The Torah instructs us to count seven weeks from the second day of Passover, the fiftieth day is the holy day of Shavuot.
And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15-16)
Initially Shavuot was a harvest festival, a time to make a pilgrimage to the Temple to bring an offering. After the destruction of the Temple the rabbis and Jewish mystics associated this important holy day with the receiving of Torah on Sinai. The custom and law is to count seven weeks of seven days, each day reviewing one’s self in light of qualities associated with sephirot specified for each day, and to say a blessing and pronounce the count of the day. This practice is intended to refine our character and do mitzvot in hopes of becoming ready to receive Torah. This practice is called ‘counting the omer’.
According to the mystics, each week of the seven is represented by a mystical aspect of the divine to focus on. And each day of the 49 is a combination of two aspects. For example, referring to the list below, the first week is associated with Chesed (qualities of loving kindness, compassion), and the first day of the first week we reflect on Chesed of Chesed. The second day of the first week we reflect on G’vurah of Chesed, and so on for each of the seven days to the first week. The second week is associated with G’vurah, and day one of week 2 we reflect on Chesed of G’vurah. Day two of week two we reflect on G’vurah of G’vurah, and so on. There are many guides and apps to aid you in counting of the omer, we are meant to make it a very personal journey.
Correspondences of the Seven Sefirot of the Omer Period
[“Sefirot” refers to the kabbalistic notion of the divine emanations.]
1. Chesed : Loving kindness, Compassion
2. G’vurah: Judgment, Restriction, Limits
3. Tiferet: Beauty, Balance
4. Netzach: Victory, Enduring
5. Hod: Glory, Humility
6. Yesod: Foundation, Bonding, Generativity
7. Malchut: Sovereignty, Majesty, God’s Earthly Realm
