| We count the Omer from the Evening of Thu, Apr 6, 2023 - Evening of Thu, May 25, 2023 Counting of the Omer (Hebrew: סְפִירַת הָעוֹמֶר, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important practice in Judaism It consists of a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days starting with the Wave Offering of a sheaf of ripe grain with a sacrifice immediately following the commencement (Hebrew: רֵאשִׁית, reishit) of the grain harvest, and the First Fruits festival celebrating the end of the grain harvest, known as Shavuot, often translated as the Feast of Weeks.[1] in Mosaic Law (Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy 16:9–12, Leviticus 23:10–16); or in the varying current Jewish holidays tradition, the period between the Passover and Shavuot. This mitzvah ("commandment") derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover (the 16th of Nisan) for Rabbinic Jews (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform), and after the weekly Shabbat during Passover for Karaite Jews, and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the 'fiftieth day.' The idea of counting each day represents spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah,[2] which God gave on Mount Sinai at the beginning of the month of Sivan, around the same time as the holiday of Shavuot. The Sefer HaChinuch (published anonymously in 13th-century Spain) states that the Israelites were only freed from Egypt at Passover in order to receive the Torah at Sinai, an event which is now celebrated on Shavuot, and to fulfill its laws. The Counting of the Omer demonstrates how much a Jew desires to accept the Torah in their own life. | 
