04/02/2026
Tonight at our second Passover Seder, we start the counting of the Omer. The Torah tells us that on the second night of Passover we start counting 7 sets of 7 days, for a total of 49 days. The 50th day is Shavuot, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah. But Passover and Shavuot are also agricultural holidays. The Torah tells us to bring an offering from the first planting of barley at Passover time and an offering of the first fruits of grain planted during the springtime at Shavuot. After the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 79 CE, we were no longer able to make those offerings, but the custom of counting the Omer has continued. The custom has taken on the significance of traveling from the redemption from slavery at Passover to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai on Shavuot. Happy counting!
