It's the Equinox, and the Omer count starts in just eight days. I wonder how I should approach it this year. I do like R' Yael Levy's book of Omer meditations, which has that knack I associate with good horoscopes and Tarot readings of feeling startlingly personally relevant. But I also like DIY... Maybe I'll try to take a daily photo of something growing or seasonal produce and really immerse myself in the seasonal aspects of the Omer, from the first shoots of spring to the first fruits of summer. That's easy to do this year, with everything so early* and Pesach coming while the trees are barely budding, and it'll also get me outside every day, which is a mitzvah in its own right.

While poking around at resources, I found this gorgeous setting of the prayer of intention before counting. I'm putting it here so I don't lose it. I could easily listen to it every night for seven weeks.

I'd love to introduce Kit to the Omer count, but they can only count to three. Maybe I can still do a seven-by-seven sticker chart with them or something. Or a spiral "map" like this.

If you do Omer counting, how do you do it? A quick blessing and count and done? Thematic meditations or activities? Other thoughts?

* Shavuot is in mid-May! I think of it as happening near my birthday! (But of course it does on the Hebrew calendar—it's only out of sync with my Gregorian birthday this year.**) And that probably means another virtual Shavuot, which breaks my heart. Maybe I'll be vaccinated by then and able to get together with at least a few friends or something.

** I had not previously contemplated what it would be like to observe my Hebrew birthday, and the thought of my birthday coming weeks earlier or later every year is weirding me out. I have very specific seasonal associations with my birthday, particularly the pungent scent of ailanthus trees and the proximity of the summer solstice. Global warming is messing with the ailanthus blooming season and that's already disorienting; I would find it very challenging to deal with my birthday being weeks off from the solstice on top of that. But associations can be made as well as broken, so I will tentatively try thinking of my Hebrew birthday as coming eight days after Shavuot and see whether that's enough to help me feel anchored from year to year.

Last year, Rabbi Miriam asked us to think of a phrase or idea to carry into the year, and the words "Help me let go" came into my head and proved to be very useful through the year. Now I'm seeking a touchstone for 5781. I decided to let the Rosh Hashanah liturgy speak to me, and what stuck in my head wasn't actually from the holiday liturgy but from the Ahavat Olam, a prayer said at every evening service.

Ahavat olam beit Yisrael am'cha ahavta;
Torah umitzvot, chukim umishpatim otanu limadta.

Our machzor, Mishkan T'filah, translates this poetically, and it's the translation that caught my eye:

Love beyond all space and time—
Your love enfolds Your people, Yisrael.
We receive it in your teaching:
Your gift of Torah, sacred obligations, discipline, and law.

This struck me as a very specifically Jewish way of understanding divine love, and having spent the last four years in an increasingly lawless country, I'm particularly attuned to the idea that law is a sacred gift.

I missed the omer count, and was delighted to find the sefirat ha'binyan; now that's over, I need a new nightly ritual. Out of curiosity, I counted seven weeks from Rosh Hashanah to see what I would find. On the Hebrew calendar, nothing. On the secular calendar, November 5th.

Which is not so far from November 3rd.

So I'm adapting this practice for the weeks leading up to Election Day, still working with the kabbalistic traits of divinity associated with the omer count, but interpreting them through the lens of "Torah, sacred obligations, discipline, and law" as expressions of divine love. Call it sefirat ha'mishpatim, counting and working toward a government that enacts and obeys just laws.

I'm putting together daily practices based on the divine attributes associated with the omer count, working somewhat from R' Yael Levy's lovely mindfulness-focused omer count guide Journey Through the Wilderness. Anyone who wants to join me in this is welcome to. I'm also including suggested readings for some of the days and I'd love links to other readings that feel topical.

Since tonight is already day six, I'll be playing catch-up a bit, but I really didn't want to leave out the week of lovingkindness, compassion, and generosity. Chesed is the beginning of all activism for me. I defined it once as "the love that's like God's love", the love that's less personal and more social and even impartial. Taking time to ground myself in chesed gives my activism strength and purpose.

( Week One: Chesed - Generosity, Love, Compassion )

At the end of this week, you should have a list of three candidates or organizations to support, at least one social change action that you feel you can do consistently and sustainably, and a little grounding in love and compassion for yourself, your community, and the world. Next week is gevurah, the week of strength, judgment, and discernment, and the outward-facing work begins.