Hi Folks,
A couple of links to Omer resources:
Gregorian/Hebrew Calendar with Days of the Omer.
Counting The Omer – First Fruits of Zion.
From My Jewish Learning.com:
The omer refers to the 49-day period between the second night of Passover (Pesach) and the holiday of Shavuot. This period marks the beginning of the barley harvest when, in ancient times, Jews would bring the first sheaves to the Temple as a means of thanking God for the harvest. The word omer literally means “sheaf” and refers to these early offerings.
The TORAH itself dictates the counting of the seven weeks following Passover:
“You shall count from the eve of the second day of Pesach, when an omer of grain is to be brought as an offering, seven complete weeks. The day after the seventh week of your counting will make fifty days, and you shall present a new meal offering to God (Leviticus 23:15-16).”
In its biblical context, this counting appears only to connect the first grain offering to the offering made at the peak of the harvest. As the holiday of became associated with the giving of the Torah, and not only with a celebration of agricultural bounty, the omer period began to symbolize the thematic link between Passover and Shavuot.
While Passover celebrates the initial liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, Shavuot marks the culmination of the process of liberation, when the Jews became an autonomous community with their own laws and standards. Counting up to Shavuot reminds us of this process of moving from a slave mentality to a more liberated one.
When to Count the Omer
The counting of the omer begins on the second night of Passover. The omer is counted each evening after sundown.
What to Say
One stands when counting the omer, and begins by reciting the following blessing:
Barukh ata Eloheinu Melekh ha’Olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tizivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to count the omer.
From First Fruits of Zion:
Non-Jewish believers may even wish to recite a modified form of the blessing, as follows: “Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified Israel by his commandments and commanded Israel concerning the counting of the omer.”
After the blessing, one recites the appropriate day of the count. For example:
Hayom yom echad la’omer
Today is the first day of the omer.
After the first six days, one also includes the number of weeks that one has counted. For example:
Hayom sh’losha asar yom, she’hem shavuah echad v’shisha yamim la’omer
Today is 13 days, which is one week and six days of the omer
The inclusion of both the day (13) and the week (one week and six days) stems from a argument about whether the Torah mandates counting days or weeks. On the one hand, the biblical text instructs, “you shall count 50 days;” on the other hand, the text also says to “count. . . seven complete weeks.” The compromise position, manifested in the ritual, is to count both days and weeks.
The blessing should precede the counting.