The Counting of the Omer

Rashi on Leviticus 23:15

ממחרת השבת FROM THE MORROW AFTER THE DAY OF REST — i. e. from the morrow after the first day of the Passover festival (Menachot 65b).

תמימת תהיינה [SEVEN WEEKS] SHALL BE COMPLETE — This teaches that one has to begin counting in the evening, for otherwise they would not be complete (Menachot 66a).

Hizkuni on Leviticus 23:15

וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת, “you will begin to count for yourselves, commencing with the day after the first day of Passover;” seeing that there are seven weeks between the beginning of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, periods when the commandment of sh’mittah is observed in earnest, the prophet (Jeremiah, 5,24) has already categorized them as: שבועות חוקת קציר ישמר לנו, “Who keeps for our benefit the weeks appointed for the harvest.”Rashi comments: “seven weeks during which G-d decreed for us two laws, that of the harvesting of the “omer and the presentation of the first two loaves of the new wheat harvest.” He sees to it that we can harvest these two species at the appropriate time of the year. Seeing that such an important part of our livelihood depends on these two harvests, it is easy to understand that the Torah expects us to keep the counting of these days meticulously. Just as we have to count days we also have to count weeks, at the end of which period we sanctify the fiftieth day after completing the seventh week. We have to do the same concerning counting for the sh’mittah year and the arrival of the yovel year. The emphasis of this whole paragraph is on the respective concepts of sh’mittah and yovel. There are a total of 49 potential disasters that the Torah warns us of if we fail to observe these two basic positive commandments. [The number 49 symbolizes the number of days we fail to assimilate the social significance of those laws to ensure that no extremes of rich and poor will become permanent features in our land]

HaKetav V'HaKabbalah Leviticus 23:15

You shall count for yourselves. The word chosen for designating counting (וספרתם) alludes to the soul’s benefit — becoming sanctified and purified from all materialistic desires and lowly thoughts during this seven week period. For even the word תספור (count) does not connote merely to know how many days and weeks, rather, it implies analysis and watchfulness, as it says, “But now, You count my steps” (Iyov 14:16). This mainly implies analysis and watchfulness of one’s steps and behavior. Similarly, here too, the meaning of “you shall count for yourselves” is that you should inspect your lives, think deeply about yourself — what is the true good you should choose and the true evil from which you must flee. Do not do anything without weighing it first in the scales of judgment to see if it is good or bad. This can be compared to someone who received a sum of money from his friend. He will be careful about the amount of the coin count and also the quality of each counted coin, lest he have an invalid, defective coin … Possibly, we can also say that in using the word וספרתם the Torah includes the idea of purity and refinement, as the language of the verses (Yechezkel 1:26): “Sapphire (ספיר) stone,” and (Shemos 24:10), “Sapphire brick.”.

Or HaChaim Leviticus 23:15

וספרתם לכם, "and you shall count for yourselves, etc." The reason the Torah adds the word "for yourselves" is that G'd commanded to count for seven weeks consecutively. We are told in the Zohar volume 3 page 97 that seeing the Jewish people were in a state of impurity and G'd wanted to betroth them to Himself He applied the legislation pertaining to a menstruant woman who is required to purify herself for seven days. He therefore commanded them to "purify" themselves for seven weeks by counting those days much as a menstruant counts the seven days. The count then was for the benefit of the Israelites in order that they would become G'd's "bride" as it were and would be able to step under the wedding canopy at Mount Sinai. The reason that the period of counting was seven weeks instead of seven days was the extraordinary amount of impurity the Jewish people had accumulated during their extended stay in Egypt. Another reason is that in this instance we speak about an entire people having to shed their accumulated impurities. I have explained on Exodus 19,1 that the word בצאתם was to be understood as a cause for G'd having delayed the giving of the Torah, i.e. the presence of the Israelites in Egypt for a long time necessitated the period of seven weeks during which the Jews prepared themselves for this event. The sentiment that the reason the Torah was not given immediately after the Exodus is supported by the words ממחרת השבת, that the Torah would not be given immediately after the Sabbath, i.e. Passover, but after a period described as the morrow of that day. The nature of this count is that the days have to be whole days, as opposed to parts of days. Seeing the 15th of Nissan at that time was a Sabbath and that on part of that day the Israelites were still in Egypt, the count of the seven weeks could not commence until the following day, i.e. ממחרת. While it is true that this consideration applied only to the generation of Israelites who left Egypt at that time, the Torah legislated that the same procedure be followed year after year starting with the year of the Exodus. Kabbalists understand why we have to re-enact history in this fashion. According to the plain meaning of the text the reason the Torah refers to "the day following the Sabbath" is a reminder of the fact that while in Egypt the Jews had to perform slave labour also on the Sabbath.

A moral-ethical approach to our verse may be derived if we see in the word וספרתם the root ספיר, sapphire, the material the second tablets were made of (compare Vayikra Rabbah 32,2). The souls of the Jewish people are compared to the nature of sapphires which lose their lustre when they become dirty. As a result of sins committed by their owners (bodies inhabited by these souls) something similar happens to their souls. The message of the word וספרתם is that by means of the count the Jewish people would "polish up" their souls so that they would be unblemished by the time they would experience the revelation at Mount Sinai.

Rabbeinu Bahya, Devarim 16:9:2

מהחל חרמש בקמה תחל לספור, “you are to start counting from the time the sickle will begin cutting the standing crop.” This teaches that cutting the barley and beginning the count of the seven weeks is to occur simultaneously. Our sages (Sifri Re-ey 136) add that I might have thought that whereas the cutting and the counting have to occur simultaneously, offering of the “Omer” could take place whenever one wanted; to ensure that we would not understand the commandment in this way the Torah added מיום הביאכם, (Leviticus 23,15) that the day we start counting is to coincide with the day the offering is presented on the altar.

The meaning of the words מיום הביאכם could also be that reaping, counting and presenting on the altar should all take place simultaneously, and this is why the Torah does not write ביום, “on the day,” but מיום, “from the day.” The cutting and counting are to take place at night, whereas presentation of the offering on the altar takes place by day. The Torah wrote that “they shall be seven complete weeks” (Leviticus 23,15). They can only be complete if you start counting in the evening.

Our sages also explain that the word בקמה, “in the standing corn,” may be read as בקומה, ‘that the counting of the days and weeks has to be performed while one is standing. [Presumably the word בקמה was considered redundant otherwise as one always cuts standing corn, not “lying” corn. Ed.]
There are a total of four commandments which have to be performed while standing: עומר, ציצית, מילה, לולב. [The common denominator of these four commandments is the unnecessary word לכם. Seeing that we derive “standing” from the commandment of עומר, the Rabbis applied that rule to other commandments featuring that word לכם.]