The Counting of The Omer Will Be Complete Tonight
Every night during the Omer we say a blessing for doing the mitzvah and then recite the count of the number of days we've traveled from Passover to Shavuot, from the barley harvest to the wheat harvest and, ultimately, to the first offering of bread made from wheat of the new harvest, on Shavuot, in the form of 12 loaves. Long ago, when the Omer was counted, wheat from each week would be brought into the Temple and waved as an offering and a prayer that the harvest would come in successfully.
Customs and Meaning
The Omer count for the new day starts at evening after sunset. Though the count is made anytime during the evening or the following daytime, the blessing is said only at night. The counting is thought of as one long mitzvah, even though we say the blessing each night. Traditionally, if one forgets to count over one whole night and day, then the blessing is not said on the following days, even though one should still count. (Omer Counter will help you remember – try putting it in your dock!)
The Hebrew wording for the count sounds like this: "Hayom yom echad ba-omer", which means, "Today is day one in the Omer". That's according to standard Ashkenazi tradition, but the Sefardi, Mizrachi and Chasidic tradition ends the phrase with "la-omer", e.g. "Hayom yom echad la-omer", meaning "Today is day one for the Omer".
There is a custom not to shave or cut our hair from the beginning of the count until "Lag B'Omer", the 33rd day (Ashkenazi), or from the beginning of the month of Iyyar until Shavuot (Sefardi). This is usually interpreted as a mourning custom, but another possible explanation is that the growth of our hair is a kind of prayer with our bodies for the growth of the wheat crop.
Each day between the beginning of Passover and Shavuot gets counted, forty-nine days in all, seven weeks of seven days. That makes the Omer period a miniature version of the Shmitta and Yovel (Jubilee) cycle of seven cycles of seven years. Just as that cycle is one of resetting society's clock to align ourselves with freedom and with the needs of the land, this cycle too is a chance to align ourselves with the rhythms of spring and the spiritual freedom represented by the Torah.
Because there are seven lower Sefirot or qualities in Kabbalah, which are associated with the seven days of the week (and probably also because the homonym "sefirah", which is the singular of Sefirot, also means "counting"), there is also a custom to associate each Sefirah with the number of the day and week one is counting. For example, Lag B'Omer, the fifth day of the fifth week, is Hod sheb'Hod, Majesty within Majesty.
What are the Sefirot?
The Sefirot represent many things, including qualities of the Infinite (God), vessels through which the world was created and is sustained, and aspects of ourselves. To find out more about the Sefirot, go to neohasid.org/kabbalah. For many people, each day of the Omer is an opportunity to meditate on how the qualities of the Sefirot for that day are reflected in one's life, and how you can "fix" or deepen and improve your relationships and way of living in relation to those qualities.
Many boys receive their first haircut on Lag B'Omer, and it's considered the "yom hilula," day of death, of R. Shimon bar Yochai, the rebbe of the Zohar. Other important days during the Omer include Flood Day (the anniversary of the flood of Noah on the 32nd day), Lag B'Omer, Yom Yerushalyim, and Rainbow Day (the anniversary of the rainbow covenant on the 42nd day). The blessing for flowering fruit trees also takes in the first part of the Omer. See neohasid.org for more about these days and times. The Omer also includes Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut.
Application Details
The Sefirot:
The Sefirot associated with each day can be displayed in English or Hebrew with transliteration. In order to visualize the progression through the Sefirot, the Sefirot are drawn on each screen with a dot with the color of the Sefirah for the day inside the Sefirah for the week. In addition, the week number is marked by an outer gray circle, and the day is marked by an inner gray circle. The Quote button also leads to a quote related to the Sefirot (plural) for that day. To find out more about the Sefirot, go to neohasid.org/kabbalah.
The Counting of The Omer Will Be Complete Tonight
Every night during the Omer we say a blessing for doing the mitzvah and then recite the count of the number of days we've traveled from Passover to Shavuot, from the barley harvest to the wheat harvest and, ultimately, to the first offering of bread made from wheat of the new harvest, on Shavuot, in the form of 12 loaves. Long ago, when the Omer was counted, wheat from each week would be brought into the Temple and waved as an offering and a prayer that the harvest would come in successfully.
Customs and Meaning
The Omer count for the new day starts at evening after sunset. Though the count is made anytime during the evening or the following daytime, the blessing is said only at night. The counting is thought of as one long mitzvah, even though we say the blessing each night. Traditionally, if one forgets to count over one whole night and day, then the blessing is not said on the following days, even though one should still count. (Omer Counter will help you remember – try putting it in your dock!)
The Hebrew wording for the count sounds like this: "Hayom yom echad ba-omer", which means, "Today is day one in the Omer". That's according to standard Ashkenazi tradition, but the Sefardi, Mizrachi and Chasidic tradition ends the phrase with "la-omer", e.g. "Hayom yom echad la-omer", meaning "Today is day one for the Omer".
There is a custom not to shave or cut our hair from the beginning of the count until "Lag B'Omer", the 33rd day (Ashkenazi), or from the beginning of the month of Iyyar until Shavuot (Sefardi). This is usually interpreted as a mourning custom, but another possible explanation is that the growth of our hair is a kind of prayer with our bodies for the growth of the wheat crop.
Each day between the beginning of Passover and Shavuot gets counted, forty-nine days in all, seven weeks of seven days. That makes the Omer period a miniature version of the Shmitta and Yovel (Jubilee) cycle of seven cycles of seven years. Just as that cycle is one of resetting society's clock to align ourselves with freedom and with the needs of the land, this cycle too is a chance to align ourselves with the rhythms of spring and the spiritual freedom represented by the Torah.
Because there are seven lower Sefirot or qualities in Kabbalah, which are associated with the seven days of the week (and probably also because the homonym "sefirah", which is the singular of Sefirot, also means "counting"), there is also a custom to associate each Sefirah with the number of the day and week one is counting. For example, Lag B'Omer, the fifth day of the fifth week, is Hod sheb'Hod, Majesty within Majesty.
What are the Sefirot?
The Sefirot represent many things, including qualities of the Infinite (God), vessels through which the world was created and is sustained, and aspects of ourselves. To find out more about the Sefirot, go to neohasid.org/kabbalah. For many people, each day of the Omer is an opportunity to meditate on how the qualities of the Sefirot for that day are reflected in one's life, and how you can "fix" or deepen and improve your relationships and way of living in relation to those qualities.
Many boys receive their first haircut on Lag B'Omer, and it's considered the "yom hilula," day of death, of R. Shimon bar Yochai, the rebbe of the Zohar. Other important days during the Omer include Flood Day (the anniversary of the flood of Noah on the 32nd day), Lag B'Omer, Yom Yerushalyim, and Rainbow Day (the anniversary of the rainbow covenant on the 42nd day). The blessing for flowering fruit trees also takes in the first part of the Omer. See neohasid.org for more about these days and times. The Omer also includes Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut.
Application Details
The Sefirot:
The Sefirot associated with each day can be displayed in English or Hebrew with transliteration. In order to visualize the progression through the Sefirot, the Sefirot are drawn on each screen with a dot with the color of the Sefirah for the day inside the Sefirah for the week. In addition, the week number is marked by an outer gray circle, and the day is marked by an inner gray circle. The Quote button also leads to a quote related to the Sefirot (plural) for that day. To find out more about the Sefirot, go to neohasid.org/kabbalah.