סְפִירַת הָעוֹמֶר
Sefirat HaOmer - The Counting of the Omer
Leviticus 23:15-16
"Then you are to count from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the omer of the wave offering, seven complete Shabbatot. Until the morrow after the seventh Shabbat you are to count fifty days, and then present a new grain offering to Adonai.
The omer was a measure of the first ripened sheaves of the barley harvest that was brought to the priest in the Temple. This omer was waved before HaShem and the principle was that if the first portion was acceptable to God, then His blessing would be upon the entire harvest that was yet to be gathered in.
This mitzvah ("commandment") derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, an offering containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem:
"When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest an omer of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath." (Lev. 23:10, 11)
The command to bring the first sheaf of the harvest to the Temple is of great significance to the disciples of Yeshua. It is an obscure appointment on the Biblical calendar, sometimes called the First Fruits of the Barley Harvest, but better known simply by its Biblical name, "The Omer." The Omer is a minor festival with major Messianic implications.
בְּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם. אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech 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.
Today is six days of the Omer - Hayom shishah yomim la-omer
Closing Prayer
לְזֵכֶר יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם. יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיְּשֻׁחְרְרוּ כָּל הַשְּׁבוּיִים הֵן בַּגּוּף הֵן בַּנֶּפֶשׁ וְשֶׁנְּשַׁמֵּשׁ כְּעֵזֶר לְזְרֹע אֱלֹהִים הַנְּטוּיָה לִקְרַאת חָרוּת
Li-zekher yetzi'at mitzrayim yehi ratzon sheh-yishukhreru kol ha-shevuyim hen ba-guf, hen ba-nefesh vi-sheh-neshamesh ke'ezer lizro'a Elohim ha-netuyah likrat kherut.
In remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, we pray that you release all whose remain captive and enable us to extend Your outstretched arm in the process of liberation.May Messiah Yeshua come soon, even in our day,
we ask and pray beshem Yeshua