No scissors for Omer

I could not help but wonder why one does not cut one's hair or shave his beard when mourning (as during the omer period). I found this answer in Jewish Way in Death and Mourning By Maurice Lamm



Archie Granot, whose work graced my second JJ post, created this beautiful omer calendar, but remember, he cuts paper, not hair.

A period of mourning

As I mentioned yesterday I knew nothing about the Omer period, including that it is a period of mourning. Why? Exodusfrom Egypt- good. Receiving the Torah at Sinai- good. Then why do we mourn? This answer is from the Women of Reform Judaism.

The period of counting has traditionally been a somber period of reflection and mourning. In the First century, thousands of students of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Akiva were killed by a plague during this period as punishment for disrespecting each other. In commemoration, weddings and festivities are not held and we’re not meant to have our hair cut. However, this all changes on Lag BaOmer. The plague is believed to have ended on this 33rd day of counting, thereby causing it to be a source of celebration.

After the end of the plague, Rabbi Akiva took on new students. One of them was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, traditionally thought to be the author of the Zohar (“The Shining Light”), the mystical commentary on the Torah. To commemorate this light, bonfires are typically lit to celebrate Lag BaOmer.

Some historians believe that the story of Rabbi Akiva’s students is allegorical and that the story is really a reference to a Jewish revolt against the Romans led by Bar Kochba and that the period of mourning is to honor those who died in the uprising.

These omer counters are from the Judaic artist Arnold Schwarzbart of Knoxville, TN (wow, he is a neighbor). Of these works, Arnold says "The text is 49 letter pairs that serve as a reminder of the sefirot for each day's meditation. Tradition is that one meditate on each of the lower seven sefirot, and how all the other sefirot relate to one another. This idea comes from the mystical texts that describe ten attributes of the Divine and are mirrored in mankind. These meditations are intended as preparation for Shavuot and the reenactment of receiving the Law at Sinai."

Counting the Omer

I have to admit, I knew nothing about counting the omer until I did some reading about it. The more I read, the more things made sense. Passover is about the Exodus from Egypt. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah to the people. The omer is what bridges these two special events together. At its most basic, the Omer is a unit of measure- like an inch or a kilogram. During the 50 days of the omer, one does not marry, have parties or such. Even haircuts are forbidden. There is an exception to those rules... but we will talk about that when the time comes.

Traditionally, the counting occurs with the reciting of a blessing. For more information about this 50 day period, take a look here.

I have been amazed at how artists take religious moments and turn them around into artistic adventures. For example, here is this quilted Omer calendar from the artist Elizheva Hurvich.

This Omer Calendar was created in the Jewish year 5760 (2000) during the seven week counting period between Passover and Shavuot. On one side, seven rows of seven patchwork squares represent the 49 days which bridge the two holidays. Each square can serve as a visual meditation for the day. On the other side, embroidered in Hebrew, is the blessing one recites every night to fulfill the commandment of counting for these seven weeks (Leviticus 23;15 - 16, which reads:"You are to count from the day after the day of rest [Pesach] from the day you brought the Omer-waving offering until you've counted seven complete weeks. On the day after the seventh week, you will count 50 days...")
Also embroidered on the backside is a another text which can be used as a meditation before the counting. It can be translated:

May there be sweetness, Adonoy Our G-d, for us and may the works of our hands be substantial for us, may G-d establish the works of our hands.


This piece is made out of patchwork fabric. It can be read from the left to right, or reverse. It's way of "telling" time is not a tradition, linear, numerical reading. Like the traidition of "women's" arts, which speak in the tastes of food, in cookbooks, quilts, children's clothes and costumes, in a day to day life, this piece is soft, with undertain "boundaries," as the embroideries move from square to square, without much regard for the grid format.