I gave up for a while, and lost track. I got tired. I had too many meetings. I didn't care. Now I have to back-fill, or front load or who the heck knows what. I was exhausted by the structure. I was exhausted by the demands. But now I want back in, so I will use my calendar and backfill, and see if I remember me in retrospect.
DAYS TO 50: 347..I think
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Counting the Omer
Counting the Omer: Week of Chesed
On the second night of Passover we begin the process of “ counting the omer.” This 49 day period is what I’ve called before our, “trek in the desert.” It is the time of purification and growth between leaving Mitzrayim and receiving the revelation at Sinai on Shavuot. I’ve posted resources in past years, as I’ve tried to increase my observance of this practice. This year I hope you’ll join me in an exploration of the omer each week. I’ll be posting on the theme of the week and providing some resources. I hope you’ll engage in an exploration of the main “sephira” of the week with me.
A quick explanation of the practice is well summarized by the folks at RitualWell.org:
For many people, the “counting of the Omer”—these 49 days—provides a time for reflection and growth, often using the seven “lower” emanations of God in the kabbalistic system as spiritual themes for each day and week.
Chesed, as envisioned by Angela Raincatcher
Each week there is a “lead” sephira” and each of the others is put “within” that lead. You’ll see it phrased as Chesed within Chesed (חסד שבחסד) or Gevirah within Chesed (גברה שבחסד). If you read Hebrew, you can use this template I created a couple of years ago to follow along ( PeelaPom Omer Calendar PDF). It starts at the top right and moves to the left. When you finish a row, you return the first square on the right on the row below.
This week in counting the omer we begin with Chesed, or “loving kindness.” It was this concept that made me want to engage others in conversation about this whole process. How amazing is it that after 400 years of slavery and an Exodus from Miztrayim, the first thing we are asked to explore is loving-kindness!
The first week, which explores Chesed (loving-kindness), looks like this:
Loving-kindness within Loving-kindness
Strength within Loving-kindness
Compassion (Beauty) within Loving-kindness
Endurance within Loving-kindness
Glory within Loving-kindness
Connection within Loving-kindness
Majesty within Loving-kindness
I don’t know yet what this will mean, but I hope that by adding this to my daily prayers for this week I’ll experience something new. I think I might add this to my evening prayers, which usually take about 10 seconds before I fall asleep. Since I’ll be doing it at night, I guess I should say the traditional blessing first. I think by doing this at night, it will provide an opportunity for my unconscious mind to explore the idea in my dreams.
DAYS TO 50: 350
On the second night of Passover we begin the process of “ counting the omer.” This 49 day period is what I’ve called before our, “trek in the desert.” It is the time of purification and growth between leaving Mitzrayim and receiving the revelation at Sinai on Shavuot. I’ve posted resources in past years, as I’ve tried to increase my observance of this practice. This year I hope you’ll join me in an exploration of the omer each week. I’ll be posting on the theme of the week and providing some resources. I hope you’ll engage in an exploration of the main “sephira” of the week with me.
A quick explanation of the practice is well summarized by the folks at RitualWell.org:
For many people, the “counting of the Omer”—these 49 days—provides a time for reflection and growth, often using the seven “lower” emanations of God in the kabbalistic system as spiritual themes for each day and week.
Chesed, as envisioned by Angela Raincatcher
Each week there is a “lead” sephira” and each of the others is put “within” that lead. You’ll see it phrased as Chesed within Chesed (חסד שבחסד) or Gevirah within Chesed (גברה שבחסד). If you read Hebrew, you can use this template I created a couple of years ago to follow along ( PeelaPom Omer Calendar PDF). It starts at the top right and moves to the left. When you finish a row, you return the first square on the right on the row below.
This week in counting the omer we begin with Chesed, or “loving kindness.” It was this concept that made me want to engage others in conversation about this whole process. How amazing is it that after 400 years of slavery and an Exodus from Miztrayim, the first thing we are asked to explore is loving-kindness!
The first week, which explores Chesed (loving-kindness), looks like this:
Loving-kindness within Loving-kindness
Strength within Loving-kindness
Compassion (Beauty) within Loving-kindness
Endurance within Loving-kindness
Glory within Loving-kindness
Connection within Loving-kindness
Majesty within Loving-kindness
I don’t know yet what this will mean, but I hope that by adding this to my daily prayers for this week I’ll experience something new. I think I might add this to my evening prayers, which usually take about 10 seconds before I fall asleep. Since I’ll be doing it at night, I guess I should say the traditional blessing first. I think by doing this at night, it will provide an opportunity for my unconscious mind to explore the idea in my dreams.
DAYS TO 50: 350
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Counting Time
The Counting
By Yael Fischman
What does it mean for us,
Jews of Diaspora
hands more accustomed to the click and whirr of the computer
than to the rhythm of plow and scythe
to talk of sheaves and barley harvests
as if they were our measure of time?
What does it mean to count up,
a hopeful expectation of fulfillment to come,
than to count down
to the certain cynicism of another day,
week following week of mundane offerings
which lack all hint sublime?
Children count up, saying,
"I'm almost seven!"
Some of us long to be forever 29...
Abraham was told to count the stars in the heavens
we number in sevens the weeks:
Forty-nine plus one day, but a moment in time.
Counting from conception to birth,
wondering
will the harvest be brought?
This time will Abel's offering and Cain's be judged the same
and what, exactly, will it be worth?
Upward motion, we wave
our humble grain, saying
"See here! See here!"
Here we are again.
DAYS TO 50: unknown
By Yael Fischman
What does it mean for us,
Jews of Diaspora
hands more accustomed to the click and whirr of the computer
than to the rhythm of plow and scythe
to talk of sheaves and barley harvests
as if they were our measure of time?
What does it mean to count up,
a hopeful expectation of fulfillment to come,
than to count down
to the certain cynicism of another day,
week following week of mundane offerings
which lack all hint sublime?
Children count up, saying,
"I'm almost seven!"
Some of us long to be forever 29...
Abraham was told to count the stars in the heavens
we number in sevens the weeks:
Forty-nine plus one day, but a moment in time.
Counting from conception to birth,
wondering
will the harvest be brought?
This time will Abel's offering and Cain's be judged the same
and what, exactly, will it be worth?
Upward motion, we wave
our humble grain, saying
"See here! See here!"
Here we are again.
DAYS TO 50: unknown
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Meetings and Tears
I am exhausted. I am tired of meetings with tears. I do not wish to harm people. I want children to be bathed, fed, supported with their homework. I want children to arrive on time. I want parents to see when their child is sad, falling apart, victimized.
I am weary of meetings and tears.
DAYS TO 50: 385
I am weary of meetings and tears.
DAYS TO 50: 385
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Narrator in my Head
Do you have a narrator in your head constantly interrupting your reading? I am finding this an increasingly interesting and slightly annoying trend in my life. perhaps it is the books I am reading, or my purposes. Right now I am finishing BROTHERS KARAMARZOV for my book club and reading several children's books to pace with my various class groups.
Hmmm...that's IT.
I need to read for no purpose. For pleasure. FOR FUN.
Ah ha.
DAYS TO 50: 386
Hmmm...that's IT.
I need to read for no purpose. For pleasure. FOR FUN.
Ah ha.
DAYS TO 50: 386
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
What is playing in my mind...time in a bottle
Written by: Jim Croce
If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go through time with
If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go through time with
DAYS TO 50: 387
If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go through time with
If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go through time with
DAYS TO 50: 387
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