The Meaning Sefirat Ha'omer

All for One, One for All

Why don’t we just make one bracha at the beginning of the count, on the first night, & then say a closing bracha on the last night? Why are there 49 separate brachot recited?!

Post-Pesach Reflections on Redemption

Pesach is over - but we have permanently absorbed yet another portion of freedom. Yet another peel of Exile has been removed from us. We have shed yet another layer of self-nullification before others, and of blind admiration of customs found in the nations of the West or the Far East. We have grown stronger in getting to know ourselves, in healthy self-confidence, and in appreciation of the value of the People of Israel and its great destiny to shine the light of G-d throughout the world

Counting the Omer

We are now in the middle of the counting of the Omer, I have always been somewhat perplexed by the general explanation, that this count is meant to represent the longing of the Jewish people and their preparation for the acceptance of the Torah on Mount Sinai after their freedom from the bondage of Egypt.

R-e-s-p-e-c-t, Find Out What It Means to You

Two ideas permeate our nightly enumeration: 1) The linking up of Pesach & Shavuot & 2) The semi-mourning practices associated with this time of the year, due to the deaths of the students of Rabbi Akiva. Is there a connection?

Counting

Each of the 49 intervening days as well as the seven weeks that pass between the holidays is to be counted. It is clear, though, that the Torah is insistent on this count during the interim between these two major holidays of the Jewish calendar.

Alone Together

Sefirat Ha’Omer: In Anticipation or In Preparation?

“And you shall count” – The process of counting the Omer