A Papercut Sefirat ha-Omer, Poland, 19th century

A Papercut Sefirat ha-Omer, Poland, 19th century

The seven-week period between Passover and Shavuot is marked by the counting of the omer. For forty-nine days, beginning with the second day of Passover on which the korban ha-omer (new barley offering) was brought in the Temple, a special blessing is recited and the particular day of the omer is counted. Starting in the eighteenth century, artists created plaques and papercuts containing the blessing, a listing of the forty-nine days, as well as assorted related prayers in order to facilitate the observance of this commandment. The forty-nine circles framing the papercut contain the kabbalistic divine emanation for each day counted. The finely detailed birds and a pair of griffins are nestled within elaborate scrolling vine tendrils and add a visual element of the natural and supernatural worlds to this enchanting papercut.

Physical Description

Ink on paper underlaid with a deep blue paper (10 x 14 1/2 in.; 255 x 370 mm). Framed.

Literature

Yehudit and Joseph Shadur, Traditional Jewish Papercuts: An Inner World of Art and Symbol (Hanover: University Press of New England, 2002), 88.