Counting the Omer
Sunday, April 17, 2022 • 16 Nisan 5782
8:30 PM - 8:45 PM
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Drop in nightly to count the Omer with Rabbi Shifra – 8:30-8:45PM every Sunday through Thursday from April 17 until June 2nd.
Hineni -Here I am, (almost) ready and prepared to perform the mitzvah of counting the Omer.
Omer means measure. During ancient times, an offering of grain was brought to the Temple every day between Passover and Shavuot, so Torah commands that we count these 49 days, (7 weeks of 7 days). This time has become a time of spiritual preparation, reenacting the journey from Egypt (Passover) to receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai (Shavuot). The Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, literally means the narrows. This journey leads us from narrow straights to a widening. Through this practice, we navigate our own deserts to keep moving toward liberation, mindful not to slip back into whatever may enslave us.
As we meditate on each day, counting the omer, how do we measure our lives? Throughout the counting of the Omer, we mourn and celebrate, working on our hearts and our souls. We are measuring ourselves and counting down (or up) to a time when we can defy our own limitations, be receptive, and feel free. Join us on this sacred journey!
From “Counting the Omer- A Mystical Tikun” by Nachum Mohl
Each of the last seven s'firot, from chesed to gevurah are known as midot in mysticism. Each person… is given a certain measure of each which determines their particular personality. It is their spiritual work to refine those midot which they possesses.
Now when we look into the Torah, we find the number seven used conspicuously in several occasions. The most obvious is in the creation of the world. In six days the world was created and on the seventh G-d rested, therefore we have not only a seven day week, but we rest on the seventh day…
Now as we approach the festival of Shavout, which is 49 days from Passover, seven times seven, we begin to make a repair through counting these days. For we have been told that G-d created not just this world, but also a previous world that was destroyed because of the inability of the seven midot to include one within the other. Each mida remained a pure and unaltered mida, uninfluenced by the other. Since there was no inclusion of one within the other, the midot became too exclusive. The world was not able to exist with pure chesed or pure gevurot… Therefore in order to best be able to receive the Torah, we must go through a period of seven weeks in which each week a new mida is repaired by including other midot.
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