Counting The Omer: Sefirat Ha’Omer 2024

Why do we count the Omer?

A common answer is that we're counting down the days until we get to Sinai. But the Omer doesn't count down- it counts up. We don't say '8 days left to Sinai' we say '42 days are gone since we offered the Omer offering'. So what is this count about anyway?

In this series, Rabbi Fohrman traces the roots of the Omer offering, taking us into a journey that explores the meaning of brick-making and bread-making, and the significance of both of these to the newly freed Israelites. What emerges is a view of the Omer that makes this offering a touchstone for an understanding of freedom, the Sabbath, and of law itself in our society.

Refa’einu is a plea for health found in the Shmoneh Esrei prayer. As the world continues to battle COVID-19, what better text to turn to for spiritual guidance. But when you take a close look at this prayer, something remarkable emerges. Refa’einu has an unexpected connection to Sefirat HaOmer, the period on our calendar that marks the time between the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah. 

Could understanding the deeper meaning of the Omer somehow help us understand Refa’einu? Could this connection help us learn to relate to God as our healer? 

In this course, Rabbi Fohrmand and Immanuel Shalev take a deep dive into Refa’einu and its Torah references, to shed light on what it means to truly heal, emotionally and spiritually--with empowering implications for us today.

Nobody celebrates when the IRS updates the tax code. So why do Jews make such a festive celebration around the giving of our law? To understand this question, we have to return to the name of the holiday – “Weeks” – and how the time period from Passover to Shavuot prepared us for true freedom.

On Lag BaOmer we commemorate the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai -- a Talmudic sage from the second century. As such, every year on Lag BaOmer, tens of thousands of people travel to his burial place in Meron, a small town in northern Israel, where they sing and dance around giant bonfires to celebrate his legacy. But who exactly was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai? And what about his legacy is so important that we celebrate it every year? Join us as we explore this pivotal question by re-examining the stories of this Talmudic scholar – and never think of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, or Lag BaOmer the same way again.