What Are We Counting?

The holiday of Shavuos is unique on the Jewish calendar, because it does not have a set date. Rosh Hashanah always falls on the first day of the month of Tishrei, and Passover begins on the 15th of Nissan.

Shavuos, by contrast, begins 50 days after Passover, after seven full weeks. In fact, the name “Shavuos” means “weeks.” Since the Hebrew months could vary in length (until fixed by Hillel II and the Sanhedrin in the fourth century CE), this means the actual date of Shavuos could vary up to two days.

On the second day of Passover, a unique offering was brought in the Holy Temple: a sheaf of grain from the new crop. This was called the “Omer.” That day also is when we begin the process of counting the days up to the holiday of Shavuos, and thus we refer to this as “counting the Omer.”

Kabbalah tells us that trapped in idolatrous Egypt, the Israelites had fallen to the 49th level of impurity. During these 50 days, they were elevated back to a state of purity, able to receive the Torah. Thus we are not merely counting down the days to a great event, but, on the contrary, counting upwards as we recapture the increase in holiness during this special time, as we approach the day of Receiving the Torah.