Sefirat ha-Omer

(1) "And you shall count for yourselves": Each one shall count for himself individually.

(1) (Devarim 16:9) "Seven weeks shall you count for yourself": I might think that beth-din (is being exhorted to do the counting); it is, therefore, written (Vayikra 22:15) "And you shall count for yourselves" — each individual (is exhorted to do the counting).

(6) I might think that he could harvest in the daytime and count in the daytime and bring (the omer) in the daytime; it is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "Seven complete Sabbaths shall they be," (the counting until Shavuoth not being complete if the first day is counted in the daytime.) When are they complete? When you begin in the evening.

(1) That is that He commanded us to count forty-nine days from the harvesting of the omer. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "you shall count for yourselves seven weeks from the morrow of the Shabbat, etc." (Leviticus 23:15). And you should know that just like the court is obligated to count the years of the Jubilee, year by year [and] cycle by cycle - as we explained in what came previously (Sefer Hamitzvot, Positive Commandments 140) - so too is each and every one of us obligated to count the days of the omer, day by day and week by week. And that is His having said, "you must count fifty days" (Leviticus 23:16), and "Seven weeks shall you count for yourself" (Deuteronomy 16:8). And just like the commandment of counting the years and the sabbatical cycles is one commandment - as we explained - so too is the counting of the omer, one commandment. And do not be fooled by their saying (Menachot 66a), "It is a commandment to count days and it is a commandment to count weeks," and think that they are two commandments. For it is a commandment to do each and every part of commandments that have have different parts. However had they said, "From where [do we know that] the days are a commandment; and from where [do we know that] the weeks are a commandment" - it would have been two commandments. And this will not be lost on the one that will not be fooled by the words. Since were you to say, "It is an obligation to do such and such," it surely does not necessarily make that action a separate commandment. And the clear proof for this is our counting every night that it is such and such weeks and such and such days. And were it to be a separate commandment, we would only arrange its content on the night of Shavuot; and we would say two blessings - on the counting of the omer; and on the counting of the weeks of the omer. But the things are not like this. Rather the commandment is counting the omer daily and weekly [together], as they ordained. And women are not obligated in this commandment. (See Parashat Emor; Mishneh Torah, Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings 10.)

(22) It is a biblical positive command to count seven full weeks from the day that the omer is brought, as it is written: "From the day after the sabbath, the day you bring the sheaf of wave-offering, you shall count seven full weeks" (15). The days must be counted along with the weeks, as it is written: "You shall count fifty days" (16). The counting must be performed from the beginning of the day. Accordingly, one is to do the counting at night, beginning with the night preceding the sixteenth of Nisan.

(23) If one forgot and failed to count at night, he may count at daytime. The counting must be performed while standing; but if one counted while sitting, he has fulfilled his duty.

(24) Every Jew is required to perform this duty, everywhere and at all times. Women and slaves, however, are exempt from it.

(25) Every night, before counting, one is required to recite the following blessing: "Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the omer." If one has counted without the blessing, he has fulfilled his duty, and need not count over again.

(7) If he forgot [to count] and did not do the blessing all night, he should count during the day without a blessing.

(8) If he forgot to bless on one of the days, between the first day [of the omer] and the rest of the days, he should count the rest of the days without a blessing. But, if he uncertain if he skipped a single day and didn’t count, he should count the days with a blessing.

(3) The Feast of Weeks is the anniversary of the Revelation on Mount Sinai. In order to raise the importance of this day, we count the days that pass since the preceding festival, just as one who expects his most intimate friend on a certain day counts the days and even the hours. This is the reason why we count the days that pass since the offering of the Omer, between the anniversary of our departure from Egypt and the anniversary of the Lawgiving. The latter was the aim and object of the exodus from Egypt, and thus God said, "I brought you unto myself" (Exod. 19:4). As that great revelation took place only on one day, so we keep its anniversary only one day: but if the eating of unleavened bread on Passover were only commanded for one day, we should not have noticed it, and its object would not have been manifest. For it frequently happens that we take the same kind of food for two or three days. But by our continuing for a whole period [of seven days] to eat unleavened bread, its object becomes clear and evident.

(3) It is from the roots of the commandment from the angle of the simple understanding [that it is] since the entire essence of Israel is only the Torah, and because of the Torah were the heavens and earth created, and as it is stated (Jeremiah 33:25), "Were it not for my covenant day and night, etc." And it is the essence and the reason that they were redeemed and left from Egypt - in order that they receive the Torah at Sinai, and fulfill it. And [it is] like God said to Moshe (Exodus 3:12), "And this will be the sign for you that I have sent you; when you take out the people from Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain." And the understanding of the verse is [that] your taking them out from Egypt is a sign for you that you shall worship God on this mountain - meaning that you shall receive the Torah, which is the great principle for which they were redeemed and it is their ultimate good. And it is a great matter for them, more than freedom from slavery. And hence God made a sign of their leaving Egypt for the receiving of the Torah; as we always make what is secondary into a sign for what is the essence.

(4) And because of this - that it is [the] essence of Israel, and because of it were they redeemed and went up to all of the greatness to which they rose - we were commanded to tally from the morrow of the holiday of Pesach until the day of the giving of the Torah; to show about ourselves the great desire [we have] for the the honored day, which our hearts yearn [for] like 'a slave seeks shade' and always tallies when will come the yearned time that he goes out to freedom. As the tally shows about a man that all of his deliverance and all of his desire is to reach that time. And that which we count to the omer, meaning, "Such and such days have passed from the tally," and we do not tally "Such and such days do we have to the time," is because all of this shows us the great desire to reach the time [of Shavuot]. Therefore, we do not want to mention at the beginning of our counting the large number of days that we have to reach the offering of the two breads of [Shavuot]. And let it not be difficult for you, to say, "If so, after most of the days of these seven weeks have passed, why do we not mention the minority of the remaining days?" [It is] as one should not change the nature of the counting in the middle. And if you shall ask, "If so, why do we begin counting from the day after [Pesach] and not from the first day?" The answer [is that] it is because the first day is entirely dedicated to remembering the great miracle, which is the exodus from Egypt, that is a sign and a proof of the world having been created and of God's - may He be blessed - providence over people. And we may not mix [something else into] its joy and mention anything else with it. And as such, the counting begins immediately from the second day. And we should not say, "Today is such and such days from the second day of Pesach" - as the count would not be fitting to say, "From the second day." And therefore it was ordained to count the tally from that which is done on it - and this is the omer offering, which is a significant sacrifice. As through it is the remembrance that we believe that God, blessed be He, wants - through His providence over people - to sustain them and [so] renews for them the seed of the grains in each and every year, to live through them.