This is an Omer calendar made of wood. It consists of a box with a scroll on rollers inside and an oval-shaped opening in the cover through which the words on the scroll can be seen. The words that are recited to count each of the days of the Omer are written on the scroll, and the rollers are used to move it on to the next day’s text. The writing on the cover of the box gives information about the family who donated the calendar to the Jerusalem synagogue, Yagel Yaakov, in 1966. It was donated by Yitzhak Shlomo Kalderon in memory of his son, Shlomo, and his wife, Mazal.
This is an object used during the period of the Omer, when, according to the Torah, one should count the days between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuot. In order to remember which day to count, many people use aids like this, traditional counting tables, or online apps.
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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.
