Counting the omer

In Leviticus 23:15-16, HaShem commanded the Israelites to count fifty days from Pesach (Passover) to reach the feast of Shavuot (“Weeks”). That’s seven full weeks—49 days—between the two feasts, with the fiftieth day being Shavuot. This is how the feast has also become known as Pentecost (Acts 2:1), the Greek word for “fiftieth.” And in Exodus 23:16, it is referred to as the Feast of the Harvest, indicating the time of the late spring grain harvest. Thus it is the last of the spring feasts.

In the days of the tabernacle or (at other times) the temple, the Israelite priests would wave a sheaf (omer)—a tied bundle of harvested cereal including both stalks and heads of grain—each day before the LORD in the Holy Place. This is called s’firat ha-omer (counting the sheaves). So, instead of referring to the practice as “counting the days”, we talk about “counting the omer.” Since the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, Jewish tradition developed so that the days are counted as follows:

1. Proclaim the blessing: “Blessed are you, LORD our God, king of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us concerning the counting of the omer.”
2. Declare the count: “Today is forty one days, which is five weeks and one day, of the omer.”
3. Pray for the temple, the “Holy House,” to be rebuilt: “May the Merciful One restore unto us the service of the Bet Hamikdash to its place, speedily in our days; Amen, Selah.”
4. Read Psalm 67.
5. Pray for purification and sanctification in preparation for Shavuot.

Why didn’t HaShem simply specify the date on the Hebrew calendar, 6 Sivan, on which to celebrate Shavuot? Counting the omer links Shavuot explicitly to Pesach. Counting each day is like adding a link to a chain, so that Shavuot is, in a sense, the ultimate fulfilment of Pesach. When we think of the fulfilment(s) of these feasts, we can see that they originally took place in the same year, when the Passover Exodus brought the Israelites out of Egypt to the foot of Mount Sinai where the Torah was given 50 days later. We also see a fulfilment take place in the same year, as described in the New Testament: Jesus became the Passover Lamb 50 days before the Spirit was given (putting the G-d's Torah on the hearts of the house of Israel, c.f. Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 10:16). This gives reason to suspect that, just as the spring feasts were fulfilled in the same year, so the fall (autumn) feasts will also find fulfilment in the same year, starting with Yeshua’s return at the sound of the great trumpet (or shofar) on Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets) followed shortly after by Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and culminating in Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles).

With this in mind, the reading of Psalm 67 every day whilst counting the omer seems to have a special significance since it speaks of HaShem’s salvation reaching every nation. In fact, it uses three different words for “people” or “nation”: l'om, am, and goy. It is not sufficient for HaShem to be the G-d of Israel alone; he is indeed the G-d of every nation!