What is the Omer?

Seven weeks pass between Passover and Shavuot. These 49 days are called the Omer, a period of agricultural and spiritual practice.

As with most Jewish holidays, the Omer is agricultural. The barley harvest coincided with Passover. When the Temple stood, beginning on Passover’s second day our ancestors brought an omer – or sheaf – of barley daily as a tithe of gratitude. Wheat ripened on Shavuot. Thus 49 days were counted in thanks and in anticipation of the wheat, the staff of life.

Centuries later the mystics of Safed acknowledged the deep spiritual nature of these 49 days as the journey from our enslavement in Egypt through to our encounter with the Holy One on Mt. Sinai for the receiving of the commandments. The mystics cultivated a path based on the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life, guiding us to cultivate and refine character traits – divine emanations – that live within us. Grace, Rigor, Compassion and Endurance are some of the traits we visit on our journey.

Combining this Kabbalistic path with our agricultural tradition, we will come together throughout these seven weeks to explore embodied learning and discovery as well as engage in earth practices of cultivating and planting, preparing us for the Divine encounter of Shavuot.

Please register below if you plan to attend some or all of this course. Contact Jodi Lampley if you have questions or would like more information.