This year, the end of the month of May just happens to mark the end of the counting of the Omer. Already? Yes, by the end of the month 49 days will have passed, taking us from Passover to Shavuot through the counting of the Omer. Counting the Omer is not something I observed growing up. It is not something that I have spent a lot of time observing within Reform Judaism. Yet, this time around, marking the Omer has taken on a new urgency.

Perhaps that is so because the counting of the Omer marks the passage of time, something which grows more important as we get older. Perhaps it is because this Passover, the first we have celebrated without Janet’s father in our world, has connected me more deeply to our tradition and our history as it has passed from generation to generation. Or perhaps the economic realities of today’s world make me more sensitive to the uncertainty implicit in the counting of the Omer.
To our ancestors, Passover marked their personal redemption from enslavement to freedom. Shavuot marked the time of the giving of the Torah, the encounter with their, and our, ultimate destiny. The period in between these major interconnected moments in our history was a time of uncertainty, change, growth and solidification. The Children of Israel came together as a nation only when they camped at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah.

Like the wise child of the Passover Seder, we rightly ask, “What does this mean (to us)?” In so doing, we take it from the realm of desiccated ancient history to our own day and age. Before our ancestors arrived at Sinai, they survived the 10 plagues, were ejected from their homes, encountered the Egyptian army at the Sea of Reeds, experienced thirst and starvation and, finally, were attacked by Amalek. Along the way, they tried worshipping the golden calf, saw Moses destroy the first set of tablets and suffered a plague, all within two months. What then is our preparation for the end of Omer, for the reception of the Torah?

We begin, as many of us do every year, by expressing relief that Passover is done - challah and French bread have returned, as have tortillas. This year though, I realize that the end of the Omer will also mark two other endings and a new beginning. Even though our school will technically have ended a few days before, the end of the Omer will really mark the end of our Religious School year. At that time, Simma’s active tenure with us as our educator will come to a close.

Simma has served our children and community with dedication and great caring for the past three years. It is never easy to follow someone like Deborah Weinberg, our Educator Emeritus, who served us for a lifetime, 18 (chai) years, but Simma did so with grace. We owe her a great debt of gratitude because she helped us with the sacred task of passing Torah on to our children. She truly made them guardians of the Torah and admirers of the song of life that is Judaism.

How fitting it is then that this year the conclusion of the counting of the Omer coincides with our confirmation service. Six young women will take their places among those who have continued their education beyond Bar or Bat Mitzvah, learning about their tradition, and taking on the adult issues it presents as they face the challenges in their lives.
Join us at 7:30 pm on Friday night, May 29, to mark the festival of Shavuot, the time of the Receiving of the Torah, and to listen to the insights of these guardians of the future of Judaism.