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ShareDevon Spier
https://www.ritualwell.org/ritual/wilderness-prayer
I was in the wilderness.
You couldn't tell at the time.
The sand dunes were as heavy as my silences.
Far gone from my destination, I pretended that I arrived.
But the walking kept me from disappearing.
And the weeping became the well from which I drew my healing.
Not all at once.
A few gradual sips of the sunrise.
And then more.
Drinking in the colors, distance, and vision.
The notion that every sunset is followed by this beginning.
But that's still not reason to wander.
Being lost taught me to linger.
And that every single moment is worth more than forever.
Aimless steps stretch out time.
Reminding us that our desert thirst is worth more the mythic homes we set out for.
And to walk is greater than to grasp.
Counting the Omer: Moving from "freedom from" towards "freedom to"
(15) And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: (16) you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the LORD.
(ד) ומפני כן, כי היא כל עקרן של ישראל ובעבורה נגאלו ועלו לכל הגדלה שעלו אליה, נצטוינו למנות ממחרת יום טוב של פסח עד יום נתינת התורה להראות בנפשנו החפץ הגדול אל היום הנכבד הנכסף ללבנו כעבד ישאף צל, וימנה תמיד מתי יבוא העת הנכסף אליו שיצא לחרות, כי המנין מראה לאדם כי כל ישעו וכל חפצו להגיע אל הזמן ההוא. וזהו שאנו מונין לעמר, כלומר, כך וכך ימים עברו מן המנין ואין אנו מונין כך וכך ימים יש לנו לזמן, כי כל זה מראה לנו הרצון החזק להגיע אל הזמן, ועל כן לא נרצה להזכיר בתחילת חשבוננו רבוי הימים שיש לנו להגיע לקרבן שתי הלחם של עצרת.
Now, for this reason, because it is the main core of the Israelites' life and for its sake they were redeemed and rose to all the distinction they attained -- we were commanded to count the days from the morrow after the festival day of Passover until the Torah was given -- to show with our very souls our great yearning for that distinguished day, for which our heart longs 'as a servant eagerly longs for the shadow' and constantly counts when his longed-for time will come when he will go out to freedom. For counting shows about a person that all his hope of deliverance and all his desire to reach that time.
This is why we count omer i.e. 'so many days have passed out of the total' and we do not count 'so many days remain for us to that time' because this shows the mighty desire in us to reach that time. For this reason we do not wish to mention the beginning of our reckoning the great number of days that remain for us, to reach the offering of the two loaves of shavuot.
by Stacey Zisook Robinson
Count your things.
Add them up.
Amass a pile of More.
Grab and gather
in forty-nine steps,
the firsts
of your herd,
your horde
your heart.
Count them
in countless succession:
All your best -
Your hopes.
Your sins.
Fill your tent;
load the baskets and bags
with counting
and counted riches that
smell of excess
and succulent
ripeness:
A bursting of Ready,
sweet and sour and sharp
all at once
on your tongue.
Count them all.
Gather them up;
Breathe in
seven breaths of seven
and lay them at
the waiting altar
that stands in the shadow of God.
Lay your counted glory there -
an offering:
a psalm of blessing
and hopeful benediction.
Lay it all down
and fly.
When Do we Arrive?
by Cathleen Cohen
https://ritualwell.org/ritual/radiance-between-us
As was written,
our trials can be lengthy:
forty years of desert wandering,
forty days of shelter in the ark.
But I also think of Moses
forty nights on the mountain,
perhaps cowering at first,
shivering in a crevice,
surrounded by thundering voice
but ultimately
open, receiving.
He carried back radiance,
a glimpse of presence.
Now I search for radiance
(not in portents or the news)
but in bird flight,
in the changing colors of hours,
in beloved voices,
creative ways of helping, connecting,
prayers sung from balconies, extending
hearts beyond walls.
For walls are temporary, porous
to the radiance
that must pass between us
Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain.
וענין ג' הוא בחינת ייעוד חכמים בהתחברות בלב שלם ותמים לא שיהיו בד בבד שעליהם אמר הכתוב (ידמיה נ) חרב אל הבדים (בדכות ס''ג.), אלא יתועדו יחד ויחדדו זה לזה ויסבירו פנים זה לזה, וכנגד זה אמר ויחן שם ישראל לשון יחיד שנעשו כולן יחד כאיש אחד, והן עתה הם ראוים לקבלת התורה:
[We should not be separated from one another], but rather gather together, sharpen each other, and be pleasant and friendly with one another. And according to this behavior does the Torah say, "And Israel (singular) encamped there" with singular language, to teach that they all came together as a single person. And at this point, they were fit to receive the Torah.
Janine Jankovitz Pastor
As you go on your way remember: you are valuable now. You are valuable now in this place. You are full of wisdom.
You have nothing to prove. Use this time to grow. What other opportunities are around you? How can you make a difference? Trust your instincts. Open yourself to this new journey.
Fear may walk beside you, but so does Hashem. Draw on that holiness; it is already inside of you. Keep cultivating it. Put your dreams out there; say them out loud. Believe that good will come to you.
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁתּוֹלִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם וְתַצְעִידֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם וְתַדְרִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתִסְמְכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתַגִּיעֵנוּ לִמְחוֹז חֶפְצֵנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם.
May it be Your will, Hashem, our God and the God of our ancestors, that You lead us toward peace, guide our footsteps toward peace, and make us reach our desired destination for life, gladness, and peace.
