RJ Blog

By Tina Wasserman Shavuot, like Sukkot and Pesach, began as an agricultural festival celebrating the end of the spring barley harvest and the commencement of the wheat harvest. In ancient times Jews were required to bring barley offerings (omer) to the Temple.  At the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer two loaves of leavened bread were brought to the Temple to signify the end of the barley harvest and new “first fruits” of spring.   Once the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. there was no place to bring the harvest offerings.  Since the giving of the Torah at Mount [...]

By Barry Shainker Confirmation, a fundamental part of Reform Judaism for more than a century, is, I must admit, a topic I knew little about until I was a sophomore in high school. Although I knew early on that Confirmation was a special ceremony held three years after bar or bat mitzvah for those students who chose to continue in religious school, I knew nothing of its significance on the Jewish calendar, its place in Reform, or the symbolism it represents. Both my parents were confirmed, and they told me about the beauty and power of the occasion, but walking [...]

by Micha’el and Nechama Namal Lag BaOmer was completely off our radar when we lived in the United States. We never had any real exposure to it until we made Aliyah, and now its approach is easily recognizable by kids walking down the street, schlepping huge pieces of wood, old furniture, sticks, and anything else that burns. In a nutshell, Lag BaOmer, in modern Israeli culture, is a time of bonfires, baked potatoes, kids staying up all night, and lots of trash! We didn’t feel badly that we weren’t able to explain why Lag BaOmer was celebrated; most Israelis probably [...]

Lag BaOmer is a break, a time out, a moment to recall an ancient plague that may or may not have occurred, and perhaps a moment for reflection. It comes just past the middle of the 50 days which we count from the liberation to the responsibility of law, from Pesach to Shavuot. And perhaps, it comes to remind us that every now and then one must step back to reflect on what has been accomplished in the journey. In 1983, in his book The Land of Israel, Amos Oz wrote the following: “Perhaps it was a lunatic promise: to turn, [...]

By Jay Asher LeVine On May 10, we will count the 33rd day of the Omer. The Hebrew letter equivalent of 33 is pronounced Lag (lamed gimel), giving rise to the name Lag BaOmer for this particular day. There is no one particular reason that this day stands out from the other 48 days counted between Pesach and Shavuot, yet many fascinating traditions surround the special nature of this day. The origin of the omer (literally a measure of grain) came from connecting the start of the barley harvest to the start of the wheat harvest by counting the days. [...]

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath… You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for [...]

by Audrey Merwin In the movie White Christmas, Bing Crosby croons: When I’m worried and I can’t sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep And I fall asleep counting my blessings Crosby, playing the entertainer Bob Wallace, sings this lullaby to calm the fears of a worried youngster. His warm, soothing tones give substance to the words and create a setting of hope and comfort. What if anything does this have to do with the commandment to count the omer? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary) Order Now! [Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son] lived in the cave for 12 years. Elijah came and stood at the entrance to the cave, and said: Who will tell bar Yochai that the Caesar has died and the persecution ended? They emerged and saw people plowing and planting. He said: These people are abandoning eternal life for the life of the moment! And every place they looked was burned up immediately. A heavenly voice called: You are destroying my world! Go back to your cave!          [...]

by Jordana Schuster Battis(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah) For 49 days, beginning on the second day of Passover, we count. Seven times seven weeks–each day, one more sheaf of barley; each day one step farther along the path from the Egypt to Mount Sinai; each day one setting sun closer to Shavuot and the giving of Torah. This is the Omer, the period of waiting between the barley harvest at Pesach and the wheat harvest at Shavuot. Traditionally, this is considered a time of mourning, though what we mourn for is obscure. Are [...]