The Account of the Count

 היום יום אחד בעמר
Today is one day of the omer
חסד שבחסד
A day of loving kindness in a week of loving kindness

It's time to start the yearly accounting of the counting. I don't have any idea where this year's omer journey will take me. I do know that I am not alone for the ride, as the years of sharing this ritual count have influenced many of my friends to come along with me.

I have made one change in my minhag, my custom. The seventh sefirah of the count is Malchut, which I have been translating these past years as leadership. Last year I still used that, using it as a  reminder of the leadership we are lacking, of the longing for the leadership we once had. This year, I'm going to a more traditional translation - majesty. We`ll see where that leads me :)

We start the count with a double dose of loving kindness. With the state of the our country and the state of my family, I need that today.

A Needed Double Dose

היום יום אחד בעמר
Today is one day of the omer
חסד שבחסד
A day of loving kindness in a week of loving kindness

I love that we begin this yearly count from a double dose of loving kindness. It's a good place to start from in any year but even more crucial now, with no need to ask why this year is different from all other years.

It may seem that loving kindness is in short supply at this moment. That is what gives this double dose its imperativeness. We can't let anger take over our lives--as useful as that emotion can be when in a state of resistance. We must maintain that spark of loving kindness within that feeds the caring nature. We need to look for loving kindness without, finding others to support and to be supported.