I. Our Trigger: This week's Torah Portion
And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the Sheaf (Omer) of the Waving; seven complete Sabbaths shall there be; until the day after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall present a new meal-offering unto the LORD.
II. Practical: What does it mean to Count the Omer
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.
Today is thirty-five days, which is five weeks of the Omer
Choose Your Own Textual Adventure.
IIIa. Comparing Two Biblical Readings: Units of Time
Questions for thought: what are the linguistic differences between the reading from Leviticus and the reading from Deuteronomy? How do they count units of time? What are the different ways time is measured during the Counting of the Omer? How do you count units of time in your own life?
Rabbi Joseph Karo (Spain/Israel, 1488-1575), codified the "Shulchan Arukh", a book of Jewish law that retains authority even today. Here's what he wrote about capturing different units of time:
(א) סדר תפל' ליל שני של פסח וספירת העומר. ובו י"ס:
בליל שני אחר תפל' ערבית מתחילין לספור העומר ואם שכח לספור בתחל' הלילה הולך וסופר כל הלילה ומצוה על כל אחד לספור לעצמו וצריך לספור מעומד ולברך תחל' וסופר הימים והשבועו' כיצד ביום הראשון אומר היום יום אחד (בעומר) עד שמגיע לשבעה ימים ואז יאמר היום שבעה ימים שהם שבוע אחד (בעומר) וביום שמיני אומר היום שמונה ימים שהם שבוע א' ויום א' (בעומר) וכן עד שיגיע לארבע' עשר יאמר היום ארבעה עשר ימים שהם שני שבועו' (בעומר) ועל דרך זה מונה והולך עד מ"ט יום:
(1) On the second night after the evening prayer, we begin to count the Omer. And if someone forgot to count, [that one may count] from the beginning of the evening onwards. He may account all night. It is a mitzvah for each person to count for themselves. He needs to count standing and bless before. He should count the days and weeks. How? On the first day he should say “today is day one of the Omer”, until he arrives to seven days. [At which point he should say], “they are one week of the Omer.” And on the eighth day he should say “today is eight days and they are one week and one day of the Omer.” And also, when he arrives to the 14th day, he should say “today is 14 days, they are two weeks of the Omer.” And in this way he should count and onwards until the 49th day.
IIIb. Dig Into the Sages: Counting Up vs. Counting Down
Questions for thought: when in your life do you count days? Why do you count up, why do you count down?
Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah #306
Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed) 3:43
Shavuot is the time of the Giving of the Torah. In order to honor and elevate this day we count the days from the previous festival until it [arrives], like someone who is waiting for a loved one to arrive, who counts the days by the hours.
(ד) ומפני כן, כי היא כל עקרן של ישראל ובעבורה נגאלו ועלו לכל הגדלה שעלו אליה, נצטוינו למנות ממחרת יום טוב של פסח עד יום נתינת התורה להראות בנפשנו החפץ הגדול אל היום הנכבד הנכסף ללבנו כעבד ישאף צל, וימנה תמיד מתי יבוא העת הנכסף אליו שיצא לחרות, כי המנין מראה לאדם כי כל ישעו וכל חפצו להגיע אל הזמן ההוא. וזהו שאנו מונין לעמר, כלומר, כך וכך ימים עברו מן המנין ואין אנו מונין כך וכך ימים יש לנו לזמן, כי כל זה מראה לנו הרצון החזק להגיע אל הזמן, ועל כן לא נרצה להזכיר בתחילת חשבוננו רבוי הימים שיש לנו להגיע לקרבן שתי הלחם של עצרת.
Now, for this reason, because it is the main core of the Israelites' life and for its sake they were redeemed and rose to all the distinction they attained -- we were commanded to count the days from the morrow after the festival day of Passover until the Torah was given -- to show with our very souls our great yearning for that distinguished day, for which our heart longs 'as a servant eagerly longs for the shadow' and constantly counts when his longed-for time will come when he will go out to freedom. For counting shows about a person that all his hope of deliverance and all his desire to reach that time.
This is why we count omer i.e. 'so many days have passed out of the total' and we do not count 'so many days remain for us to that time' because this shows the mighty desire in us to reach that time. For this reason we do not wish to mention the beginning of our reckoning the great number of days that remain for us, to reach the offering of the two loaves of shavuot.
Let's put this into conversation with another time that days are counted in Judaism: when we light the Chanukah candles.
Two prominent sages, Hillel and Shammai, have exactly our question. Do you count down, or do you count up? And then two later sages try to explain what each of them may have been thinking.
Ask again: what do we gain by counting down? What do we gain by counting up?
ת"ר מצות חנוכה נר איש וביתו והמהדרין נר לכל אחד ואחד והמהדרין מן המהדרין ב"ש אומרים יום ראשון מדליק שמנה מכאן ואילך פוחת והולך וב"ה אומרים יום ראשון מדליק אחת מכאן ואילך מוסיף והולך
The Sages taught: The basic commandment of Hanukkah is each day to have a light kindled by a person, the head of the household, for themself and their household.
And the mehadrin, (those who are super strict in the performance of mitzvot), kindle a light for each and every one in the household.
And the mehadrin min hamehadrin, who are even more meticulous, adjust the number of lights daily. Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagree as to the nature of that adjustment.
Beit Shammai says: On the first day one kindles eight lights and, from there on, gradually decreases the number of lights until, on the last day of Hanukkah, they kindle one light.
And Beit Hillel says: On the first day one kindles one light, and from there on, gradually increases the number of lights until, on the last day, they kindle eight lights.
Ulla said: There were two amora’im (late Talmudic Rabbi's) in the West, (Israel). who disagreed with regard to this dispute: Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zevida.
Opinion 1:
The reason for Beit Shammai’s opinion is that the number of lights corresponds to the incoming days, i.e., the future. On the first day, eight days remain in Hanukkah, one kindles eight lights, and on the second day seven days remain, one kindles seven, etc.
The reason for Beit Hillel’s opinion is that the number of lights corresponds to the outgoing days. Each day, the number of lights corresponds to the number of the days of Hanukkah that were already observed.
Opinion 2:
The reason for Beit Shammai’s opinion is that the number of lights corresponds to the bulls of the festival of Sukkot: Thirteen were sacrificed on the first day and each succeeding day one fewer was sacrificed (Numbers 29:12–31).
The reason for Beit Hillel’s opinion is that the number of lights is based on the principle:
One elevates to a higher level in matters of sanctity and one does not downgrade. Therefore, if the objective is to have the number of lights correspond to the number of days, there is no alternative to increasing their number with the passing of each day.
Addendum: Kabbalah. Cleansing and lifting yourself through counting days and weeks.
In Kabbalah, the number 7 is a powerful one, so seven counts of seven is almost as good as it gets. Kabbalists assign one attribute to each number, such that each day becomes a combination of the week number attribute and the day number attribute. Each day has unique properties, and becomes its own meditation on holiness and self-improvement.
For example: #1 = Chesed, loving-kindness. So the 1st day in the 1st week is Chesed of Chesed.
