The Shmita Year and its Connection to Shavuot and Har Sinai

What is the first real Shabbat of the Jewish people? And how does it connect to the Omer, to the brit at Har Sinai, to Shavuot, and to the Shemitta cycle? We begin by examining the meaning of “omer” by looking at the texts in which the word appears. After placing the test of the “manna” into the timeframe of Bnei Yisrael’s journey from Egypt to Har Sinai, what emerges is a crucial tool for the nation’s development and relationship with God, which is later symbolized and commemorated in rituals which are now ever more meaningful-- especially now that we understand more about the agriculture of the Land of Israel.