Counting the Omer 2024

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Every seder looks a little different. Some are all in Hebrew, some are 15 minutes long, some use the Harry Potter Haggadah. But this week at every seder, we will all ask the Four Questions and we will all enumerate the Four Children.

On the second night, toward the end of Hallel after the meal, we will also recite the blessing for the first night of the omer. Keep an eye out for it in your Haggadah - it can be easy to miss at the end!

The omer is the seven-week period between Passover and Shavuot. Mystically, it is a time of reflection and introspection, as we move through time and space from the slavery of the Passover narrative to the covenantal relationship with God that we experience at Sinai. But we don't wait for the end of the second seder to begin self-reflecting, no! The reflection begins early in the first seder with the Four Questions and the Four Children.

The Four Questions prompt us to be aware of our circumstances. The questions all essentially ask: how does context us make us act differently? One morning, the Israelites woke up in bondage and the next morning we were free. How do the events happening around us change us?

The Four Children make us wonder: which child am I? How have I been wise or wicked? When have I been simple? What do I not even know enough to know? The Four Children are models for how to engage with the world and with the people around us.

Counting the omer places us at the seder, seeing ourselves as newly freed slaves, and asks us to reflect on what that journey to freedom and the journey to God will stir in each of us. Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) attaches seven sephirot (attributes of God) to each of the seven weeks of the omer, to facilitate our reflection and spiritual growth.

The seven sephirot are:

1. Chesed (חסד): loving kindness

2. Gevurah (גבורה): strength, power, justice, bravery

3. Tiferet (תפארת): beauty, balance, compassion

4. Netzach (נצח‎): eternity, endurance, victory

5. Hod (הוד): splendor, majesty, glory, humility

6. Yesod (יסוד): foundation, connection

7. Malchut (מלכות): leadership

Each week and each day have an attribute. The first week is the week of chesed. The first day is chesed, the second is gevurah, and so on, so that each attribute will be paired as we count. You'll see it in action this week as we begin counting together.

Chag Kasher v'Sameach - Happy Passover!

Count the Omer Week 1: Chesed

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The first week of the Omer is the week of chesed (loving-kindness). Because we start counting the Omer on the second night of Passover, the entire week of Passover takes place in the week of chesed, so let's take a moment to examine the loving-kindness in this holiday.

Passover commands us to love the stranger and to feed all who are hungry. Even as we focus on the history of our peoples' enslavement and liberation, we are encouraged to broaden our thinking and draw parallels to present-day suffering. It is an exercise in empathy.

I asked my almost-three-year-old daughter what she thought of loving-kindness and, as is usually the case with toddlers, she brought insight and understanding to a difficult concept. We broke down chesed into two parts:

Love

"Who do you love?" I asked her. I expected her to answer with a family member, maybe me, her dad, or her sister. Maybe a grandparent, uncle, or cousin. Instead, she answered, "Judah and Asher," two of her best friends who moved away last summer. Chesed, as my daughter reminded me, is not bound by blood or time or distance. We love the people we love, family and friends, near and far. At Passover, when so much of the holiday is spent with family and friends, hosting and attending seders (virtually again this year for many of us), the people we love are at the forefront of our minds. We spent our seders this year telling the story of the Exodus, but also reminiscing about past seders with friends where we drank too much wine, and laughing about the weird combinations of Passover foods that our daughters' Great-Grandpa Marvin (z"l) used to enjoy. It is a holiday that invites love into our homes.

Kindness

I asked my daughter, "How are you nice to people?" In reply, she told me that she had been playing at daycare with a friend in the play house in the backyard. Another friend wanted to join them and my daughter told me, "I opened the door and told her she could come in the house with us." Inclusion is an important aspect of chesed. We show our friends that we care about them by inviting them to join us, instead of leaving them out. When someone reaches out to us, we invite them in. On Passover, we recall what it meant to be the other, to be downtrodden and oppressed, and to cry out for help. Then, we recall the joy of finding an outstretched arm guiding us toward safety, love, and home. How are you nice to people? By extending an outstretched arm and an open door.

One! One week of the Omer! Ah ah ah!

Omer 2021 Intro

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On Passover, we are supposed to see ourselves as if we had personally come out of Egypt. But as it turns out, we're not finished with this thought experiment. Last night as our second seders ended, we began counting the Omer. From day 1 to day 49, we are commanded to mark the time that the Israelites traveled in the wilderness from Egypt to Sinai. These 49 days are the crucial first steps for the Israelites in their journey to freedom. We, too, take this journey with them, seeing ourselves, once again, as if we had come out of Egypt. Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) attaches seven sephirot (attributes of God) to each of the seven weeks of the Omer, so that our counting becomes a time for reflection and spiritual growth. Just as the Israelites moved from slavery in Egypt to freedom and revelation at Sinai, we too should take this opportunity to change and grow and prepare ourselves for a closer relationship with God and with each other.

The seven sephirot are:

1. Chesed (חסד): loving kindness

2. Gevurah (גבורה): strength, power, justice, bravery

3. Tiferet (תפארת): beauty, balance, compassion

4. Netzach (נצח‎): eternity, endurance, victory

5. Hod (הוד): splendor, majesty, glory, humility

6. Yesod (יסוד): foundation, connection

7. Malchut (מלכות): leadership

Each week and each day have a sephira. The first week is the week is chesed. The first day is chesed, the second is gevurah, and so on, so that each sephira will be paired as we count. What does it mean to have endurance in loving kindness (day 4)? What does it mean to have loving kindness in balance (day 15)?

I think the pandemic has caused a lot of us to look inward, to reevaluate who we are and what is important to us in life. Over the past year, we have all struggled with loneliness and isolation, with loss and grief. We have also learned new ways of working and connecting with each other, taken on new challenges and opportunities to grow. I have friends who have taken up baking, are learning a new language, and have lost 30 pounds. Whether or not you are now a slimmer master baker with a 365+ day Duolingo streak, or still just getting by, I invite you to count the Omer with me this year. It provides structure and focus to your days and weeks, and a shared experience for us all.

This year, I'm only going to blog the weeks, but I'm counting every day with the help of a counting expert!

See you back here later this week for some chesed. For fun Simpson's-themed help counting each day, check out homercalendar.net. Want reflections on each day from me? Check out my posts from years past!

Omer 2017 Day 1: One Love

Omer Introduction | Day 2

Day 1: Chesed in Chesed, Love in Love

One Love by Bob Marley

One love, one heart

Let's get together and feel alright

At the seders that we all just concluded, we were reminded yet again to "love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt." With this lesson fresh in our minds, we begin counting the Omer with love in love, an important opportunity to practice empathy. How can we relate better to others, understand their experiences, and welcome them into our communities? The Torah and Bob Marley suggest that our own experiences should inform our outreach to the stranger. Love is not finite, confined to our own families and communities; it is limitless and universal. So, let's get together and share our chesed.

As we were wrapping up and heading home from a fantastic first night seder with friends and family well after midnight on Monday night, someone was vandalizing our local Jewish Community Center and a nearby church. They spray painted slogans and symbols of hate that have shocked and saddened our community. This morning at services, instead of a traditional d'var Torah, our rabbi invited us to discuss the incident together as a congregation. How did it make us feel? How did we address it at our second night seders? On this holiday when we celebrate freedom from oppression and God's protection, how do we process the hatred directed at us?

Some expressed their disgust and the sinking feeling of seeing a swastika on our beloved community center. One woman suggested that the cowardly vandal is seeking attention and that moving on from the incident would deny the person the attention they crave. Another woman thought it was important to address the problem wanted to strike a balance between moving on quickly and condemning it in the strongest terms. Finally, we discussed the importance of supporting our community in times of trouble, recognizing that it was not just the JCC that was attacked and that the Haggadah's entreaty to "let all who are hungry come and eat" reminds us to extend our kindness to all who need it. Like chesed in chesed, this means not only standing up for our Jewish community, but our neighbors at the Little River United Church of Christ and anyone else in need.

Back to the Omer Introduction | Jump to Day 2

Count the Omer 2016: Women of the Tanakh

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Passover begins tonight, which means it is almost time to start Counting the Omer! As you may recall from the last few years, I love Counting the Omer. If you're new to Counting the Omer, here is what you need to know:

Literally, an omer is a unit of measurement, and when the Temple stood, an omer of barley was given as an offering on the second night of Passover. Beginning on the second night of Passover, we count for seven weeks from day 1 to day 49, ending on Shavuot. Counting the Omer is a mitzvah (commandment/good deed) that commemorates our exodus from Egypt (our physical freedom) and receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai (our spiritual freedom).

Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) teaches that human experience is made up of seven sephirot (characteristics or emotions) and as we Count the Omer, we should also contemplate our inner selves. Just as the Israelites moved in seven weeks from slavery to freedom, we should seek in these seven weeks to better ourselves.

The seven sephirot are:
1. Chesed (חסד): love, kindness, mercy
2. Gevurah (גבורה): strength, power, justice, bravery
3. Tiferet (תפארת): beauty, balance, compassion
4. Netzach (נצח‎): eternity, endurance, victory
5. Hod (הוד): splendor, majesty, glory (sometimes translated as humility)
6. Yesod (יסוד): foundation, connection
7. Malchut (מלכות): leadership

Clearly there are many, sometimes conflicting translations of each of these sephirot, but we will do our best to work them out over the next seven weeks. Each week and each day of the Omer represents a different characteristic and they go in order, so it is easy to follow along. The first week is the week of chesed and the first day is also chesed, so day 1 of the Omer is chesed within chesed, day 2 is gevurah within chesed, and so on.

This year, I would like to try something different. Instead of reflecting on the sephirot in a free-form manner as I have in the past, I will relate each day to a woman from the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible).

Resources for Counting the Omer
The Homer Calendar
Judaism 101: The Counting of the Omer
Aish: The ABC's of the Omer
Aish: Daily Omer Meditation
My Jewish Learning: How to Count the Omer
Go And Learn It: Count the Omer 2015, Day 1
Go And Learn It: Count the Omer 2014
Go And Learn It: Count the Omer 2013, Day 1

Count the Omer 2015: Day 1

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Welcome to another thrilling journey of self-reflection. That's right, it's time to Count the Omer! If you're new to Counting the Omer, I have included some really great resources below for you.

Literally, an omer is a unit of measurement, and when the Temple stood, an omer of barley was given as an offering on the second night of Passover (which was last night). Beginning on the second night of Passover, we count for seven weeks from day 1 to day 49. Counting the Omer is a mitzvah, beginning with Passover and ending on Shavuot. The counting commemorates our exodus from Egypt (our physical freedom) and God giving us the Torah at Mount Sinai (our spiritual freedom).

Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) teaches that human experience is made up of seven sephirot (characteristics or emotions) and as we Count the Omer, we should also contemplate our inner selves. Just as the Israelites moved in seven weeks from slavery to freedom, we should seek in these seven weeks to better ourselves.

The seven sephirot are:
1. Chesed (חסד): loving-kindness, mercy
2. Gevurah (גבורה): strength, justice, power, severity
3. Tiferet (תפארת): beauty, balance, integration, miracles, compassion, spirituality
4. Netzach (נצח‎): eternity, endurance, victory
5. Hod (הוד): splendor, majesty, glory (sometimes translated as humility)
6. Yesod (יסוד): foundation, connection
7. Malchut (מלכות): leadership, kingdom

Clearly there are many (sometimes conflicting) translations of each of these sephirot, but we will do our best to work them out over the next seven weeks.

Each week and each day of the Omer represents a different emotion and they go in order, so it is easy to follow along. The first week is the week of chesed and the first day is also chesed, so day 1 of the Omer is chesed within chesed.

Day 1: Chesed within Chesed
Loving-kindness within Loving-kindness or Mercy within Mercy
We begin with love, because, as every good poet and Harry Potter fan knows, love is the greatest power in the world. I'm not sure that the Beatles were entirely right in thinking that "all you need is love," but it is certainly important and love is stronger and more enduring when it is all-encompassing, mutually reciprocated, within and without. That, I think, is chesed within chesed; not only to love, but to express it.

I'll be counting for the next 49 days, so feel free to follow along!

Resources for Counting the Omer
The Homer Calendar
Judaism 101: The Counting of the Omer
Aish: The ABC's of the Omer
Aish: Daily Omer Meditation
My Jewish Learning: How to Count the Omer
Omer Friends Style (daily Omer meditations as they relate to Friends)
Go And Learn It: Count the Omer 2014
Go And Learn It: Count the Omer 2013, Day 1

G-dcast's 49 Facts for 49 Days

Count the Omer 2014

It's Passover, which means it is time once again to start counting the Omer! If you will recall from last year, the Omer is the period between Passover and Shavuot when we count from day one on the second night of Passover to day forty-nine. In Temple times, this seven-week period was the barley harvest between the Passover offering and the Shavuot offering (learn more at My Jewish Learning).

In today's context, these seven weeks represent the journey from slavery (Passover) to freedom (receiving the Torah at Sinai on Shavuot). Accordingly, Kabbalah mimics this Biblical journey by considering the counting of the Omer as a time of reflection and personal growth. Each week and day is assigned one of seven sephirot (characteristics) that we should try to improve. They are:

1. Chesed - Loving-kindness 
2. Gevurah - Strength, Justice 
3. Tiferet - Balance, Compassion 
4. Netzach - Endurance, Ambition 
5. Hod - Gratitude, Humility 
6. Yesod - Foundation, Connection 
7. Malchut - Kingdom, Leadership

HomerCalendar.net has a great calendar and the daily blessings for you to keep up with counting the Omer (bonus: Simpsons quotes!). Last year, I blogged all the days, which was fun and also very time-consuming. So this year, while I will be doing my own personal reflection, I am taking a different approach online. I encourage you to count the Omer and reflect, daily or weekly, on ways that you can improve yourself in the seven sephirot. For a refresher, feel free to check out my posts from last year. If a day or week hits you with particular meaning, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Happy counting!

Count the Omer Posts, 2013

1. Chesed sheb'Chesed, Loving-kindness within Loving-kindness 
2. Gevurah sheb'Chesed, Strength within Loving-kindness 
3. Tiferet sheb'Chesed, Harmony within Loving-kindness 
4. Netzach sheb'Chesed, Ambition within Loving-kindness 
5. Hod sheb'Chesed, Gratitude within Loving-kindness 
6. Yesod sheb'Chesed, Foundation within Loving-kindness 
7. Malchut sheb'Chesed, Kingdom within Loving-kindness 
8. Chesed sheb'Gevurah, Loving-kindness within Justice 
9. Gevurah sheb'Gevurah, Strength within Restraint 
10. Tiferet sheb'Gevurah, Harmony within Restraint 
11. Netzach sheb'Gevurah, Endurance within Strength 
12. Hod sheb'Gevurah, Humility within Strength 
13. Yesod sheb'Gevurah, Foundation within Strength 
14. Malchut sheb'Gevurah, Leadership within Power 
15. Chesed sheb'Tiferet, Loving-kindness within Balance 
16. Gevurah sheb'Tiferet, Power within Beauty 
17. Tiferet sheb'Tiferet, Harmony within Harmony 
18. Netzach sheb'Tiferet, Endurance within Compassion 
19. Hod sheb'Tiferet, Gratitude within Compassion 
20. Yesod sheb'Tiferet, Connection within Compassion 
21. Malchut sheb'Tiferet, Leadership within Compassion 
22. Chesed sheb'Netzach, Loving-kindness within Ambition 
23. Gevurah sheb'Netzach, Strength within Endurance 
24. Tiferet sheb'Netzach, Compassion within Endurance 
25. Netzach sheb'Netzach, Ambition within Endurance 
26. Hod sheb'Netzach, Gratitude within Ambition 
27. Yesod sheb'Netzach, Foundation within Ambition 
28. Malchut sheb'Netzach, Leadership within Endurance 
29. Chesed sheb'Hod, Loving-kindness within Majesty 
30. Gevurah sheb'Hod, Justice within Humility 
31. Tiferet sheb'Hod, Beauty within Majesty 
32. Netzach sheb'Hod, Ambition within Humility 
33. Hod sheb'Hod, Humility within Majesty 
34. Yesod sheb'Hod, Foundation within Gratitude 
35. Malchut sheb'Hod, Leadership within Humility 
36. Chesed sheb'Yesod, Loving-kindness within Connection 
37. Gevurah sheb'Yesod, Power within Connection 
38. Tiferet sheb'Yesod, Harmony within Connection 
39. Netzach sheb'Yesod, Endurance within Connection 
40. Hod sheb'Yesod, Majesty within Connection 
41. Yesod sheb'Yesod, Connection within Connection 
42. Malchut sheb'Yesod, Kingdom within Foundation 
43. Chesed sheb'Malchut, Loving-kindness within Kingdom 
44. Gevurah sheb'Malchut, Strength within Leadership 
45. Tiferet sheb'Malchut, Harmony within Leadership 
46. Netzach sheb'Malchut, Endurance within Kingdom 
47. Hod sheb'Malchut, Humility within Kingdom 
48. Yesod sheb'Malchut, Foundation within Kingdom 
49. Malchut sheb'Malchut, Kingdom within Kingdom

Count the Omer: Day 1

Day 2

Today is the second night of Passover, but more importantly, today is the day we begin Counting the Omer! Over the next seven weeks, we will count up to Shavuot, my favorite holiday. According to Kabbalah, the time between the second night of Passover and Shavuot (the Counting of the Omer) is a time of spiritual growth and self improvement. These seven weeks represent the seven weeks between the Israelites leaving Egypt and arriving at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. In that time, they progressed from slavery to holiness. Accordingly, there are seven aspects of Godliness that we count and attempt to incorporate into our selves during the Counting of the Omer:

1. Chesed - loving-kindness
2. Gevurah - strength, power, justice, restraint
3. Tiferet - beauty, harmony, balance, compassion
4. Netzach - endurance, ambition
5. Hod - gratitude, humility, majesty
6. Yesod - foundation, connection
7. Malchut - kingdom, leadership

Each of the next seven weeks will be represented by one of these attributes, paired with another based on the day. Week one is chesed and day one of the week is chesed, so today is chesed sheb'chesed, loving-kindness within loving-kindness. Tomorrow will be gevurah sheb'chesed, strength within kindness, but that's for tomorrow. Let's take things one day at a time.

Day 1: Chesed sheb'Chesed, Loving-kindness within Loving-kindness. 

That's a lot of love.

Have you ever tried to really better yourself? Something more than a New Year's resolution? It's hard! I managed to create a plan for myself and actually stick to it for an entire summer once when I was in high school. I called it my "Summer of Self Improvement" - I took up running, cut out pop and other sugary drinks, and kept a self-reflective journal that I wrote in every night before bed. The plan fell apart when school started, but I learned some important things about myself. A few years later, after I had given up running and gone back to drinking way too much Coca Cola, I went back and read that journal. Parts of it were sarcastic, parts angsty teenager. The memorable parts of my journal and the real changes I made to myself in the long term were the parts I had written about openly and sincerely. When I was honest with myself, I managed to change for the better.

This is what day one of the Omer is all about. This week is all about incorporating more chesed into our lives, starting with yourself. Loving-kindness in loving-kindness - start with honesty and love in your own life and it will be easier to show it to others.

Stay tuned for more counting fun tomorrow! To keep track of the days yourself, check out homercalendar.net.

One! One day of the Omer! Ah ha ha!