I’ve been studying Torah for about 9 years now and the Counting of the Omer is something that I still really don’t have a good understanding of. You can find the Omer in Lev 23:9 – 21.
The counting of the Omer begins tonight 4/10/07 at sundown. We count the omer of the next 50 days and then we celebrate, Shavuot or what some people refer to as Pentecost. The represents the outpouring of the spirit of YHVH.
For a long time, up until today, I didn’t understand how much an Omer is but what I can determine the Omer is 4/5 of a gallon. After 50 days of couting and storing the omer measures one would have 40 gallons. An Omer is a grain measurement so I belive you would be measuring wheat, as barley has been ripe for several weeks now.
What I want to understand is why we count it? What are we to count? What are does counting the Omer mean symbollically? Because I know that nothing in the Torah/Bible is without meaning or purpose. So what purpose does Counting the Omer have for us individually as well as collectively as a community?
My mom has been trying to explain what this means for several years and I just can’t seem to grasp it. So I’m going to enact a collection of “wheat” by collecting 4/5 of a gallon of “wheat” for the next 50 days. Sometimes you only understand something when you act it out. To see if this will help to understand then what Shavuot really means.
If anyone has an understanding of what this means, I would happily listen to their explanation of the counting of the Omer.