Passover 24

One of the mitzvot associated with Passover is the Omer. We read in Leviticua 23:15, that the day after "the Sabbath" we are to bring a "wave offering" to the Temple, and (in Deuteronomy 16:9) we are commanded to count fifty days until the holiday of Shavu'ot (Pentecost, which simply means "the fiftieth" in Greek). Already in ancient times, there was great controversy concerning the meaning of these verses. The Sadducees, Samaritans, and the later Karaites interpreted the word "Sabbath" here literally. The wave offering was (they thought) always brought on a Sunday, and Shavu'ot was celebrated also on a Sunday, seven weeks later. The Pharisees (us) had an Oral Tradition that "the Sabbath" in this context means "the day of rest", i.e., the first day of Passover, during which work was forbidden similar to Shabbat. The Sages describe the festive event in detail. Before Passover, a barley field was chosen near Jerusalem, and an appropriate amount of barley plants were designated. The people of Jerusalem would go out after dark at the conclusion of the first day of the holiday. An appointed person would say "Has the Sun gone down?" and all would reply "It has gone down".This was repeated three times. If it happened to be a Friday night, he would say "Is it Shabbat?" and all would answer in the affirmative; also three times. This was to stress that the Omer ceremony overrides Shabbat. "Is this a scythe? " Shall I cut?" He would then cut enough to fill an Omer, a measure equal to about 3.64 liters. The barley was then ground and sifted with thirteen successively finer sieves. It was then baked into a loaf. The preparation took all night. In the morning, it was waved before the altar. All grain that had taken root since the last Passover, had been, until now, forbidden to eat. This is called the prohibition of "Hadash" ("New"). Now all of that grain became permitted. Today, since we don't have the Temple, we wait until the second day of Passover has passed. You will often see on packages of grain products an affirmation that it is "Yashan" (old), meaning from a crop that had taken root before the 16th of the most recent Nisan. Many are very careful about Hadash, while others feel that there is sufficient doubt as to when any particular shipment of grain grew, so that we may be lenient. Many opine that this only applies in the Land of Israel, and only in the field of a Jew, in any case. From the harvesting of the Omer offering, each man would begin to count seven weeks, or forty nine days. (The fiftieth being a separate holiday, and requiring no counting). This is still done today, although opinions differ if, in the absence of the offering, it is still Biblical or only rabbinical. In Israel, it is done immediately after dark of the eve of the sixteenth. In the Diaspora, where each holiday is doubled, we also do it at that time. There are, however, differences of opinion and custom as to whether it is better to count immediately after dark, or only at the conclusion of the second seder. We count each night "Today is one day of the Omer...two days of the Omer.." Using cardinal numbers rather than ordinal numbers, to indicate that we are building up to something, That "something" is the re-acceptance of the Torah on Shavu'ot. From day seven, we add in the weeks as well "Today is seven days, which are one week..today is eight days, which are one week and one day.." Customs differ as to whether or not women also count the Omer, even though they are not obligated. We must deal with two more topics related to the Omer; how and why it became a period of mourning, and what is its deeper significance.