Counting of The Omer - Background

Background

The omer is a Biblical measure of volume of grain. On the second day of Passover, an omer of barley was offered in the Temple, signalling the allowance of the consumption of chadash (grains from the new harvest). On the 50th day after the beginning of the count, corresponding to the holiday of Shavuot, two loaves made of wheat were offered in the Temple to signal the start of the wheat harvest.

The origins of the omer count, enumerated in the Midrash Rabbah Parashas Emor, explains that when the Children of Israel left Egypt they were told by Moses that 49 days after the exodus, they would be given the Torah. The populace was so excited at the prospect of a spiritual liberation, following the physical emancipation from Egypt, they kept a count of the passing days that ended with the giving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai. The Torah itself, in 23:15-16, and Deuteronomy 16:9, states that it is a commandment to count seven complete weeks from the day after Passover night ending with the festival of Shavuot on the fiftieth day. Shavuot is the festival marking the giving of the Torah to the Hebrew nation on the 6th of the Hebrew month of Sivan.

In keeping with the themes of spiritual growth and character development during this period, the Jewish sages compare the process of growth to the two types of grain offered at either pole of the counting period. In ancient times, barley was an animal food and wheat, a human food. At Passover, the children of Israel were raised out of the Egyptian exile although they had sunken almost to the point of no return. The Exodus was unearned, a gift from God, like the food of animals who are not expected to develop their spiritual potential. For the next forty-nine days, however, the Hebrew people worked on themselves to be able to receive the Torah on their own merit. The receiving of the Torah required spiritual elevation and active cooperation. Thus the Shavuot offering is "people food" .