My last attempt at sharing a video via email was a bust. But, this time, I think I’ve got it. If you still can’t see the video below, let me know. Otherwise, we should be good for the upcoming count.
Page 6 of 11
Testing, Testing. Is this thing on?
We’re just over a week away from Passover and the start of The Count. To confirm that the videos people are sharing this year will be visible, I’m sharing a test video below.
If you don’t see a video below, please drop me an email at chief.gabbai@etzhayim.net. Otherwise, you’re all set!
PS: we’re still accepting submissions for this year’s topic: Jewish Music. We’d love to hear yours today!
49 Days of Jewish Music
Omer Learning 2025
Submissions Appreciated By: April 4th
Submissions Accepted Until: May 26th
Every day during the Omer (the count of 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot), we share your submissions on a given topic. The topic this year: Jewish music! Or at least… Jew-ish music. Share links to your favorite songs or music with a Jewish connection. Whether it be a tune you love from shul, a piece by a Jewish composer that gives you goosebumps, or a song with lyrics that gets you reflecting on a Jewish topic, we want to hear it. Literally!
Register for the Omer learning here to be emailed a song a day (Shabbat excepted) and submit your suggestions here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to do to join this year’s Omer Learning?
There are two easy steps:
1. Sign up to get the daily count and song delivered to you here.
2. Submit a song or two (or three!) here.
Why is it called the Omer Learning?
We mark the 49 day time period between the second day of Passover and Shavuot through a practice known as Counting the Omer. The process of counting is relatively simple: you recite a blessing and then note the amount of time that has passed since the count started using a special formula. You can learn more about the practice here.
There’s a tradition that we use the 49 day period for spiritual growth. The Omer Learning project honors this tradition.
I’d like to contribute, but I’m stumped.
How about a favorite tune or prayer from services? Or maybe a song you used to sing at camp growing up. A favorite Billy Joel song or Irving Berlin composition is totally Kosher. If you continue to be stuck, then consider spending a few minutes Googling for Jewish artists in your favorite genre of music. I know the community will be interested in whatever gems you find.
Still stuck, reach out to Ben Simon (benjisimon@gmail.com) and he’ll be glad to help.
Why the two due dates for submissions?
We’d love to have submissions in by April 4th, 2025. However, we understand that (a) folks are busy, and (b) inspiration can strike when you see other Omer Submissions. Therefore, we’re glad to collect up submissions while the Omer Count is going on.
Submit your song anytime here.
How many submissions can I provide?
Submit as many as you’d like.
How long are the Omer Learning e-mails?
The Omer Learning e-mails are intended to be short. They’ll outline the daily Omer Count, and include a submission or two.
Will my name be attached to my submissions?
Submissions will carry the name you provide on the form. If you wish to remain anonymous, simply provide ‘anonymous’ as your name when you submit.
Omer Learning: Day 49
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:
I have had the immense privilege of working with five different bnot mitzvah this year and they have all given me immense hope for the future, Jewish and general. Here are just a few ways how:
Nora’s careful parsing of Torah and determination to consider the moral implications the stories in Genesis she had to work with. Sodom and Gomorrah isn’t an easy one and Nora wrestled with it!
Maya’s whole-hearted taking on of the responsiblity of Refugee Shabbat and how seriously she related it back to her parasha. She had the choice to say no and she said yes.
Mira’s demand that God do better and her refusal to give God and Moses a pass just because the text sides with them. She was determined to make that judgement herself.
Aurora’s commitment to justice and her dedication to balancing both the practical and the ethical considerations of her parasha. She knows that this world can be a better place and believes it ought to be.
Laila’s boundless curiosity. Each question leads to another and another, and out of good cheer and willingness to learn, not cold skepticism.
These young women have so much to contribute to the Jewish future and to the world’s future. That is what hope can be made out of.
–Rav Amelia
We’re still accepting submission to this year’s Omer Learning project. Share your own story of hope or feeling G-d’s presence here. We look forward to sharing your insights with community!
Omer Learning: Day 48
Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:
Today is 48 days, which is 6 weeks and 6 days of the Omer
How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.
From Our Community:
On Day 10, Ken Ackerman wrote about finding relief in nature. Agree! Finding yourself face-to-face (as it were) with a breathtaking view, whether it is a spring flower (Jeanne Day 13) or an otherworldly vista is enough to make you take a step back from the ever-present pressures of daily life and feel the presence of something more.
Picture is from a recent vacation with family. The location is irrelevant. What’s relevant is that we were sitting on a porch at night just soaking in the view, in awe.
–Howard Shatz
We’re still accepting submission to this year’s Omer Learning project. Share your own story of hope or feeling G-d’s presence here. We look forward to sharing your insights with community!
Omer Learning: Day 47
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
Omer Learning: Day 46
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:
My Zayde (z”l) was not a religious man but would say he couldn’t quite be an atheist because, against all odds, the Jewish people are still here.
–Anonymous
–Anonymous
We’re still accepting submission to this year’s Omer Learning project. Share your own story of hope or feeling G-d’s presence here. We look forward to sharing your insights with community!
Omer Learning: Day 45
Tonight, after sundown, we count the following day of the Omer:
Today is 45 days, which is 6 weeks and 3 days of the Omer
How to: the blessings and procedure for counting the Omer.
From Our Community:
I have a small moment of awe when I see someone exhibit mastery over whatever job it is they are doing. It could be a surgeon, but it could also be a waiter, a janitor, a cashier, anyone — you know it when you see it and it makes you pause and ask, how could someone be that good at something?
Some of this spirit is captured in Jimmy Buffett’s song, It’s My Job.
–Howard Shatz
We’re still accepting submission to this year’s Omer Learning project. Share your own story of hope or feeling G-d’s presence here. We look forward to sharing your insights with community!
Omer Learning: Day 44
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:
I am living in this house, in this neighborhood for almost 26 years, and today I took a walk and discovered a place I had never seen before. I found myself on a trail by the creek, with much birdsong, different plants, trees and wild flowers. In the midst of a usually noisy, traffic filled city, I experienced serenity and the joy of natural beauty. My soul is revived.
–Sylvia G.
We’re still accepting submission to this year’s Omer Learning project. Share your own story of hope or feeling G-d’s presence here. We look forward to sharing your insights with community!
Omer Learning: Day 43
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:
One thing that can inspire hope (and provide a smile) is watching some of our youngest members participate in services. While preschoolers may not have learned enough of the prayers to lead them, they are always eager to participate in the “Torah Parade,” marching proudly with their stuffed (or miniature) Torahs, delighting in the ritual. If there’s a Torah service, they are part of it, whether on an otherwise sparsely attended Thursday morning minyan, or a full Shabbat congregation for a rabbinic installation.
–Sharon Beth
–Sharon Beth
We’re still accepting submission to this year’s Omer Learning project. Share your own story of hope or feeling G-d’s presence here. We look forward to sharing your insights with community!