What is the counting of the Omer?

Starting from the second day of Pesach (Passover), we are commanded to count forty-nine days. The fiftieth day is the holiday of Shavuot (outside the land of Israel, Shavuot is a two-day festival–the fiftieth and fifty-first day from the start of the count). Every individual is commanded to count the days of the Omer.

This counting is called the “Counting of the Omer” because on the second day of Pesach the barley “Omer” offering was offered in the Holy Temple. We count forty-nine days from this offering. In Hebrew, the word Omer literally means a certain measure; the required amount of barley for this sacrifice.

One is supposed to count the Omer at night. It is customary to do the counting before the Aleinu of the Maariv prayer.

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Posted by Rabbi J on Apr 27 2011. Filed under The Omer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry