Seder Sefirat Ha-Omer (Order of the Counting of the Omer), Italy, c. 1800

30 leaves (5 1/4 x 3 5/8 in.; 130 x 93 mm). Written in brown ink on paper in Hebrew square and semi-cursive Italianate scripts; blind-ruled in hardpoint; modern foliation in pencil begins on title page. Decorated in gouache; frontispiece with rose-colored Star of David within a floral frame; title page and text pages, ff. 1r.-28v. framed in identical baroque pattern in shades of blue, yellow, and rose; floral tailpiece on f. 29r. Triangular dampstain at foot along gutter; f. 12 taped in; minor losses at upper corners, ff. 25, 27; small internal tear along drawing line lower outer margin f 27. Edges stained red; endpapers, 18th c. decorated paper. Contemporary brown morocco, gold stamped, defective, as is spine.

According to Jewish custom, the seven week period between Passover and Shavuot is marked by the counting of the omer.  For forty-nine days, starting with the 16th of Nissan, the second day of Passover on which the korban ha-omer or new grain offering was brought in the Temple, a special blessing is recited and the particular day of the omer is counted.  At the beginning of the eighteenth century, decorative manuscripts were produced in order to facilitate the observance of this commandment and to ensure that each day was properly enumerated.  Every page of the present manuscript repeats the same decorative program as well as the same textual format, beginning with the Hebrew date. This is followed by the actual enumeration of the day and week, the essence of the performance of the commandment of counting the omer. In an uncommon departure from the standard version of the text, the present manuscript follows the unique ruling of the thirteenth century Italian scholar Zedakiah ben Abraham ha-Rofe of the Anavim family. In his Shibbolei ha-Leket, for many years the most widely disseminated halakhic work in Italy, he specifies "Today in the omer is ..." rather than "Today is ... days of the omer."

The manuscript opens with a rhyming preamble stating that "here, you have all the mystical intentions for all the days of the omer, and, if you have a brain in your head, you will perform this commandment to provide pleasure to your creator." Despite the somewhat droll introduction the manuscript continues with a set of instructions detailing the proper kabbalistic and mystical manner of counting the omer. According to the kabbalistic tradition which posits the existence of ten sefirot, or divine emanations, it is believed that the lower seven sefirot are particularly manifest during the seven weeks of the omer. Each of the seven weeks of the omer-counting is associated with one of these seven lower sefirot. Each day of each week is likewise associated with one of these same seven sefirot, creating forty-nine permutations.

Similarly there are forty-nine permutations of the Tetragrammaton, the ineffable four-letter name of God; these are achieved by varying the vocalization or nikkud rather than the letters. Each day's page also calls for three specific kavvanot or intentions, focusing on one of the forty-nine words of Psalm 67, then on one of the forty-nine letters of verse 5 of the same Psalm. The final kavvanah is focused on the forty-two letter mystical name of God. The division into forty-nine parts is accomplished by dividing the name into eight groups of six letters each with each grouping punctuated by a recapitulation of the entire sextet as a single word.