Omer: A Counting

by Karyn D. Kedar, Brian A. Stoller (Introduction)

The counting of the Omer begins with the escape from enslavement to the wandering path of freedom, leading to a mystical encounter with God, Sinai and Torah. This volume, beginning with its informative contextual introduction, provides a spiritual guide for a personal journey through the Omer toward meaningful and purposeful living. Beautiful and evocative readings for each day, matched with the daily Omer blessing, offer a transformative path from Passover to Shavuot.

Genres: Judaism, Judaica, Jewish

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2014

Reviews

[Margaret Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023: Delighted once again to have these reflections of Rabbi Karyn Kedar. She helps make the Omer come alive with modern reflections and quotes. It is great to pull from as each night we count. Counting takes on even more significance when we are making the 130th anniversary of a congregation. What does it mean to survive--or even more important, to thrive? How do you do this from within a spiritual construct? I found this useful both at home and from the bimah on Friday or Saturday. At CKI we really count, by following the tradition of Rabbi Everett Gendler, z'l, who planted actual omer at Sukkot and began harvesting at Passover.

2015: Here is a modern interpretation of the counting of the Omer, the period between Passover and Shavuot. A period of growth, not just of the barley and wheat but of our inner spirituality. Traditionally each day is assigned an attribute in a complicated mystical system. This book makes it more accessible for the modern reader and picks a theme like hope, courage, strength for each week. Each day has a short reading, frequently some poetry, plus a brief reflection from Rabbi Kedar and then the blessing of the particular day of counting. No day is more than two pages. At the back of the book there is a reading for each of the special days that happen during the Omer. Each of the Shabbatot, Rosh Hodesh, Holocaust Memorial Day, Israel Independence Day, Lag B'Omer. And Earth Day and Mother's Day as well. I used the book at home for counting each night, on the phone while my husband was away and with my congregation. It did help us all to "Number our days" and make them count. Sometimes the readings seemed perfect. Other times they did not seem to mesh where I was. Sometimes it was hard to see the connection between the reading and the theme of the week.

[James Kittredge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be fairly disappointing. While the prefatory material provides good information about the period of the Omer and the role it plays in the lives of modern Jews, I felt like the actual meat of the book was lacking. Each day contains a quick, thoughtful affirmation or object of meditation, but little else. Given the importance of taking action on the desire for self improvement, it would have been nice for the author to, perhaps, provide potential kabbalot for each day that a reader could undertake in order to make the day's concept manifest. As it is, the book contains good food for thought, but no real, practical wisdom for each day. Mindfulness, meditation, and affirmation are valuable, but they're only part of the story.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have companion for counting the Omer! The literary works are absolutely beautiful and resonated so strongly with me this year. Rabbi Kedar put so much thought and effort into compiling those works and it shows. I love that each week has a theme and that each day's counting has the Hebrew date to keep you on track. I will be using this every year!

[Judith Bernstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that the readings were spiritually shallow for my liking. I can see how they may significantly valuable for other readers. I did not NOT like it.

[Sydney Feibus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the concept of a book to count the Omer with readings, but I just didn’t love/connect with the readings in this one. They weren’t straight forward enough for me.