The Omer and the Spirituality of Seven

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Seven is considered the number of completion and perfection, those qualities themselves inherently intertwined coming from the same Hebrew root (ש-ל-מ – also the root of “peace”). The Ibn Ezra¹ writes that we see immense significance in seven days (Shabbat), seven months (the seventh month is Tishrei, which hosts Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), and seven years (the shemitah year, where we are commanded to let the land rest). Another significance lies in seven weeks – the Omer period between Pesach and Shavuot.

In Parshat Emor, Bnei Yisrael are commanded to count seven weeks from the night after Leil HaSeder². After this, they would be able to receive the Torah. Seven whole weeks were necessary because there was so much impurity to work through³. The Ohr HaChaim⁴ further likens the Omer to a menstruating woman who counts seven days before immersing in the mikvah. On Shavuot, Hashem took Am Yisrael as his bride and the Torah was our ketubah. What is one day for an individual translated to one week for the whole nation, thus we needed seven weeks to prepare for Har Sinai.

Even the name of the chag, Shavuot, reinforces this. ‘Shavuot’ simply means ‘weeks’. The holiday has no special halachot of its own, it is simply the conclusion of the journey that started seven weeks prior. One question that arises is, why do we need to do it all over again? It was only the generation who left Egypt who needed this purification and they were the ones who received the Torah. The Pesach Haggadah instructs us to imagine as though Hashem took us personally out of Egypt. Similarly, on Shavuot we are receiving the Torah all over again. It follows that we also need to repeat this process of readying ourselves through these seven weeks.

If we look throughout the sources, we see a host of sevens. Famous ones include the seven Noahide Laws⁵, the Shemitah year⁶, and Sheva Brachot for a chatan and kallah⁷, but there are far more. Esther HaMalka had seven maidservants while she lived in Achashverosh’s palace⁸. Men wrap tefillin around their arms seven times⁹. Balaam instructs Balak to “Build me seven altars here and have seven bulls and seven rams ready here for me” in parshat Balak¹⁰. Noah is instructed to bring seven pairs of each kosher animal onto the ark¹¹. Both before and after Matan Torah, sevens have always featured strongly.

Groups of people throughout Tanach are categorized in sevens. Sarah, Chulda, Miriam, Devorah, Chana, Avigail, and Esther make up the seven prophetesses of Israel¹², who brought messages pertinent for all generations to follow. Abraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef, and David Hamelech are the seven ushpizin¹³ (visitors) central to Sukkot (itself a seven-day-long holiday). The Avot and Imahot together total seven, and the lesser-known seven shepherds listed in the Gemara in Sukkah¹⁴ are Adam, Seth, Methusela, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. These men were not necessarily shepherds by trade, but they were the spiritual leaders of their generation. They all predate Matan Torah, making their spiritual stature even more impressive because they had to find their own way to see Hashem in the world without the clarity of the Torah.

The seventh, and final, emotional sefira is Malchut. The last week of the Omer focuses on the completion of our journey from a nation of slaves to a nation of royalty. Hashem told Moshe that our state of completion would be “a kingdom of princes and a holy nation”¹⁵, but this was only possible after “seven complete Chabbats”¹⁶ of grueling internal work. Malchut is represented by David HaMelech, who was born on and passed away on Shavuot.

The depiction of Malchut on the bodily sefirot chart is often outside of the body. It represents the actualization of all the other sefirot combined. When we self-actualize, we ascend our regular state. Similarly, as Am Yisrael spent seven weeks toiling in internal emotional work, they all rose to the status of prophets at Har Sinai as they experienced Matan Torah. Even though they began their journey on the 49th level of impurity, they ended up as the most exalted generation in our history.

If we look throughout the sources, we see a host of sevens. Famous ones include the seven Noahide Laws, the Shemitah year, and Sheva Brachot for a chatan and kallah, but there are far more. Esther HaMalka had seven maidservants while she lived in Achashverosh’s palace. Men wrap tefillin around their arms seven times. Balaam instructs Balak to “Build me seven altars here and have seven bulls and seven rams ready here for me” in parshat Balak. Noah is instructed to bring seven pairs of each kosher animal onto the ark. Both before and after Matan Torah, sevens have always featured strongly.

Malchut also has a connection to the very beginning, with Chava. Chava is seen as the original embodiment of Malchut, and is further described as having been created already fully developed¹⁷. What is more, Chava was created seven hours after Adam¹⁸. While she was the one to bring death and darkness into the world through her sin, she also holds the key to the tikkun. Malchut’s day is Shabbat, which is sanctified through lighting candles. This light serves to compensate for that originally lost, and as Shabbat brings the completion of the week, through the sefira that completes its priors, it is fitting that it is inherently connected to the first person to be considered complete.

When we think of completion, we picture a state of peace, without struggle or effort. And while there is some truth to this, the Omer period challenges this notion. When we received the Torah at Har Sinai, one journey ended but another simultaneously began. It was the birth of the Jewish people as a new entity, similar to how Malchut is depicted outside of the body. We evolved spiritually, taking all the lessons we internalized over the previous seven weeks, and using them as the basis for our new role.

We went from serving Paroh in Egypt to serving Hashem. Our holiday of freedom was not just a release from bondage, it allowed us to choose our own Master in this world, Who gave us the time and the tools necessary to work on ourselves so that we could make our choice confidently and out of love. It did not mean that we would never mess up after receiving the Torah, but rather that we would remain devoted to it even in the face of errors. In the grand scheme of things, seven weeks does not seem like so much time, in fact. But every year, we have the chance to renew this internal work and take the time to focus on our core traits and values, setting the stage to ‘renew our vows’ on Shavuot.

1. Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 26:18

2. Vayikra 23:15

3. Ohr HaChaim on Vayikra 23:15-16

4. Ohr HaChaim on Vayikra 24:2

5. Sanhedrin 56a

6. Vayikra 25:1-7

7. Ketubot 7b

8. Megillat Esther 2:5

9. Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar HaTefillin 10

10. Bamidbar 23:1

11. Bereishit 7:2

12. Megillah 14a