Counting the Omer 2024: An Anchor for these Times
As stars appear in the sky on the second night of Passover the 49-day practice of counting the Omer begins. For our ancestors it was an agricultural rite. Every night, for 7 weeks, they would go in the fields and wave a sheaf of barley to give thanks to the land and pray for a good harvest. Over time, this agricultural ritual was replaced by liturgy and the counting became the way to mark the Israelites’ journey from bondage in Egypt to revelation at Sinai.
For the Jewish mystics of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Counting of the Omer became a time of spiritual exploration, a way to prepare the soul to receive Divine guidance that comes each year on Shavuot.
Why count the Omer this year?
Why stand up each night and for 49 days in a row count the day that is to come?
How can this ancient ritual help guide us through this time?
Everything Passes
Standing each night to count the coming day can help us be in relationship with the passage of time. It can remind us again and again that everything passes. Everything changes. Counting the coming day can strengthen our trust that this too shall pass.
Letting Go of What has Been
Counting the day that we are entering requires that we let go of what has been. I often feel myself grasping, seeking to hold onto an experience, a feeling, a sensation. The counting helps me honor what has happened. It inspires the perspective that, it is OK to let go, something new will appear.
Being in the Moment
The tradition teaches that we are not to say the day that is to come until that moment when we are saying the blessing and mindfully counting. This part of the tradition reminds us to be where we are—to stay present in the moment and not try to predict or control what will be. It helps us not project thoughts and expectations onto a future that is unknowable.
Cultivate Gratitude
Counting each night provides an opportunity to pause, look back on the day that has been and give thanks for something that was discovered or experienced.
Connection
As we count each night, many, many people around the world are also counting to enter into the same new day. Counting can strengthen our sense of connection and relationship with each other. It can help us not feel alone.
Relationship to the Mystery
The mystics teach that each of the 7 weeks of the Omer illuminate an attribute of the Infinite Presence. Engaging with these attributes, week by week, can teach and guide us in mysterious and new ways.
Something to Count On
As everything passes and changes, counting each night offers strength and stability. This 49-day practice literally gives us something to count on.
As the Omer unfolds A Way In offers new teachings and practices to guide the journey. We will also continue to send out the same teachings and practices for each day, as we have been doing for the past years. We are hoping these familiar texts and practices will be an anchor in this time.
— Rabbi Yael Levy