Starting on the second night of Passover, we began the period of the Counting of the Omer, which in Jewish tradition helps us with spiritual preparation for our next festival, Shavuot (when we celebrate Moses’s receiving the Law at Mount Sinai). This period represents the time between our liberation from slavery and our formation as a people in covenant with God. We count the Omer during the seven weeks (49 days) between Passover and Shavuot.
There are several customs associated with the Omer period. One of these is studying Pirke Avot (Portions of Our Fathers, which is a book contained in the Mishneh, part of Jewish oral tradition).
