The seven-week (49 days) period between Passover and Shavuot is called the Omer. In the days of Ancient Israel the Jewish people would bring a barley offering to the Temple on the day after the Sabbath following Passover during the week of Unleavened Bread. (Leviticus 23:10). This was called the “Omer” (literally, “Sheaf”) and in practical terms would permit the consumption of recently-harvested grains.

The Torah (Leviticus 23:15) says it is a mitzvah every day to “count the Omer” - the 50 days leading up to Shavuot. This is an important period of growth and introspection, in preparation for the holiday of Shavuot which arrives 50 days later.

Leviticus 23:15-16 (KJV) “You shall also count for yourselves from the days after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the Seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.”

This year we began the Omer counting the night of  4th April 2021 after Sabbath (GMT Kuala Lumpur) Click Here To See Your Time Zone and then counting each evening after sundown (Dusk) for 49 consecutive days for 7 complete weeks (7 Sabbath) 19th May 2021 leading up to the Holy Day of Shavuot (the 50th day) also known as Pentecost (8th July 2021)

Remarks:
Translation Day 12th April 2021
New Moon 13th April 2021
New Moon 12th May 2021
Translation Day 10th June 2021

“BLOW THE TRUMPET AT THE TIME OF THE NEW MOON, AT THE FULL MOON, ON OUR SOLEMN FEAST DAY.” - PSALMS 81:3 (NKJV)

“IT SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER LIKE THE MOON, EVEN LIKE THE FAITHFUL WITNESS IN THE SKY. - PSALMS 89:37 (NKJV)

“AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT FROM ONE NEW MOON TO ANOTHER, AND FROM ONE SABBATH TO ANOTHER, ALL FLESH SHALL COME TO WORSHIP BEFORE ME,” SAYS YAHUWAH. - ISAIAH 66:23

SO TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS, THAT WE MAY GAIN A HEART OF WISDOM. - PSALMS 90:12

HE APPOINTED THE MOON FOR SEASONS: THE SUN KNOWS ITS GOING DOWN. - PSALMS 104:19

THEN ELOHIM SAID, “LET THERE BE LIGHTS IN THE FIRMAMENT OF HEAVENS TO DIVIDE THE DAY FROM THE NIGHT; AND LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS AND SEASONS, AND FOR DAYS AND YEARS;” - GENESIS 1:14

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON, A TIME FOR EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN: - ECCLESIASTES 3:1

When the Temple was standing, barley was the first agricultural crop in Israel to be ready for harvest in the early spring. During Scriptural times, a sheaf of barley (known as the Omer), selected from the choicest of the barley grown within the land of Israel, was brought to the Kohanim as an offering (Leviticus 23:10-12). The process of harvesting this barley offering involved an elaborate ceremony, described in detail in the Mishnah, which is an early rabbinic commentary on the Torah.

The people would choose the most select first-cut barley, harvest it carefully, and bring it to the Temple as an offering to YHWH. The Priests would wave this sheaf of barley, the Omer, in the six directions, North, East, South, West, Up and Down. (This waving process is similar to the formula still used today for shaking the lulav on Succoth). Only after that ceremony, called the wave offering, was completed, was the rest of the community permitted to enjoy the barley crop or any new produce from the spring harvest. In this way, the people acknowledged the role of the Divine in creating the grain.

The Omer was brought to the Temple each day for the next 49 days, during which time the next and most important grain, the wheat, was ripening. Counting these 49 days is known as Counting the Omer. These 49 days of the counting of the Omer culminate on the 50th day, the first day of Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks. In Hebrew, shavuah means week -- Shavuot is plural. Shavuot originally marked the end of the seven weeks of counting the harvest season between the first harvest, the barley, through the growth of the wheat crop and culminating in the harvest of the wheat. Another name for the Festival of Shavuot is Hag HaKatzir, translated as the Holiday of Harvest. 

WHAT TO SAY
One stands when counting the omer, and begins by reciting the following blessing:

Barukh ata Adonai
Eloheinu Melekh ha’Olam
asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav
v’tizivanu al sefirat ha’omer.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to count the omer.

Today is the ______ day of the omer.

We have thus fulfilled the mitzvah of counting the Omer!

The practice of counting these 49 days in anticipation for Shavuot is called the Counting of the Omer.  On the 50th day, Shavuot—which commemorates the Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai—is celebrated.  The Counting of the Omer not only builds anticipation for the holiday of Shavuot, but it is also a time of spiritual refinement and personal growth.

Below are daily Omer reflections for each of the 49 days of the counting. These reflections contain thoughts and exercises for personal character refinement and self-growth during this time period.

With the mitzvah of counting the 49 days, known as Sefirat Ha’Omer, the Torah invites us on a journey into the human psyche, into the soul. There are seven basic emotions that make up the spectrum of human experience. (At the root of all forms of enslavement and sin is a distortion of these emotions.) Each of the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot is dedicated to examining and refining one of them.

The seven emotional attributes are:
Chesed ― Loving-kindness
Gevurah ― Strength in Justice and Discipline
Tiferet ― Beauty in Harmony and Compassion
Netzach ― Endurance and Persistence to Victory
Hod ― Glorious Humility
Yesod ― Foundational Bonding
Malchut ― Sovereign Servant Leadership

The seven weeks, which represent these emotional attributes, further divide into seven days making up the 49 days of the counting. Since a fully functional emotion is multidimensional, it includes within itself a blend of all seven attributes. Thus, the counting of the first week, would consist of the following structure with suggested meditations:

Omer Week 1 – Chesed
Omer Week 2 – Gevurah
Omer Week 3 – Tiferet
Omer Week 4- Netzach
Omer Week 5 – Hod
Omer Week 6 – Yesod
Omer Week 7 – Malchut

“Blessed are those who find chochmah (wisdom), those who gain da’at (understanding), for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are shalom. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.” (Proverbs 3:13-18)

“For YHWH gives wisdom (Chochmah): out of his mouth comes knowledge (da’at) and understanding (Binah).” (Proverbs 2:6)

"Blessed are You, YHWH, Elohim of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O YHWH, is the greatness (yesod), the power (geverah) and the glory (hod), the victory (netzach) and the majesty (tiferet); for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom (malkut), O YHWH, and You are exalted as head over all (keter). (1 Chronicles 29:11,12)”

“YHWH is good to all: and his tender mercies (chesed) are over all his works. (Psalm 145:9)”

 


“Happy is the man . . . who delights in the Torah of Elohim, and in his Torah he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in season; his leaf shall not wither, and in whatever he does he shall prosper.” (Psalms 1)

“(Yahushua) took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, YahuShua asked, ‘Do you see anything?’ He looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around.’” (Mark 8:23-24)