Thursday April 27, 2023 7 Iyar 5783 Twenty-second Night of the Omer הַיּוֹם שְׁנַֽיִם וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וְיוֹם אֶחָד  בָּעֹֽמֶר 

What I count is how many baseball stadiums I been to. As of right now, I have been to 25 out of the 30 baseball stadiums. I have a poster in my apartment that allows me to scratch off the ones I been to so I see which ones I have left. This type of counting is meaningful to me because I love visiting new cities and exploring what makes each city unique with the opportunity to see baseball. 

~Aviva Chaidel

Friday April 28, 2023 8 Iyar 5783 Twenty-third Night of the Omer הַיּוֹם שְׁלשָׁה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וּשְׁנֵי יָמִים בָּעֹֽמֶר

As a serious musician counting is a very important part of making music.  Music consists of melody or (arrangement of notes or tones), harmony, and rhythm.  Rhythm is where we need to know how to count. Written music is divided into measures.  A measure is divided into beats .  The musical note can be named based on how much time (how many beats) they take up within a measure. You can think of a measure as a pie that can be either whole or cut into sections such as quarters, or in half, or in eighths, or even in sixteenths etc. Part of reading music is the ability to "count" it, or knowing how long to hold each note. It is also important to understand what a time signature is which tells the musician how many beats are in a measure and which note gets one beat. (i.e.: 4/4, 3/4, 6/8) In a 4/4 time signature, the names of the notes clue you in to how much of the measure they will take. This requires a small understanding of fractions.  A whole note would take the whole measure, a half note would take half the measure, a quarter note would take a quarter of the measure, etc. Notes can be combined to make one whole. For example, 1 half note and 2 quarter notes makes 1 whole measure.  You can see now how important counting is in making music.  Music is a very big part of who I am and my life without being able to make and hear music would be pretty empty.

~Joel Arthur

Saturday April 29, 2023 9 Iyar 5783 Twenty-fourth Night of the Omer  הַיּוֹם אַרְבָּעָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וּשְׁלשָׁה יָמִים בָּעֹֽמֶר

The Psalmist proclaimed, “Teach us to number our days that we may attain a heart of wisdom.” I suggest we read it differently “Teach us to have a heart of wisdom so we number the beauty of our days.” A famous song in A Chorus Line says “Kiss today goodbye, and point me toward tomorrow.” Sefira reminds— hold on to each day and look forward to tomorrow.

~Rabbi Joe Potasnik, Executive Vice President of The New York Board of Rabbis, the largest interdenominational rabbinic body in the world.

Sunday April 30, 2023 10  Iyar 5783 Twenty-fifth Night of the Omer הַיּוֹם חֲמִשָׁה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וְאַרְבָּעָה יָמִים בָּעֹֽמֶר

Acts of kindness can change the world.  I always think of Annette Finger z"l who once spoke at Yom Hashoah and told the story about her father teaching her about acts of kindness after surviving the holocaust.  Annette was a small girl at the time and her father took her to a pond in NYC and threw a stone into the water.  He told her to look very carefully at the ripples that form.  He explained that the ripples extend outward in all directions, touch everything in their path, bounce off the shoreline, and create new ripples each time they interact with something.  He called these "Ripples of Kindness" and explained that a single act of kindness is like the single stone. Both create ripples that extend well beyond what we can see or understand.  He said, "A single act of kindness can change the world".  It is difficult to imagine that after surviving one of the most horrific events in history, Annette's father could be talking about kindness.  But that's is when you realize how powerful kindness can be.  So this year, I will be counting acts of kindness and making sure I do at least one every day.

~Mark Pochapin

Monday May 1, 2023 11 Iyar 5783 Twenty-sixth Night of the Omer הַיּוֹם שִׁשָּׁה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וַחֲמִשָּׁה יָמִים  בָּעֹֽמֶר

What I count are stitches. Let me explain, I have been working on a counted cross stitch birth record sampler for my granddaughter, Mila for the last three years!! Picking it up, putting it down and knowing that I just had to finish it by the time she turns five this June! Counting stitches takes patience, precision, and persistence, three qualities that I work on in everything else I try to do in my life.

~Robin Biegeleisen

Tuesday May 2, 2023 12 Iyar 5783 Twenty-seventh Night of the Omer הַיּוֹם שִׁבְעָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וְשִׁשָּׁה יָמִים בָּעֹֽמֶר

In very Omer-y fashion, I count days between meaningful events. If I have a baseball game  or a big assignment coming up, I'm very aware of the passage of time. I try to plan according to the amount of days I have left, and as each days passes my countdown gets shorter and shorter. Counting down is exciting because it brings you closer to valuable moments and keeps you grounded in time. 

~Jared Levy

Wednesday May 3, 2023 13 Iyar 5783 Twenty-eighth Night of the Omer הַיּוֹם שְׁמוֹנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם אַרְבָּעָה שָׁבוּעוֹת בָּעֹֽמֶר

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your half hour call. Half hour to the top of the show.  As a stage manager, I became the keeper of time for the company leading up to the start of the performance.  Over the course of the next thirty minutes, I’ll remind everyone over headset or in person how many minutes are left. This is your fifteen-minute call.  It’s a cue for them to make sure they’ve finished getting dressed, checked props, or put on their wig. Ten minutes until the top of the show.  I loved walking through backstage and stopping by the dressing rooms to say hello to the actors and chat with the crew in the green room. Five minutes, please. The secret? I wasn’t actually counting down until the moment the curtain rises. I was actually counting down until ‘Places’. Places, please, for the top of the show. The moment everyone should be ready in the wings or at their console. An extra moment to take a pause, catch your breath, and be ready to begin. Standby for the top of the show. Alright, let’s do this. Have fun, everyone. Lights – GO. 

~Lauren Stern