Our Sages of Blessed Memory have challenged the Jewish people of the past, present and future to acknowledge our gratitude to God every day by reciting at least 100 blessings. The blessings that we recite during the day come in so many varieties. They come through daily worship, before and after the food that we eat, when we see a rainbow or something naturally beautiful in our world.
Each and every one of us possesses and recites our own blessings that provide for us a spiritual and personal relationship with God. Although our Rabbis dictate to us that we should count our blessings every day, they did not mandate what blessings we are to say. The blessings that we recite each day are left open to every Jew to figure out for him or herself what Brachot speak to each of us based on where we are along our pathway in creating a divine and intimate relationship with God.
During the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot our Rabbis created a time period where we are to count 49 days, known as Sefirat HaOmer. Originally, during the Temple and Rabbinic Period each day, blessings and gifts of grain were brought to God as the harvest season began and was rich in its crop during this two-month period. However, when the Temple was destroyed, the counting of each day was put into a prayer-like formula that one recites every single evening, from the Second Seder Night of Passover until Erev Shavuot, when the Jewish people stand at Mount Sinai to receive God’s Torah.
The Counting of the Omer for us today is not just a time to remember and count the days that remain from Passover to Shavuot, rather Sefirat HaOmer provides for us a time period when we should count the blessings that we have in our lives. As we go through the 49 days of the Omer, we should challenge ourselves to acknowledge and appreciate the blessings that are given to us and the blessings that we give to others. May our blessings that enrich our lives allow us to stand at Mount Sinai on the holiday of Shavuot with a heart and a soul filled with spiritual fulfillment and physical satisfaction. May our blessings be counted and recognized, our lives fulfilled and appreciated during our season of freedom, redemption and revelation.
Michelle, Brianah and Julia join me in wishing our Bet Shira Community a Happy and Kosher Passover.
Chag Kasher V’Sameyach,
Rabbi Micah Caplan
