If you wish follow the Counting of the Omer, there are two resources available for you. The first was written by Max Amichai Heppner – or you may choose the more conservative version written by Rabbi Simon Jacobson.
Thursday, May 13, 2021 – 2 Sivan 5781 – Omer day 46
Bamidbar: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
During their journey through the desert, the Israelites at times waited three days before entering a new territory. That they stopped and waited is an indication of the need to empty, return to nothingness, and become still in order to receive guidance to the next step. (Intention, p. 59)
Friday, May 14, 2021 – 3 Sivan 5781 – Omer day 47
Bamidbar: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Here are the rituals for the nazarite, the one who takes vows of abstinence to be set apart for the Lord.
Self-denial is frowned upon in Mystical Judaism. Your journey to God is a journey of wholeness and joy, not ascetic abstinence. (Strength, p. 148)
Saturday, May 15, 2021 – 4 Sivan 5781 – Omer day 48
Bamidbar: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Step aside from yourself, let go of control, and move beyond clock time, beyond boundaried space and beyond goals and expectations. In stepping aside, you let Divine creativity create beauty, splendor, and glory through you. (Glory, p. 247)
Sunday, May 16, 2021 – 5 Sivan 5781 – Omer day 49 – Erev Shavuot
Naso: Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
This is Erev Shavuot, the Feast of the Harvest (also the Feast of Weeks), at which time we celebrate the first fruits, offer bread, and thus acknowledge the partnership between humans, the earth, and God.
Partnering God means living a vision of holiness, and trusting that your vision is not an illusion but rather God’s vision being lived through you. It means tapping into a memory divinely ordained and eternal. It means letting go of the pride connected with doing it yourself, and noticing how God helps. (Glory, p. 245)
Monday, May 17, 2021 – 6 Sivan 5781 – Shavuot I
Naso: Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
Shavuot has come to be recognized as the anniversary of God’s giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai; each individual has the opportunity to receive the Torah anew on Shavuot.
When the Israelites were three months gone from Egypt, God asked them to recall the miracles and wonders of their passage. The Israelites vowed never to forget the covenant with God, a covenant of memory, “to remember God.” And they knew God’s glory was embedded in each of them as they passed through the light at that moment of freedom. (Strength, p. 162)
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 – 7 Sivan 5781 – Shavuot II – Yizkor
Naso: Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
Sometimes you are forced into silence by circumstances of loss, illness, or other avenues of solitude. Do not view the silence as confining or constraining; rather, sense it as an opportunity for spiritual development and accessing awareness. (Intention, p. 50)
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 – 8 Sivan 5781
Naso: Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
The Lord gives Moses the sacred words for Aaron to bless the people of Israel, the Birkat Kohanim.
God will bless you and watch over you.
God’s face will shine upon you and shower you with grace and dignity.
And when you lift your face to touch the face of God, you will be at peace.
And God said: Put my Name on the people of Israel, and I will bless them.
