Sefirat Haomer

We bind the Festival of Freedom, which commemorates our Exodus from Egyptian bondage, with Shavuot, which celebrates our spiritual freedom - receiving the Torah at Sinai. By counting the Omer we declare this period to be a single and complete unit.

The days between Passover and Shavuot are marked by pain; twenty-four thousand of Rabbi Akiva’s students died therein. Consequently, it is customary to observe mourning practices during this period - weddings, haircuts, and dancing are all forbidden.

Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of pupils spread out all over the country from Gevat to Antipatros and they all died during the period from Passover to Shavuot because they did not treat each other with respect and the world was desolate.