The counting of the Omer

From Pesach to Shavuot

 

Yaakov, Béla Orbán

The counting of the Omer starts from the second evening of Pesach. The Omer is a unit of measure used for sheaf, wheat and other kinds of cereals also known as Midat Nefat.

This counting ordered by God can be found in Leviticus 23:21.
This period lasts 49 days – during 7 entire weeks – until the 50^th day (in Greek: Pentacosta-fifteenth), also known in English under the name of Pentecoste.  

The beginning of the counting:  
The second day of Pesach in remembering of the offering that had to be brought to the Temple and that consisted of an Omer of wheat from the harvest.
The name of this period is S’firat Omer, the counting of the Omer.

During S’firat, we have 33 days of partial and commemorative mourning.
The religious obligations concerning the mourning days are although suspended on the 33^rd day at LagBaOmer, at YomYerushalaim and also at YomHaAtsmaut.

This 49 days’ period is a period of fast. During these days, nobody gets married, nobody cuts his hairs and there is no feast excepting on the three days mentioned above.  

This period is also the symbol of the period between the conversion and the birth from new. Although this process has to go with purification ; when we also have to cross a kind of period of fast. Releases, separations, breakings, … so that we could bring the first sheaf (ourselves) to the High Priest…

 

 

Translated from hungarian by Richard (Zeev Shlomo)

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