Spring and Kepler’s Moon<\/p>\n
Sunday gratefuls: Easter. Passover. A cool night. Kepler, my sweet boy. Kate, her yahrzeit this Friday. Probate. Some ways through. Snow falling on Lodgepoles. Though not this morning. A Mountain morning feeling its way toward the light. Alan. The Bread Lounge. Counting the omer. Rabbi Jamie, a teacher. The Evergreen Market. Southern Fried Catfish. Broccoli salad.<\/p>\n
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Gettin’ Old<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And now for something completely different. Counting the Omer is a first fruits practice that celebrates the beginning of the barley harvest. In this way it is similar to the Celtic Lughnasa which celebrates the first corn (wheat in Britain) harvest on August 1st. Counting the Omer starts during passover and proceeds until Shavuot 50 days later.<\/p>\n
I like this practice, though I find it hard to follow, because it adds a thoughtful intention to each day, an intention that helps carry us away from the slavery of culture and history toward the promised land. What promised land, you might ask? Well. What promised land do you need?<\/p>\n
I also like this practice because it is, as are many Jewish holidays, rooted in Mother Earth and her changes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Counting the Omer*<\/p>\n
“And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering\u2014the day after the sabbath\u2014you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week\u2014fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d4.” Leviticus 23:15-16<\/p>\n
This is a spiritual reenactment of the Hebrew slaves journey of out Egypt, out of slavery toward the promised land. As Rabbi Jamie explains it:<\/p>\n
“Over the course of the seven weeks between the holidays of Passover
\nand Shavuot, we are invited to recount the steps of our ancestors. As the first
\nthree uncountable stars appear on the second night of Passover, we count each
\nday of a journey from the shores of the Sea of Reeds, newly freed from the
\nconstraints of enslavement under Pharaoh\u2019s reign, to the revelatory peaks of
\nMount Sinai. We number the days and weeks to revisit a path that took us from
\na narrow and harrowing escape to a knowing and holy expansion of awareness
\nand mission. From Mitzraim [Egypt] we were forced out by plagues, and
\ndecrees. At Sinai, we stood and freely choose a collective destiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is easier to take the people out of slavery than to take the slavery out of
\nthe people,\u201d it has been said. Mussar is a discipline devoted to shedding a
\n\u2018slavery mentality,\u2019 increasing the human capacity to freely choose how we act,
\neven how we think and feel.”<\/p>\n
Each night, the beginning of the Jewish day, a prayer is said and the omer for that day is counted. Traditionally the counting of the Omer (and naming a
\nmeasurable attribute to practice) happens as soon as possible after the stars
\nappear in the night sky, and is preceded by the following blessing: “Blessed are you O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us concerning the count of the Omer.<\/p>\n
Today is day ten, which is one week and three days of the Omer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Day 10. Association with sages. Sign up for a class. Attend a class. Read a
\nbook or article by a scholar or writer that you respect \u2013 and one you don\u2019t.
\nOrganize a book club. Remember as you go through the day, that one who is
\nwise \u201clearns from everyone.\u201d Consider everyone you meet a teacher sent by the
\nuniverse just for you, and you will always be in the company of the sages…and
\nbe counted among the wise.<\/p>\n
This thought for the 10th day of the Omer comes from Rabbi Jamie’s fitting of the whole counting of the Omer into a kabbalistic frame.<\/p>\n
*An omer is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple<\/a>, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering<\/a>. This grain offering was referred to as the Omer. Judaism 101<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One brief, shining moment: The inner way has many paths, some shrouded in darkness, some pressing against the heart to be felt, others pressing against the mind to be understood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring and Kepler’s Moon Sunday gratefuls: Easter. Passover. A cool night. Kepler, my sweet boy. Kate, her yahrzeit this Friday. Probate. Some ways through. Snow falling on Lodgepoles. Though not this morning. A Mountain morning feeling its way toward the light. Alan. The Bread Lounge. Counting the omer. Rabbi Jamie, a teacher. The Evergreen Market. … Continue reading The Omer<\/span>