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Be- fore the last matzah crumb is swept away, we begin "Sefirat haOmer." The Counting of the Omer. Originally, the Sefirah con- nected the Passover barley har- vest of Shavuot. It was a time of 'Equity Trade Program valid only on new vehicle leases (24 mos. or 36 mos.) of greater value than payoff of trade in. With approved credit. Some deals may require additional down payment. Certain restrictions apply. All prices plus tax, title, plate, lic., doc., destination, freight & acquisition fees. All prices include rebates assigned to dealer. All advertised pymts. are with 20% down unless otherwise specified. Leases all require 1st mo. sec. dep. plus down paymt. based on cony. financing. To gel total pymt. multiply opt. by no. of mos. Option to purchase at lease end for predetermined amt. Price determined at lease inception. 15,000 miles per yr. limit on leases. 110mile excess (12,000 miles, 10 on imports). Lessee responsible for excessive wear & tear. 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Do this for 49 days. On the 50th day (Shavuot) bring the first fruits of the wheat har- vest to the Temple as an offering to God. And all this, our ances- tors did. Generations later, during the exile that separated the Jews from their land, the rabbis shift- ed the emphasis of the Omer from the agricultural to the al- legorical. They made Passover the time of Israel's "betrothal" to God. They made Shavuot the "wedding day." And, said the rab- bis, just as a bride eagerly counts the days between her engage- ment and her wedding, so will Is- rael count the days between Passover and Shavuot, when we were finally united with God through out acceptance of the Torah. The ancient Israelites cele- brated the Omer period with feasting and joy. But after the de- struction of the second Temple, the Sefirah turned into seven weeks of semi-mourning. Prohi- bitions against music, banquets or fun of any kind were the rule, including the best known taboo — no weddings. Now, some suggest this "mourning" is for Bar Kochba's failed rebellion against the Ro- mans. Others say it's in memory of the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiba who died in a plague that struck on the first day of the Omer in 130 CE. Scholars of su- perstitious stripe claim the ban on weddings is borrowed from a pagan belief that demons stalk the earth in spring, casting their evil eye on marriages made in May. Whatever the reasons for the mournful mood, at some point during the Middle Ages — like an oasis in the desert — Lag B'Omer appeared! What inspired the creation of this merry (But minor) festival is unclear. But there is was. On the 33rd day of the Omer, on the 18th day of the He- brew month of Iyar, the Jews got "a day off." Lag B'Omer has no religious significance or ritual. Rather, it's a day for relaxation and fun, and the people took to it immediately. There were parties and rollicking picnics in the woods! The rabbis also de- cided that on Lag B'Omer (18 Iyar, remember?), the ban against weddings could be lifted. Why? Because Pirke Avot (in its description of the ages of man) says, "At 18, the wedding canopy." And so, in communities everywhere, eager couples rushed to their rabbis and tied the knot. So there you have some back- ground on the Sefirah period and Lag B'Omer. Will you celebrate with a picnic? Have fun! Will you, maybe, get married — in which case, mazel tow! On the other hand , perhaps counting the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot seems ir- relevant and is of little or no im- portance to you. Whatever the case, ponder this. Our life span, according to the Psalms, is 70 years — symboli- cally represented by the seven weeks of the Sefirah. We are also told to number our days — to count them — so as to get us a heart of wisdom. And herein lies the contemporary message of the Omer. Our very lives should be con- sidered personal Sefirot. Sefirot in which we make every day count. ID