Torah tells us to count seven weeks of seven days from Pesach to Shavuot. Doesn’t tell us why or whether there’s anything we’re to do but count.

For the long-ago kabbalists (mystics), this long period of mandated attentiveness without specific focus was a gift! The mystics were happy to fill the void. With seven “circles of divine energy,” including chesed/lovingkindness, hod/majesty, humility. With seven weeks of transformation from slaves in Egypt to a free people in covenant with their God. With seven weeks of preparation for the revelation on Mt Sinai that we celebrate on Shavuot.

As Rabbi Amy Wallk Katz writes in Siddur Lev Shalem, unlike countdowns — e.g., to the secular new year, to a vacation — “when we count omer, we count up…To truly receive Torah we need to grow into it, to make ourselves ready.”

When we count down, I believe we are more likely to feel a sense of panic as the event or deadline approaches: are we ready? what did we forget? where’s my passport?

When we count up toward Torah, we can feel a rising anticipation, a steady expanding of the soul, as we approach the magical moment of imagining ourselves at the foot of Mt Sinai, or, as our tradition suggests, reliving the actual Sinai experience we shared with every Jew who ever was, is or will be.

Our sacred covenant needs constant maintenance; everything Jewish that we do helps to renew it. Do something new: commit to prayer, commit to a blessing over food, commit to helping others appreciate the wisdom and wealth of our heritage. Our future is counting on you.

Join us for an outdoor Lag ba’Omer firepit and music at 8:00 tonight.

Soon, be with us in community with Shirat Hayam for Shavuot, including a tikkun / celebration of learning, on Sunday, May 16, 6:00 – 8:00 pm.

Shabbat shalom! שבת שלום