​This is a page from a book used for counting the Omer. The book has a red leather binding and contains a page for each day of the Omer. The page shown here is for the eighth day of the Omer and it reads: “Today is the eighth day of the Omer which is one week and one day.” The words are handwritten in black ink and have a red border with a floral decoration.

The Omer comprises the days between Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot. According to Jewish law, on each of the forty-nine days of the Omer a blessing is said and the specific day of the Omer is stated. In order to help people remember which day of the Omer it is, aids such as Omer books, charts and even apps are used. 

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Counting the Omer – The Omer is the forty-nine-day period between the second night of Pesach and Shavuot. The Torah (Leviticus 23:15–16) commands us to count seven full weeks from when an omer of grain was first brought to the Temple on the second day of Pesach. The omer was a unit of measurement and the grain (barley) was brought to the Temple as an offering every day for forty-nine days. On the fiftieth day of the Omer, the holiday of Shavuot is celebrated. Although, after the destruction of the Temple, offerings were no longer made, Jews continue to count the days of the Omer. Counting is done at night by reciting the blessing: “Blessed are you, Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.” This is followed by counting the specific day with the formula: “Today is X day, which is X weeks and X days of the Omer.” As of the Middle Ages, the Omer has been regarded as a period of mourning, except for the thirty-third day, Lag B’Omer, which is seen as a day of festivity.