OMER COUNT SCHEDULE
Begin each night’s count with the blessing:
Hebrew: "Baruch atah YAHWEH Eloheinu Melekh Ha-olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al S'firat Ha-omer."
(English: Blessed are You, YAHWEH our Elohim, King of the Universe who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.)
After reading the Scripture, "announce" the day count in English or in Hebrew. (Hebrew transliteration is provided.)
Note: These Psalm readings are only suggestions. It is traditional to begin with Psalm 119, read over several days. Psalms are all about praise and recognizing our joy in Torah, but you can readothers if you like.
(Remember – the count is after sunset each night. You can keep this document on file and run it off each year as a handy reference to keep track of the Omer Count.)
1st Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 67 and Psalm 119:1-8
Say out loud: “Today is the 1st day of the Omer.”
היום יום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom yom e-chad la-omer)
2nd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:9-16
Say out loud: “Today is the second day of the Omer.”
היום שני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’nay yamim la-omer)
3rd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:17-24
Say out loud: “Today is the third day of the Omer.”
היום שלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’losha yamim la-omer)
4th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:25-32
Say out loud: “Today is the fourth day of the Omer.”
היום ארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom arba-a yamim la-omer)
5th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:33-40
Say out loud: “Today is the fifth day of the Omer.”
היום חמשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom chami-sha yamim la-omer)
6th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:41-48
Say out loud: “Today is the sixth day of the Omer.”
היום ששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shi-sha yamim la-omer)
7th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:49-56
Say out loud: “Today is the seventh day of the Omer.”
היום שבעה ימים שהם שבוע אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom shiv-a yamim, shehaym shavu-a e-chad la-omer)
8th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:57-64
Say out loud: “Today is the eighth day of the Omer.”
היום שמונה ימים שהם שבוע אחד ויום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’mona yamim, shehaym shavu-a e-chad v’yom e-chad la-omer)
9th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:65-72
Say out loud: “Today is the ninth day of the Omer.”
היום תשעה ימים שהם שבוע אחד ושני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom tish-a yamim, shehaym shavu-a e-chad ushnay yamim la-omer)
10th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:73-80
Say out loud: “Today is the tenth day of the Omer.”
היום עשרה ימים שהם שבוע אחד ושלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom asara yamim, shehaym shavu-a echad ushlosha yamim la-omer)
11th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:81-88
Say out loud: “Today is the 11th day of the Omer.”
היום אחד עשר יום שהם שבוע אחד וארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom achad asar yom, shehaym shavu-a echad v’arba-a yamim la-omer)
12th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:89-96
Say out loud: “Today is the 12th day of the Omer.”
היום שנים עשר יום שהם שבוע אחד וחמשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’naym asar yom, shehaym shavu-a echad vachami-sha yamim la-omer)
13th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:97-104
Say out loud: “Today is the 13th day of the Omer.”
היום שלשה עשר יום שהם שבוע אחד וששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’losha asar yom, shehaym shavu-a echad v’shisha yamim la-omer)
14th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:105-112
Say out loud: “Today is the14t day of the Omer.”
היום ארבעה עשר יום שהם שני שבועות לעומר:
(Ha-yom arba-a asar yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot la-omer)
15th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:113-120
Say out loud: “Today is the 15th day of the Omer.”
היום חמשה עשר יום שהם שני שבועות ויום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom chami-sha asar yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot v’yom echad la-omer)
16th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:121-128
Say out loud: “Today is the 16th day of the Omer.”
היום ששה עשר יום שהם שני שבועות ושני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shi-sha asar yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot ushnay yamim la-omer)
17th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:129-136
Say out loud: “Today is the 17th day of the Omer.”
היום שבעה עשר יום שהם שני שבועות ושלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shiva asar yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot ushlosha yamim la-omer)
18th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:137-144
Say out loud: “Today is the 18th day of the Omer.”
היום שמונה עשר יום שהם שני שבועות וארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shemonah asar yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot v’arba-a yamim la-omer)
19th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:145-152
Say out loud: “Today is the 19th day of the Omer.”
היום תשעה עשר יום שהם שנו שבןעות וחמשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom tisha asar yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot va’chamisha yamim la-omer)
20th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:153-160
Say out loud: “Today is the 20th day of the Omer.”
היום עשרים יום שהם שני שבועות וששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom esrim yom, shehaym sh’nay shavuot v’shi-sha yamim la-omer)
21st Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:161-168
Say out loud: “Today is the 21st day of the Omer.”
היום אחד ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות לעומר:
(Ha-yom e-chad v’esrim yom, shehaym shlosha shavuot la-omer)
22nd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 119:169-176
Say out loud: “Today is the 22nd day of the Omer.”
היום שנים ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות ויום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’nayim v’esrim yom, shehaym shelosha shavuot v’yom echad la-omer)
23rd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 1 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 23rd day of the Omer.”
היום שלשה ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות ושני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’losha v’esrim yom, shehaym shelosha shavuot ushnay yamim la-omer)
24th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 11 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the24th day of the Omer.”
היום ארבעה ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות ושלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom arba-a v’esrim yom, shehaym shelosha shavuot u’shelosha yamim la-omer)
25th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 15 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 25th day of the Omer.”
היום חמשה ועשרם יום שהם שלשה שבועות וארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom chami-sha v’esrim yom, shehaym shelosha shavuot v’arba-a yamim la-omer)
26th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 19:7-14
Say out loud: “Today is the 26th day of the Omer.”
היום ששה ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות וחמישה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shi-sha v’esrim yom, shehaym shelosha shavuot va-chamisha yamim la-omer)
27th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 25:4-11
Say out loud: “Today is the 27th day of the Omer.”
היום שבעה ועשרים יום שהם שלשה שבועות וששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shiva v’esrim yom, shehaym shelosha shavuot v’shi-sha yamim la-omer)
28th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 63:1-8 (2-9 some ver.)
Say out loud: “Today is the28th day of the Omer.”
היום שמונה ועשרים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות לעומר:
(Ha-yom shemonah v’esrim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot la-omer)
29th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 67 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 29th day of the Omer.”
היום תשעה ועשרים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות ויום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom tisha v’esrim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot v’yom e-chad la-omer)
30th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 70 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 30th day of the Omer.”
היום שלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות ושני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shloshim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot ushnay yamim la-omer)
31st Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 78:1-8
Say out loud: “Today is the 31st day of the Omer.”
היום אחר ושלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות ושלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom e-chad u’sheloshim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot u’shelosha yamim la-omer)
32nd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 93 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 32nd day of the Omer.”
היום שנים ושלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות וארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’nayim u’sheloshim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot v’arba-a yamim la-omer)
33rd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 95:1-7
Say out loud: “Today is the 33rd day of the Omer.”
היום שלשים ושלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות וחמשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’losha u’sheloshim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot vachamisha yamim la-omer)
34th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 96 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 34th day of the Omer.”
היום ארבעה ושלשים יום שהם ארבעה שבועות וששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom arba-a u’sheloshim yom, shehaym arba-a shavuot v’shi-sha yamim la-omer)
35th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 98 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 35th day of the Omer.”
היום חמשה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות לעומר:
(Ha-yom chami-sha u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot la-omer)
36th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 99 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 36th day of the Omer.”
היום ששה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות ויום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom shi-sha u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot v’yom echad la-omer)
37th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 100 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the37th day of the Omer.”
היום שבעה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות ושני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shiva u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot ushnay yamim la-omer)
38th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 101 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 38th day of the Omer.”
היום שמונה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות ושלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shemonah u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot u’shelosha yamim la-omer)
39th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 103:1-12
Say out loud: “Today is the 39th day of the Omer.”
היום תשעה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות וארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom tisha u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot va’arba-a yamim la-omer)
40th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 103:13-22
Say out loud: “Today is the 40th day of the Omer.”
היום ארבעים יום שהם חמשה שבועות וחמשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom arba-im yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot va’chamisha yamim la-omer)
41st Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 105:1-11
Say out loud: “Today is the 41st day of the Omer.”
היום אחד וארבעים יום שהם חמשה שבועות וששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom e-chad v’arbaim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot v’shi-sha yamim la-omer)
42nd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 106:1-5
Say out loud: “Today is the 42nd day of the Omer.”
היום שנים וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’nayim v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot la-omer)
43rd Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 111 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 43rd day of the Omer.”
היום שלשה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות ויום אחד לעומר:
(Ha-yom sh’losha v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot v’yom e-chad la-omer)
44th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 112 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 44th day of the Omer.”
היום ארבעה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות ושני ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom arba-a v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot ushnay yamim la-omer)
45th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 121 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 45th day of the Omer.”
היום חמשה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות ושלשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom chami-sha v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot u’shelosha yamim la-omer)
46th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 130 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 46th day of the Omer.”
היום ששה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות וארבעה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shi-sha v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot v’arba-a yamim la-omer)
47th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 133 & 134 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 47th day of the Omer.”
היום שבעה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות וחמשה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shiva v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot va’chami-sha yamim la-omer)
48th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 146 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the48th day of the Omer.”
היום שמונה וארבעים יום שהם ששה שבועות וששה ימים לעומר:
(Ha-yom shemonah v’arbaim yom, shehaym shi-sha shavuot v’shi-sha yamim la-omer)
49th Day: Date: __________ Read: Psalm 148 (all)
Say out loud: “Today is the 49th day of the Omer.”
היום תשעה וארבעים יום שהם שבעה שבועות לעומר:
(Ha-yom tisha v’arbaim yom, shehaym shiv-a shavuot la-omer)
Halleluyah, it’s Shavuot! Read: Psalm 150 (all) and Ruth.
Attend services at your synagogue. If holding your own service, read the commandments given at Mt Sinai, Exodus 19:1-20:23 and the commandment to count the Omerand observe Shavuot, Leviticus 23:9-21. Meditate throughout the next day on what a blessing the Torah is for us! Shavuot is a High Holy day! (All day May 17th is Shavuot.)
Explanation of why these Dates
The Omer is counted after sunset on each date shown because at sunset it becomes the next Hebrew day. In essence, you are counting the Omer just as the new Hebrew day has begun. This may seem odd at first, as we are used to our “civil” day changing at midnight. In the Hebrew calendar, the day changes at sunset and soon it becomes “second nature” - at sunset, it is a “new day”.
The counting of the Omer is a commandment from Leviticus 23:15-16 “From the day after the day of rest-that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving-you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to YHWH.”
Each year, the argument rages: “Just which ‘day of rest’ is the ‘day after’ to begin the Omer count?” There are FOUR primary “camps” in this age-old battle for the understanding of the day of First Fruits. One camp says First Fruits is always Sunday because Leviticus 23:11 says that you “wave the sheaf on the day after the Shabbat”, and they posit the Shabbat can only be the weekly 7th day.
Another camp says First Fruits is always the 16th of Nisan, because the “Shabbat” in Lev 23:11 is the High Holy Shabbat of the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is always the 15th. Still another camp says the count begins AFTER the END of the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the fourth says the 15th of Nisan is the day to begin the count because it is the "morrow of Passover"!
The “winner is”: The 16th of Nisan! This is determined by scripture alone. The proper day to begin the Omer count is in scripture if only you take the time to understand it. Leviticus
Chapter 23 is broken into 3, very clear sections. Many miss this fact. It really is divided into separate sections and the sections are important to the understanding. But our modern English translations completely lose this section division, though some versions insert “section headings”, not from the original text, to identify the feasts being described at that point in the text. But in the original Hebrew text, even without vowels, or punctuation, we absolutely know the intended sections of Leviticus 23 because the original manuscripts use a “marking” to identify the sections. The JPS Tanakh explains:
The Hebrew Bible has two types of breaks: within a line (setumot, “closed”), and starting a new line (petuhot, “open”) – the latter suggesting a greater shift in content. Like many Bible printers, we have used the letters samekh (for setumot) and peh (for petuhot) as markers to show paragraph breaks in the source manuscript.
These section markings, the samekh and peh, found in the original Hebrew are lost in modern English translations.
English translations simply do not reveal the separations of the sections!
What the sections mean
The original sections are very important. They absolutely define the importance of the Feasts and why the special Shabbats (High Holy Days) of the Feasts are not to be confused with the weekly Shabbat. The weekly Shabbat is, in fact, the 1st of the recurring appointments with YHWH, and is therefore not to be taken lightly.
Leviticus 23 Sections:
1st section. Verses 1-3. Chapter 23 begins with “YHWH said to Moshe. ‘Tell the people of Isra'el: 'The designated times of YHWH which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.’ ” (vs 1-2). Then comes the definition of the weekly Shabbat: "'Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest [Shabbat Shabbaton], a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for YHWH, even in your homes.” (v 3).
2nd section. Verses 4-32. It begins: “These are the designated times of YHWH, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times” (v 4). The remainder of the 2nd section describes all the special days, Scripture itself says this in the first verse of the section!
3rd section, starting in verse 33. A summary section beginning with the last of the major feasts - Sukkot. Then in verse 37-38 the summary concludes: “37 'These are the designated times of YHWH that you are to proclaim as holy convocations and bring an offering made by fire to YHWH -a burnt offering, a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, each on its own day - 38 besides [separated from or apart from] the Shabbats of YHWH, your gifts, all your vows and all your voluntary offerings that you give to YHWH” (vs 37-38). The remainder of the 3rd section closes with some discussion on the importance of the Festival of Sukkot to the memory of the people about what YHWH did for them.
The importance of the 3 sections
Notice the italicized & bolded part above in verse 37-38 . The Holy Days described in these verses are here clearly identified as “each on its own day - besides [separated from or apart from] the Shabbats of YHWH”. This clearly shows that the “weekly Shabbat” is special on its own, and is defined first in verse 3. It is thus clear that “Shabbat” in verse 11 is not the “weekly Shabbat” as the special Shabbats of the Feasts are “each on its own day”.
The simple recognition that the weekly Shabbat is a Shabbat Shabbaton and is identified and set aside as a special day on its own, the “problem” of the word “Shabbat” in verse 11 is eliminated because the 1st and last day of the Feast of Unleavened bread which are "shabbats", are not a "shabbat shabbaton". The word “Shabbat” whether it means the “weekly, 7th-day Sabbath”, or a “count of 7-days”, or a “count of 7-years” (as it sometimes does – see Leviticus 25:8), or as simply a “special day of rest”, depends entirely on the context in the original Hebrew.
Therefore it is not enough to simply see the word “Shabbat” in verse 11 and assume it only means “the weekly 7th day”. The English translation of the Hebrew always as the single word “Shabbat” is thus wrong, since the single word “Shabbat” in English fails to convey its context-meaning. This has led many astray because without this understanding, the word “Shabbat” in Leviticus 23:11 becomes easily mistaken as the “weekly 7th day” instead of what it actually means which is “the special Sabbath day” identified in verses 6-7, the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread – which is by definition and context “a” Shabbat.
I should end here but there will still be those who are not convinced. So let me offer the following additional evidence.
As indicated, the argument for First Fruits always being on a Sunday is 100% from the part of Leviticus 23:11 which says: “the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat.” And the rationale is that they insist the word “Shabbat” must mean “the weekly 7th day”. But I would ask them to go look at verse 27 to 32 of the same chapter, which is describing Yom Kippur.
This High Holy Day, Yom Kippur, is identified as the 10th of the month of Tishri, and verse 32 says (about it): “It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest [Shabbat Shabbaton], and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.” So here we have the same Hebrew phrase, “Shabbat shabbaton”, yet here it is clearly understood as describing Yom Kippur as "its own day" and NOT as the “7th day of the week”. So the premise that the word “Shabbat” in verse 11 must be the weekly Shabbat is already negated within the same Chapter of Leviticus.
It is simply wrong to insist that the use of “Shabbat” in verse 11 must be referring to the weekly 7th day. If “Shabbat” can only mean “weekly 7th day”, then Leviticus is saying Yom Kippur can only be on Saturday! But absolutely no one argues that. Thus the only conclusion must be that where the word “Shabbat” is used inLeviticus 23, in any verse after verse 3, must be understood in its context as “a special day of rest”, a High Holy Day, as the identified important day of the Feast, just as we see for Yom Kippur.
Recognizing this concept also completely eliminates the erred understanding of the counting of the Omer, found in Leviticus 23:15-16. While some argue the scripture says to “count Sabbaths”, we see that the scripture is actually saying to “count weeks”, that is, “periods of 7 days”. This follows, in part, from the fact that if First Fruits were intended to always fall the day after the weekly Shabbat, scripture would not have had to say “count 50 days”! Counting 50 days becomes completely unnecessary if you are “counting weeks by 7th-day Shabbats”.
Verse 16: “…until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to ADONAI”, becomes completely unnecessary as it says to count until the day after the 7th week, which, if you were counting weeks by the weekly Sabbath, there is no need whatsoever to also count “50 days”.
While we see that verses 15-16 provide additional confirmation that we are counting 50 days, in 7-day periods, and not counting weeks from weekly Shabbats, some still refuse to give up the idea that First Fruits is NOT a Sunday. They insist that the “Messiah rose on First Fruits”, so they “require” First Fruits to be on Sunday. For those, I would ask that they look at just what “First Fruits” are. You will find that “First Fruits” don’t “rise” – they are instead “presented” at the beginning of the spring harvest after Pesach, Leviticus 23:10; at beginning of the summer harvest, Shavuot, Leviticus 23:16 & Numbers 28:26; at fall harvest Sukkot, Leviticus 23:39 & Deuteronomy 16:13. And this is the symbolism of the Messiah as First Fruits. The Messiah “was” First Fruits – simple as that. He was “presented” as first of the “crop” of those who believed and obeyed (Rev 12:17). Since First Fruits don’t “rise”, there is no reason to require the Messiah to “rise” on First Fruits. But that is an entirely separate topic.
And finally, if one goes through the book of Exodus, starting with Chapter 12, verse 29, we find that the first (original) Passover was the 15th of Abib (today called "Nisan"), i.e., the time after sunset of the 14th when then day changes), and the Exodus began well after midnght that very night. This means even if the mass of people began moving on the 15th, the “first day” of the exodus was the 16th of Abib, for on the 15th, they were all still in their homes in Egypt, packing-up and plundering the Egyptians. We keep reading Exodus till the Commandments are given in Exodus 20 verse 1 and we carefully count the days from when the Exodus began (Exodus 12 verse 29), and we find the Commandments were presented to Israel 50 days after the exodus began.
Indeed, this is the relationship to Shavuot, the 50th day after counting the Omer. Therefore, by simply counting the days of the Exodus, we find that the 50 day count began on 16 Abib that original year of the Exodus. Thus, each year this event is commemorated by also counting the Omer from the 16th of Abib.
Notice this year (2021) the Omer count began at sunset on March 28th, meaning the daytime of March 29th is the “1st day of Omer”. This is "in-sync" with the traditional calendar exept that the traditional calendar began the month of Nisan a day late due to the traditional calendar's use of the "average moon".
In the traditional Hebrew calendar which all of traditional Judaism of today follows, the first day of the month is calculated, and is not necessarily tied to the actual day of the New Moon. This, plus the fact that “postponements” are added to prevent Yom Kippur from falling on a Friday or a Sunday, AND a rigid (scheduled) intercalation of the leap month, means they don’t follow the true Lunar-Solar calendar, which dictates the 1st day of the Hebrew month begins the sunset after conjunction.
If one starts the Hebrew month on the correct sunset after lunar conjunction, the middle of the month will be greeted with a full moon rising at or very near sunset on the 14th or 15th. All too often though, in the traditional calendar, the night Pesach arrives, the moon is seen to rise clearly past full -often well after sunset - a very clear "sign" your calendar is off.
Sadly, calendar studies have shown how even the ancient Hebrews could know FOUR YEARS in advance just what (future) month would be the month of Abib, and hence what future full moon would be the Pesach moon!
Simply using all the available signs, the proper calendar could be kept years in advance without the use of a single modern computer!
A calendar by “sighting the crescent” is also wrong! By waiting to "sight" the new crescent, the month is automatically 1-3 days off! Thus, in the same way, sighting the crescent pretty much automatically means you will miss the actual middle of the lunar month and a beautiful significant sign of Pesach and Sukkot.
The good thing is that whichever Hebrew calendar you choose to follow, at least you are trying to follow the mitzvoth of our Creator and not some man-made observance which in no way honors the commanded moedim.
Blessings from The Refiner’s Fire!
( therefinersfire.org )
