26 Friday, April 29, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Significance of Numbers and Counting the Omer (Continued from Page 1) The last of the 13 is best known to us because it was sung in the ghettos, in the death camps and is sung today as a melodic testa- ment of faith — hoping for the ultimate coming of the Messiah. While we have many well-known numbers such as 40, 13, 10, there is one which appears only once in our tradition, but it recurs with an annual frequency and a sense of precision. That number is 49, and refers to the seven-week period, the Omer, between Passover and Shavuot. We count each day of the 49 with a real measure of exact- ness. Yet, even in precision there is debate, and through the centuries there has been an ongoing argument re- garding the beginning point introducing . . MICHAEL BARRON'S LANDSCAPING Residential Commercial Complete Landscape Planning & Planting Service LAWN MAINTENANCE Call for free estimate 357-0284 of the Omer period. In Leviticus 23:9 we are told in connection with Passover, "When you enter the land which I am giving to you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf (omer) of your harvest to the priest — the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath." There was an argument as to what the word Sabbath really meant. The Pharisses concluded that the term Sabbath, in this passage, really referred to the first day of the holi- day of Passover. On the other hand, their oppo- nents, the Sadducees, argued that the word "Sati- M11111 ■ 1.- - le' muit de ( arfiet- / Paris --SANTOS Designed in 1904 by Louis Cartier for the pioneer aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont. Fully automatic and water-resistant. 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SOUTHFIELD, MICH. 48076 bath" 'referred to the Sab- of the Omer." bath after the first day of After the first week is Passover. concluded, the formula is This whole debate is not enlarged, since we are ex- just "putting an elephant pected to count the days and through the eye of the nee- the weeks. Now it becomes dle," as Talmud casuistry is the eighth day of the Omer, sometimes described, be- which is one week and one cause the next verse states, day of the Omer. This same "and from that day on which formula, including weeks you bring the sheaf of the and days, is utilized for the wave offering, the day after rest of the count. the Sabbath, you .shall Remembering the count seven weeks." For the majority of Jews the exact day of the Omer was not always an easy seven-week Omer count be- task. Furthermore, since gins on the second night of it was not considered Passover. For the Karaites, a proper to ask someone small Jewish sect, most of else what day of the Omer whom live in Israel, the it is, a'special device, the counting follows the Omer calendar, was minority opinion in the created to ease the situa- Talmud. For most, this tion. Through the years year the Omer count this has assumed the began on the eve of form of a decorative box, March 30. For the a large chart, and even an Karaites it began on Omer book. In time, many of these de- April 3. vices have frequently be- This period, specifically come collector's items. The known as Sefirat HaOmer, the counting of the Omer, is oldest one in the United also called Sefira. The States is found at the Omer, the name of this Spanish and Portuguese period, literally means Synagogue in New York sheaf, a grain measure, and and has been in constant linked the new grain offer- use for the last 250 years. ing of Passover with the Written on parchment and ceremony of the first fruits operated by rollers, it is of the harvest presented on housed in a wooden box. Omer counting art forms Shavuot. The counting ritual itself of various types have been is performed every evening developed. There are large at the conclusion of the wall ,posters beautifully Maariv service. The indi- decorated with intricate de- vidual stands and recites signs. Each of the Omer is the blessing in which there listed, not only by number is thanksgiving expressed but with a description of the to God for sanctifying this meaning of the day. act of counting the Omer. This practice of singling Then the counting formula out the significance of each notes, "today is the first day Omer day is rooted in the . Jewish mystical under- standing of the emergence of the Jewish people, from the momentous act of the Exodus at Passover to the act of revelation at Mt. _Sinai on Shavuot. The seven-week countdown be- comes an exercise in raising one's sights from the shack- les of slavery to the spiritual peak of the reception of the Torah. Thus the many Omer counting devices help in their own way to capture the spirit of this seven-week period. During the Omer period, the 33rd day is known as Lag b'Omer. The joy of this day con- trasts with the tragedy normally associated with the Omer period. Lag b'Omer, known by var- ious names, thus be- comes a pause to refresh the soul and continue on to the climax — the giving of the Torah. Lag b'Omer will be observed Sunday. For all the counting we Jews do, it is even more im- portant that we make our own individual actions count. The Omer provides a framework for action in that we not only total the num- bers but we also ask what they really mean. Each one linked together with the next forms a composite pic- ture which reflects the uniqueness of our existence. With real insight we are told in the Psalms — "Number your days so that you may acquire a heart of wisdom." That indeed is the challenge of the counting of the Omer. Columnist Claims Israel Funded Terrorists WASHINGTON — Abu Nidal, the terrorist organ- ization that claimed respon- sibility for the April 10 murder of PLO moderate Dr. Issam Sartawi and the June 1982 assassination at- tempt on Shlomo Argov, Is- rael's ambassador to Lon- don, may have been funded secretly by Israel, according to syndicated columnist Jack Anderson. Anderson cited "two well-placed, intelligent sources" who explained that it was "in Israel's interest to `divide and conquer' — to pointed out that intelli- disrupt the PLO by setting gence agencies have been one faction against an- known to provide money to other." The sources said Is- groups over which they rael had secretly provided have no significant control. some of the funding for the group, named after Abu Ni- Honors for 52 dal, a terrorist who defected NEW YORK — The from the PLO in 1974. Stephen Wise Free Syna- Anderson, who reported gogue will confer honorary the claim in a column Mon- life membership on 52 of its day, said that "no credible members in a special cere- source had suggested that mony Saturday. Each of the Israli leaders knowingly 52 persons being honored supported the assassination has been a synagogue attempt of their own am- member for at least 50 bassador," but his sources years.