Omer counting

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“Counting Omer” Morocco , Tangier , 1960s
"Counting Omer" Jerusalem 1952

The term omer counting ( Hebrew ספירת העומר Sefirat Ha'omer , German for 'sheaf counting' ) describes the ritual counting of each of the 49 days between the Jewish feasts of Passover and Shavuot .

Between Passover and Shavuot, the festival of weeks, Omer (" sheaves ") is counted; the custom is based on the agricultural character of the Jewish year. Passover not only celebrates the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian bondage and the establishment of the people of Israel , but was also the festival of thanksgiving for the first fruits of the year. Even before the first bread from the new harvest, sheaves were brought into the temple ( Leviticus 23 : 9–16  EU ; OT ).

Shavuot is celebrated after the Omer count is over. The 49 days of the Omer period are the time between the start of the barley harvest and the end of the wheat harvest .

Counting the Omer is ritualized and works like this:

The first day from which the counting starts is the second Seder evening. One says: “Today is a day since the Omer.” On the second day it is said: “Today it is two days since the Omer” and so on. On the eighth evening they say: "Today it's eight days, that's a week and a day after the Omer."

Historically, the Omer days were marked by catastrophes for the Jewish people, u. a. the death of many students of Rabbi Akiba as a result of the Bar Kochba uprising against the Romans (132 to 135), the riots during the time of the Crusades (1096-1099) or the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto and its suppression. That is why no happy events (family celebrations) are celebrated in the Omer period. But there is one exception, the 33rd day of Omer (18th Ijar ). Weddings are allowed on this day, the lag baOmer , because according to tradition, the death of Rabbi Akiba's disciple ended on this day.

Literature (selection)

  • Alfred Paffenholz: What does the rabbi do all day? (= World religions: Judaism ). Patmos, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-491-72331-0 ; 2nd Edition. Ibid, with the same ISBN.

Web links

Commons : Omer Counting  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files