Due to the new practice of social distancing in a global attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus, Chabad created the Omer Counter application, which calculates the Omer for the user while also offering a collection of Jewish insights on the spiritual meaning of the custom from Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, both in Hebrew and English.The Omer is a period of 49 nights between the second day of Passover to Shavuot. Shavuot, which means "weeks" in Hebrew, is a reference to the weeks of counting between the two holidays. The counting should be done after sunset and requires the worshiper to state not just the number of the day but also to state how many weeks and days had been counted so far.Evening services in synagogues around the world are not as common due to the restrictions around coronavirus, so the app is expected to have plenty of use.Chabad additionally released the Torah Trainer, which allows the user to learn all 54 torah portions.
The use of technology to spread Jewish education is one of the many missions the Hassidic culture in Chabad is noted for. Other apps they created include Jewish.tv and Shabbat Times, all of which are free of charge.
The custom of Shavuot harks to the days of the ancient kingdom of Israel in which offerings were brought to the temple in Jerusalem on both Passover and Shavuot.