Imagine a world without Torah, the Jewish Bible.
On Shabbat, synagogues around the world are devastated to find their scrolls have vanished. Bible study groups find only dust on the shelves. Many are heartbroken by the sudden loss of our holy book: the Torah, the foundation of the Christian Old Testament, and a common heritage with Muslims. Civil rights leaders have lost the myths to which many turn for inspiration in dark times. The world's wisdom literature has a sudden, tragic void.
The word Torah can be translated as "teaching."1 During the time of the Omer, in the days between Passover and Shavuot, we imagine a world that has not received the gift of Torah. We imagine the absence of knowledge and the voice for justice found in our tradition. This time is almost a mourning period, like the days after the loss of a loved one. Many communities refrain from weddings or other lavish festivities. Some avoid comforts like haircuts or types of music. These traditions are meant to show that a world without Torah is an impaired world, one where things aren't as they should be.
The word omer refers to a measurement of grain, sometimes called a "sheaf." Ancient Hebrews believed God was responsible for bountiful harvests. They customarily offered a sheaf of grain to God on the second day of Passover, the festival which commemorates the Exodus from slavery. Leviticus 23:15 reads, "Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath when you brought the sheaf...until the morning of the seventh Sabbath."2 Today, 'to count the Omer' means to mark each passing day from the second of Passover to the next holiday, 49 days later. Today, our prayers serve as offerings instead of grain.
After the miracles of Passover, the Hebrews were said to ask, Where do we go from here? The myth tells us that God answered with the gift of Torah and the leadership of the Prophet Moses. With Torah came knowledge and a lasting relationship between God and the people, one defined by personal and collective growth. In remembrance of this past, every year the Hebrews were expected to count the days between the anniversaries of being freed and receiving God's revelation. These "seven full weeks" are the days that lead to Shavuot, sometimes called the Feast of Weeks, when we celebrate receiving Torah.
The tradition of counting the Omer is performed once daily in the weeks between Passover and Shavuot. The custom is easily accomplished and can be done at home or in the synagogue. To begin, we state aloud our intention to perform the custom, offering a formal prayer of thanks for the opportunity. Then we state the day of the Omer, and how many weeks we are into the process of counting. At this, the ritual is complete. Many prayer books offer formal language and other readings designed to enhance the custom for you. Some Jews include meditation practices, the recitation of poetry, or other customs in their counting.
Counting the Omer teaches us that in the silent moments before the voice of enlightenment speaks, we should wait with anticipation and longing: for instruction, for clarity, for comfort. We count these days, which seem to stretch on forever, until finally the silence is broken and our spirits are lifted by the recognition of truth. But though we turn to celebration, we never forget how it felt to wait, to count as the melancholy days went by. We never forget the memory of a lesser world, the world we came from, a world without Torah.
- The Bible: A Biography, Copyright © 2007 by Karen Armstrong
- The Message (MSG), Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
