Omer Learning: Day 49

May 20, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 49 days, which is 7 weeks of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: Sylvia Gordon. Hava Nageela by Harry Belafonte.

Harry Belafonte (1927–2023) was raised Catholic, best known for “Banana Boat Song”
(Day-O) and calypso. But from the 1950s onward he used Hava Nagila as his regular
closing number, including his landmark 1959 Carnegie Hall concert recording which became
a bestseller and introduced the song to millions of Americans who’d never heard it.

His connection to Judaism was deeper than the repertoire:
– His autobiography (2011) revealed his paternal grandfather was “a white Dutch Jew who
drifted over to the islands after chasing gold and diamonds, with no luck at all”
– He married his second wife Julie Robinson, who was Jewish
– He was a lifelong ally of Jewish causes and civil rights, and the Black-Jewish
solidarity of the era ran through his entire career

His famous quip, to the New York Times in 2017: *”Most Jews in America learned that song
from me”* — and he called himself “the most popular Jew in America.”

He died April 25, 2023 at age 96. Learn More.

Omer Learning: Day 47

May 18, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 47 days, which is 6 weeks and 5 days of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: Deena Ackerman. Seventeen, by Janis Ian by Violet Grohl.

The Hanukkah Sessions. Dave Grohl and Greg Kirstin did a few years of Hanukkah sessions. All sorts of Jewish composers show up with creative arrangements. Check it out! Learn More.

Omer Learning: Day 46

May 17, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 46 days, which is 6 weeks and 4 days of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: Anonymous. Ariel by Dean Friedman.

One of my favorite artists. Takes me right back to the early eighties.

Editor’s Note: Dean has a musical omer connection:

“” “I always valued my Jewish heritage and culture,” Dean said. “Inexplicably, for reasons I don’t understand, my mom sent me to a yeshiva in Patterson, New Jersey for fifth and sixth grade, and then the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore for ninth and 10th grade. I was a fish out of water, since my family wasn’t Shomer Shabbat and we didn’t keep kosher.”

He continued, “Compared to the really frum kids, I was a rebel.”

This led to some problems.

“I got kicked out of yeshiva on several occasions,” he said.

Once, Dean, who was influenced by Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, got caught playing his guitar in the bathroom during the omer, when it was prohibited to play or listen to music. Another time, he broke into the gymnasium in the middle of the night to play the piano. He also hilariously got caught with some treyf contraband. “”

Read the full article at: https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/359101/catching-up-with-dean-friedman/ Learn More.

Omer Learning: Day 44

May 15, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 44 days, which is 6 weeks and 2 days of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: AI discovered via Google Gemini. Hearts and Bones by Paul Simon.

Simon famously opens this song with the line: “One and one-half wandering Jews / Free to wander wherever they choose.” It’s a poetic reflection on his relationship with Carrie Fisher and their shared heritage.

Omer Learning: Day 43

May 14, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 43 days, which is 6 weeks and 1 day of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: AI discovered via Microsoft CoPilot. Home by Phillip Phillips.

This catchy tune is used in countless Israel travel and Birthright videos.

Editor’s note: it brings to mind our Black Eyed Peas entry, ‘I Gotta Feeling’ that managed to become a sort of Bar Mitzvah anthem.

Omer Learning: Day 41

May 12, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 41 days, which is 5 weeks and 6 days of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: Eva Kleederman. A Story of Jews Finding Each Other After the War Performed by Riki Rose, Song by Yomtov Ehrlich.

This piece really moves me. It never ceases to amaze me the lengths people took after the war to find family members, literally walking to places around Europe where they’d “heard” a relative “might” be.

Rikki Rose left the Satmar community into which she was born to pursue her love of music (and to be free of the strictures of Hasidism), and she has become hugely popular. She sings in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English, and her repertoire ranges from showgirl -style fare to unvarnished balladry. Recently, she has been pairing up with her sister Mimi, who remains pretty frum. In addition to singing together, they do some charming cooking spots, joking around in Yiddish/ English, breaking into Yiddish song and dance while waiting for butter to melt (or whatever), and shedding light on their growing-up in a Satmar household.

Rabbi Yom-Tov Ehrlich (יום-טוב עהרליך) (1914–1990) was a Hasidic musician, composer, lyricist, and recording artist known for his popular Yiddish musicalbums. He was born in Kozhan Gorodok and raised in the nearby Davyd-Haradok, both then part of the Russian Empire. He survived the Holocaust in Samarkand, Soviet Union. In 1946 he left,[1]eventually settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Ehrlich was born to a family of Karlin-Stoliner Hasidim.

Some of Ehrlich’s favorite songs were later recorded by other popular Hasidic entertainers, such as Mordechai Ben David, Lipa Schmeltzer, Levy Falkowitz,[2] & Avraham Fried, although Ehrlich himself used Russian classical and folk melodies to accompany his own Yiddish lyrics.

His most popular songs include: “Yakkob”, the tale of a Jew in Uzbekistan during the Holocaust;[3] “Shloof mein kind” (“Sleep, my child”), the song of a Jewish woman who finds a child alone in the woods during the Holocaust; and “Williamsburg”, a song about Hasidic Williamsburg during the 1950s.

Omer Learning: Day 40

May 11, 2026 /

Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:

Today is 40 days, which is 5 weeks and 5 days of the Omer

How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.

From Our Community:

Contributed by: Anonymous. Overture to MIdsummer’s nights dream. The most amazing classical concert I ever attended was the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra playing Mendelsohnn’s overture to Midsummer NIght’s Dream. by Felix Mendelsohnn.

Felix’s grandfather was a rabbi. Although his parents converted to christianity and he was baptized as a child, according to wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn, he still seems to have identified as Jewish in some way.

A child prodigy, Mendelsohnn played his first concert at age 9 and wrote his first symphony at age 15.

The most amazing classical concert I ever attended was the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra playing the overture to Midsummer NIght’s Dream. Learn More.

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