Lag B'Omer
According to the Torah (Lev. 23:15), we are
obligated to count the days from the second night
of Passover to the day before Shavu'ot, seven full
weeks. This period is known as the Counting of the
Omer. An omer is a unit of measure. On the second
day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer
of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as
an offering.
Every night, from the second night of Passover
to the night before Shavu'ot, we recite a blessing
and state the count of the omer in both weeks and
days. So on the 16th day, you would say "Today is
sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of
the Omer."
The counting is intended to remind us of the
link between Passover, which commemorates the
Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving
of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption
from slavery was not complete until we received the
Torah.
This period is a time of partial mourning,
during which weddings, parties, and dinners with
dancing are not conducted, in memory of a plague
during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiba. Haircuts during
this time are also forbidden. The 33rd day of the
Omer (the eighteenth of Iyar) is a minor holiday
commemorating a break in the plague. The holiday is
known as Lag b'Omer. The mourning practices of the
omer period are lifted on that date. The word "Lag"
is not really a word; it is the number 33 in
Hebrew, as if you were to call the Fourth of July
"IV July" (IV being 4 in Roman numerals).
--Judaism
101
Lag B'Omer Sites
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