The Computation of Days
by Velvel "Wally" Spiegler

Have you ever seeded a lawn? The best time to do it is around Pesach, in early spring. First you rake the soil smooth, spread the fertilizer, sow the seed and start to water each day. Soon afterwards you start to worry: after all the hard work, will the seeds ever germinate. What do you do in the meantime? You count the days. "Let's see" you think to yourself, "I sowed the seeds on the tenth; it takes about two weeks for the seedlings to sprout, so about the twenty fourth I should have grass". Meanwhile you just water and count the days while you anxiously await the little green sprouts to pop through the ground. Perhaps that's the kind of anxiety the ancient Israelites went through as they patiently counted the Omer and awaited the spring wheat harvest that held answer to whether there will be enough food for the year.

This is precisely what the Torah had in mind for the period between Pesach and Shavuot, when it said, "you shall count off seven weeks (from the second day of Pesach). Start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) for the Lord your God" (Deut. 16:9). The festival of Shavuot is decreed in Leviticus 23: "And from the day you bring the sheaf of elevation...you must count until the day after the seventh week--fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of the new grain to the Lord. Shavuot was originally an agricultural festival like all the festivals, but as agriculture became more remote, the counting of the Omer developed into a more spiritual observance.  With the destruction of the Temple this sacrificial offering along with so many others was abandoned and Shavuot became a token recollection of the revelation on Sinai.

Can you imagine the anxiety that must have overcome the Israelites each year, wondering if they'll have enough food for survival? We deal with anxieties--fears that may occur in the future--all the time but how can we cope with them? Perhaps one option is counting. Let's say I'm nervous about being unable to pay my bills at the end of the month. There's not much to do about it in the present; what remains is to count the days until the bills are due. Think of the joy you would experience if you find some extra money you overlooked, and your worst fear is alleviated. Imagine the joy of observing the shade of new grass sprouting through the ground or the exultation the Israelites enjoyed as they beheld the wheat crop flourishing.

There's a certain tension going on during this seven-week period that's motivated by the anticipation over the wheat harvest. We get a glimpse of this stress from the moderate mourning rules that go along with the period--no music, no weddings, and no haircuts. Lag B'Omer, the thirty-third day of counting provides a day of relief from the tension. Perhaps we, as American Jews living a life of relative luxury, can't appreciate the emotion of these days, but we can empathize with our ancient brethren by acknowledging the stress we live with today.

The Kabbalists dealt with the anxiety of uncertainty by working on their inner character traits during the period of counting the Omer. They devised a rather complicated array of the Ten Sephirot in which pairs of sephirot were assigned to each of the forty-nine days. They devoted some time each day meditating on and contemplating these paired qualities, with the intention of transforming their characters enough to receive the Torah at Sinai. How might we deal with our own anxieties today?

Shavuot is the culmination of the Omer period, which is another opportunity to deeply explore within ourselves to determine what prevents us from receiving the Torah at Sinai. It's a chance to turn a seemingly insignificant part of Jewish tradition into a supernal moment worthy of receiving the Torah, the gift of higher consciousness. The seven weeks of counting and the two festivals provide yet another example of how Torah concerns itself with the growth, development and well-being of the Jewish people.

While the giving of the Torah is what God does on Shavuot, our role is to receive it. During the Omer we prepare by shaping ourselves into vessels to receive the Torah. Each of us creates a receptacle made of our self-inquiries and desires. This process draws out of a universe saturated with blessings, just those that your vessel requires. This is the thirty sixth day, comprising five weeks and one day, for the Omer.