Yovel and Omer - Comparison

Each year of the Yovel, as well as each day of the Omer, we count, as early as we can. For counting towards the Yovel, it is at the beginning of Tishrei, and for the Omer it is right after evening prayers.

When looking at history as a Yovel of Yovels, as I mentioned before, it is different:

Each Yovel is really marked at the end, as opposed to the Omer, which is marked at the beginning.

As such, the action required on the part of Am Yisrael is essentially over at the beginning of the 49th day of the Omer, for the counting is done at the beginning of the day.

To carry that parallel through, the beginning of the 49th Yovel cycle, beginning in less than 7 years, is the end of the preparation to receive.

Mourning after Lag Ba'Omer

(For more on the subject of Yovel, click here to return to the Table of Contents.)

In continuation of the last post:

It should be noted that there are those that cease mourning for the day of Lag Ba'Omer, and then resume the restrictions of the Omer until Shavuot.

This perhaps hints at Jewish history as well. The years of the 33rd Yovel not only brought the Zohar, but the beginning of the 6th Millenium (the 6th Day, with 1000 years divided in to 12 hours of 83.33 years). From this time onwards, we must see Am Yisrael as following the story of Adam HaRishon, correcting it as needed on the way to perfection.

Despite all this, there are those among Am Yisrael that don't see our situation as qualitatively different, and don't see the 33rd Yovel as reason to change the way they see things as we approach the Yovel of Yovels. So the mourning continues in exactly the same way.

Significant Days in the Omer & Yovel

(For more on the subject of Yovel, click here to return to the Table of Contents.)

In our times, there are a few significant dates* during the Omer period:

• The 7 days of Pesach
• The 7th day of the Omer, Isru Chag Pesach
• The 8th day of the Omer, the beginning of full mourning**
• The 20th Day of the Omer, Yom HaAtzmaut
• The 33rd Day of the Omer, Lag Ba'Omer, the revelation of Kabbalah
• The 43rd Day of the Omer, Yom Yerushalayim

* I haven't listed them all, there is still Rosh Chodesh and Pesach Sheini, but these are less than their full status at this time: Rosh Chodesh during the mourning is diminished in relation to the other Rashei Chodashim, and Pesach Sheini doesn't take place without the Beit HaMikdash.

** There is a machloket as to if there is any significance to Isru Chag after Pesach. See the Rama on Orach Chaim 429:2 and the Mishneh Berurah there for the opinion that one shouldn't fast on Isru Chag.

The 8th Yovel: 3766 - 3816 (6CE - 56CE)

This period brought the beginnings of the religion of Edom.

The 20th Yovel: 4355 - 4404 (595CE - 644CE)

This period brought the beginnings of the religion of Yishmael. This was the end of the "Evening Morning" of Daniel 8, starting the period of Yishmael being repaid for his circumcision. The 2300 days, however, would finish on the 20th of the Omer 5708.

The 33rd Yovel: 4992 - 5041 (1232CE - 1281CE)

This period brought the Zohar to the world, containing the secrets of the Torah. This is the Torah that brings the Geulah.

The 43rd Yovel: 5482 - 5531 (1742CE - 1771CE)

This period saw the beginning of the morning of the 6th Day, per Kol HaTor, when the GR"A started the work towards the building of Yerushalayim.

Shmitah & Yovel - Sefirat HaOmer & Shavuot

(For more on the subject of Yovel, click here to return to the Table of Contents.)

The parallels between the 50 year cycle and the 50 days of Sefirat HaOmer and Shavuot are obvious due to the numeric similarity. So let's examine them in light of what I wrote before.

Vayikra 23:16 states that we are to count 50 days. However, as halachah states, we only count 49 days. We do not count the 50th day on the night of Shavuot. One explanation that I've heard is that after Am Yisrael has worked to get out of the 49 levels of Tum'ah over the 49 days of the Omer, there is no more effort necessary, and therefore no work is necessary after the 49th day to move in to the 50th day. This would parallel what I have written, there are 49 Yovel cycles for Am Yisrael to count, and it is proper for us to take charge and count the 49th cycle ourselves before we effortlessly enter in to the Yovel of Yovels.

But let us look back over the entire period. Fifty Yovel cycles, some 50 years, most 49 years, is between 50 * 49 years (2450) and 50 * 50 years (2500 years). Let us picture this period of time as paralleling the Kabbalistic Sefirah-development of the Omer period: Each week is one overriding Sefirah, each day is an aspect thereof.

For this analysis, a day of the Omer is 1 Yovel cycle, a week is 7 Yovel cycles.

Chesed - 3416 - 3765 (-345BCE - 5CE)

• According to Daniel 9, there were 490 years decreed from the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash to destruction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash. The period that the Beit HaMikdash stood, therefore, can be understood to be a decree in and of itself, a gift from Hashem. The 2nd Beit HaMikdash stood throughout this period. Chesed she'b'Chesed contained the founding of the Knesset HaGedolah.

Gevurah - 3766 - 4110 (6CE - 350CE)

• This is a period of increasing persecution at the hands of the Edom. The period of Gevurah she'biGevurah covers the destruction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash. This period ends at approximately the time that the Talmud Yerushalmi was sealed. It was sealed prematurely due to Roman persecution. This period saw a steep decline in the number of Jews in Eretz Yisrael.

Tiferet - 4110 - 4453 (350CE - 693CE)

• Tiferet represents Torah, and as such the Talmud Bavli was finished during this period. Torah finished getting ready for the long exile. Torah is Truth. The final decade of this period saw the building of the Dome of the Rock, for the age of Truth ended.

Netzach - 4453 - 4796 (693CE - 1036CE)

• Netzach is a lower level of Chesed. In this week of Yovels, Har HaBayit was free from idolatry.

Hod - 4796 - 5139 (1036CE - 1379CE)

• The 33rd of the Omer, Lag Ba'Omer commemorates the revelation of the Zohar by Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The 33rd Yovel period, Hod She'b'Hod, parallels the time that the Zohar was revealed in the days of Rav Moshe DeLeon (approximately 5020-5030, 1260CE-1270CE). Hod is also a lower form of Gevurah, the Jewish population of Eretz Yisrael (as well as Europe) suffered much during the Crusades.

Yesod - 5139 - 5482 (1379CE - 1722CE)

• Since Yesod is the Sefirah directly below Tiferet, it is to be expected that there be an intricate relationship between the periods of these two Sefirot. Yesod has many meanings, including Moshiach ben Yosef, the revealer of the Torah's secrets. This is the age of the major revelations in Kabbalah, namely from the Ariza"l.

Malchut 5482 - ~5826 (1722CE - ~2066CE)

• Starting 2 years after the GR"A's birth, who came down from Heaven in order to start the Geulah process, this period of time sees the rebirth of Am Yisrael as a nation in Eretz Yisrael. We will soon enter Malchut she'b'Malchut.

Yovel of Yovels ~5826 - ~5876