Omer Mourning Period

Answer

The “Omer” period is the national mourning period between Passover and Shavuot which commemortaes the death of 24,000 Torah Scholars who were the students of Rabbi Akiva just around the Beginning of the Common Era. The Talmud teaches that they died because the were too casual with each other and were not sensitive enough to each other’s feelings and thus did not show proper respect. In order to reinforce the need for proper interpersonal behavior and to remind us of the great tragedy of their death the Omer mourning period was instituted.

For more sources on the Omer see Torah.org and Aish.com

Warmly,
Rabbi Zvi Holland
Phoenix Community Kollel