The Return of Erev Shabbat Jewish Blogging

[gnomi]

This week, aspects of counting the Omer.

Each night from the second night of Pesach through erev Shavuot (the night before Shavuot), we count the Omer. We say a bracha (blessing), "...Asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al sefirat ha Omer (...who sanctified us with his mitzvot and commanded us regarding the counting of the Omer). We then recite the number of the day, with the following formula:

In the first six days, we say:

Hayom yom ____ laOmer (Today is day ____ of the Omer)

Beginning with day seven, we count the days and the weeks: Hayom yom _____ she'haim ____ shavuot v' _____ yamim laOmer (Today is day ____, which is ____ weeks and ____ days of the Omer). (This is true of day 15 and onwards; due to grammar, the Hebrew of Week One is different).

The mitzvah of counting the Omer is from Vayikra (Leviticus) chapter 23, verses 15-16:

15. And you shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day from the day you bring the omer as a wave offering seven weeks; they shall be complete.
16. You shall count until the day after the seventh week, [namely,] the fiftieth day, [on which] you shall bring a new meal offering to the Lord.

(source: Judaica Press Tanach)

The verses above refer to both "the seventh week" and "the fiftieth day." In the repetition of this mitzvah, in Devarim (Deuteronomy) chapter 16, verses 9-10, it refers just to the seven weeks. The rabbis had a question as to which was required to fulfill the mitzvah, and thus we do both.

(An anecdote: mabfan once said to me, "Why is it that we count both the days and the weeks?" I said, "The rabbis have a question..." mabfan, knowing my penchant when it comes to questions of halacha to present the full picture, said, "Please just cut to the chase. Why do we count both the days and the weeks?" I responded, "The rabbis have a question...")

There are lots of little details regarding what is considered a valid counting and how one can discharge one's obligation to count. Even though the tradition is that one has not fulfilled the mitzvah of counting unless both the days and the weeks are mentioned, we strive not to even mention what day of the Omer it is before performing the counting according to ritual. The custom has arisen to refer to the previous day's count if asked. For instance, if Reuven asks Shimon what day of the Omer it is in preparation for doing his own counting, Shimon will respond, "Last night we counted [whatever the previous night's count was]."

(This practice has led to a number of jokes, including the woman who, when asked "What's for dinner?" responds, "Last night we had chicken.")

Shabbat shalom and Chodesh tov (what with today and tomorrow being Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the new month).

Comments

[cellio]

due to grammar, the Hebrew of Week One is different

Anything more than shavu'ot -> shavua? (The verb should stay plural because you're counting both weeks and days, yes?)

I responded, "The rabbis have a question..."

*laugh*

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Anything more than shavu'ot -> shavua? (The verb should stay plural because you're counting both weeks and days, yes?)

What I was thinking about was that the number goes after, instead of before, when you're talking about "echad." It was at about that point that I decided it wasn't worth going into all the nitty-gritty with how numbers work in Hebrew. :-)

[cellio]

Oh, right -- echad is special. I just learned that, even.

[eal.livejournal.com]

Okay, that actually explained a couple of things that I always just thought were odd about one of my professors in college. He is generally rather eccentric, so I always assumed his last night we did X when asked about his plans or whatever for tonight was just him being eccentric -- did not realize he was probably telling a joke to a completely oblivious audience.

I'm sure he would have killed in your set :).

M

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yeah, that might've been it.