedakah: While there is never a bad time to support the causes you care most about, the Omer period is an auspicious moment to invest in the world you want to live in.
Decrease in joy: Some folks have the custom of avoiding hair cuts (including shaving and waxing), using perfumes, listening to live music, and even attending parties during the Omer period as a way to connect to the historical sadness of the moment. Others make an extra intention to refrain from telling jokes, watching funny shows or movies, or eating luxurious meals. What might it be like for you to tap into these customs as a way to deepen your own Omer experience?