“The laws regarding the Omer are very strict: every day matters and not one may be missed. Not to waste a single day should be our ideal in life…In general we could perhaps say that a day is wasted when we’ve done nothing that brings happiness or good to others and nothing that brings a sense of purpose to ourselves” (Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, The Eternal Journey: Meditation on the Jewish Year).
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom chamisha yamim la’omer. Today is the 5th day of the omer.
Have a sweet Pesach! Rabbis Kuhn, Maderer, Freedman and Cantor Frankel
Many thanks to Karyn Kedar for publishing her new book, Omer: A Counting, in which she included the Wittenberg passage.