Counting the Omer: Day 19

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Since the 'Offering of the Omer' took place during the morning hours of the "morrow after the Sabbath;" and since there was considerable work that had to take place before the omer was properly prepared, the next question is, when did the cutting of the grain take place. Alfred Edersheim (a nineteenth century Messianic Jew), in his classic work; The Life arid Times of Jesus the Messiah, tells that part of the story in beautiful detail:

"It was probably about the same time, that a noisy throng prepared to follow delegates from the Sanhedrin to the ceremony of cutting the Passover-sheaf. ... This Passover-sheaf was reaped in public the evening before it was offered, and it was to witness this ceremony that the crowd had gathered around the elders. ... When the time for cutting the sheaf had arrived--that is, on the evening of the 15 Nisan (Edersheim holds to the Pharisaic view that the sheaf was always cut at the end of Nisan 15) even though it were a Sabbath, just as the sun went down, three men, each with a sickle and basket, set to work. Clearly to bring out what was distinctive in the ceremony, they first asked of the bystanders three times each of these questions: 'Has the sun gone down?' 'With this sickle?' 'into this basket?' 'On this Sabbath?'... and lastly, 'Shall I reap?' Having each time been answered in the affirmative, they cut down barley to the amount of one ephah,..." (Vol. 2; Book IV, p. 619).

Even though the sun had just gone down (the Sabbath did not officially end until three stars were visible and the ceremony of Havdalah had been performed), the cutting of the sheaf actually took place at the very end of the Sabbath day (whether it be the weekly Sabbath or 15 Aviv).

In summary this is what took place. At the end of the Sabbath as the sun was going down, but. before Havdalah had been performed, the barley grain was cut by members of the Sanhedrin (San-head-rin), the Jewish 'Supreme Court.' This cutting was witnessed by pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the festival. The cut grain was then taken to the courtyard of the Temple that evening, where it was thrashed, parched with fire, and ground into flour. The flour was then put through thirteen different sieves so that what remained was both pure and very fine in texture. From this fine flour, the equivalent of two quarts (an omer) was taken. The next morning this omer was offered in the Temple in the manner of an ordinary meal offering with the exception that it was 'waved' before the Lord prior to it being offered, and prayers were said as preparation for the coming grain harvest.

At this point, the general grain harvest could begin. During the first part of the fifty day count, barley would be the chief grain to be harvested. However, as other grains became ripe they too could be harvested without any further ceremony. The other chief grains, in addition to barley, were wheat and spelt. Of the three grains, barley was the more common and of coarser texture. It was primarily used as food for animals (oats were not grown in ancient Israel). The preferred grain for bread was wheat, and only the common people of the land ate bread made from barley.

… will continue tomorrow

COUNT THE OMER:  DAY 19

BA-RUCH A-TAH ADO-NAI E-LO-HE-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV VETZI-VA-NU AL SEFI-RAT HA-OMER.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

Today is nineteen days, which is two weeks and five days of the Omer.

For the Choirmaster; a song with instrumental music; a Psalm. God be gracious to us and bless us; may You make Your countenance shine upon us forever; that Your way be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. The nations will extol You, O God; all the nations will extol You. The nations will rejoice and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples justly and guide the nations on earth forever. The peoples will extol You, O God; all the peoples will extol You, for the earth will have yielded its produce and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us; and all, from the farthest corners of the earth, shall fear Him.

 We implore You, by the great power of Your right hand, release the captive. Accept the prayer of Your people; strengthen us, purify us, Awesome One. Mighty One, we beseech You, guard as the apple of the eye those who seek Your Oneness. Bless them, cleanse them; bestow upon them forever Your merciful righteousness. Powerful, Holy One, in Your abounding goodness, guide Your congregation. Only and Exalted One, turn to Your people who are mindful of Your holiness. Accept our supplication and hear our cry, You who knows secret thoughts. Blessed be the name of the glory of Your kingdom forever and ever.

Master of the universe, You have commanded us through Moses Your servant to count the Omer, in order to purify us from our evil and uncleanness. As You have written in Your Torah, "You shall count for yourselves from the day following the day of rest, from the day on which you bring the Omer as a wave-offering; [the counting] shall be for seven full weeks. Until the day following the seventh week shall you count fifty days," so that the souls of Your people may be cleansed from their defilement. Therefore, may it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, that Your people may be purified and sanctified with Your holiness.  Amen, selah.