Counting The Omer, Easier Than Trying to Calculate The End of Corona Lock-down

Here we are a week before Passover aka Pesach, and this used to* be the season when we'd sign up for various reminders to help us remember to Count The Omer, Sefirat Ha'Omer, the seven weeks, forty-nine 49 days between the second night of Passover and the Eve of Shavuot.

*Why did I write "used to?"
I wrote "used to," because today when most everyone has some sort of cell phone with alarm clock, you can just set your phone to be your daily alarm.
This method is fine on week nights, but it doesn't work Shabbat and the eve of the last night of Passover. I came up with a simple method that works for me.
I hang up a sign across from where I like to sit in the living room. As you can see, before  Shabbat or the holiday, I write the number of the Omer I must count. I've found that to be a very reliable reminder. 

Counting the Omer was one of the most difficult mitzvot for me to observe in the early decades of my being Torah observant.

When I became religious in the mid-1960s, there was no reminder system. Only men who went to the synagogue every night to doven/pray Ma'ariv with a minyon had it as their easy to remember routine.

I didn't succeed in counting the Omer until our son-in-law came on the scene and signed us up for reminders with the cell phone company he was then working for. It was around the same time email reminders had begun, but I didn't check my email as often as I do now. So email wasn't the best, just better than nothing.

Maybe I'm the only one who has already lost track of how many days/weeks we've been on this corona lock-down, living with what was once unimaginable restrictions. Not only don't we know when it's going to end, we're constantly being warned that the noose aka restrictions maybe getting tighter.

Most people can adjust to something difficult when they know how long it will last. But even with all the complicated computations and guesswork the experts have been coming up with, there are too many unknowns to factor in for any accuracy. Another issue is that the virus is affecting various countries differently.

We must combine strict obedience and "letting go." There certainly is an inconsistency in that. But that's how we must live in the near future. We must make our efforts, mask ourselves when outside and stay inside as much as possible. Instead of doing our own shopping and choosing the choicest fruits and vegetables, we send in our orders and thank the staff of the local store. It's a new life for us.

Trust and faith are all we can control.

Chazal, our sages tell us that the plague, epidemic, which caused the death of thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students ended Shavuot. That's one of the reasons we count the Omer until then.

Gd willing we'll celebrate the end of this modern plague במהירה בימינו bimhaira biyameinu, speedily in our days.

Book Review: The Orchard by Yochi Brandes

When I was offered a review copy of the English translation of Yochi Brandes's The Orchard, which is her fictionalized version of the life and contributions to Judaism of the revered Rabbi Akiva, I wasn't sure if I should accept it.

From what I could gather, Brandes's approach to Judaism isn't what I call "mainstream," aka Orthodox. Her degree is from Machon Schechter, which is the Israeli academic institute of Conservative Judaism in Jerusalem. Her teaching of Bible and Judaism has been in Conservative and Reform schools and institutes. It's also important to note that the book is marketed as fiction, not history nor theology. That's why I decided to read The Orchard. It provides a "maybe this is what happened."

I'm not at all an expert in that period of time, the Sanhedrin and Rabbi Akiva. But since I've annoyed my neighbors over the years, when we learn about Lag B'Omer, the Period of Sefira and the Plague which killed thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students, because of my unconventional opinions, I hoped that Brandes's book would cast light. Ironically, that very famous story about Rabbi Akiva doesn't make it into Brandes's novel. Nor does the story of Rachel's coming to visit her husband and then turning back after seeing how joyfully he learned and taught.

Instead we see the very human side of the sages of the time and the political and personal intrigues. How much is true or fantasy? We will never know. I've been studying Bible for years, and I'm used to the idea that Judaism and the Jewish People were founded by humans with frailties. I don't feel threatened by the possibility, not at all.

The Orchard is written in first person as if Akiva's wife Rachel is speaking. This makes sense, since even the most conventional and fawning stories of Rabbi Akiva show her as the main character, the power behind the scene. Before I go any further, I must say that the translation by Daniel Libenson is fantastic. I have no idea how the book flows in Hebrew, but I was very impressed by Libenson's writing.

I definitely enjoyed reading The Orchard and recommend it. It's a fictionalized account of the times of Rabbi Akiva and Bar Kochba after Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans. My guess is that it's probably more realistic than the saccharine fairytale stories many other publishers offer. That's my opinion. You may agree or disagree. I suggest reading The Orchard before voicing yours.

The Orchard

Hapardes Shel Akiva in English
Authors: Yochi Brandes
Daniel Libenson (translator from Hebrew)
Publisher: Gefen Publishing House
Format: Paperback
ISBN 10: 9652299308
ISBN 13: 9789652299307
Catalog Number: 930-7 
Number of Pages: 392
Year Published: 2017