The Omer is the 49-day period between the celebration of Passover and the Festival of Shavuot. This year, we invite you to count the Omer with us through the lens of creation and recreation—not only of the world but of ourselves and our community.
You will receive a weekly email with guiding quotes for each day – rooted in Torah, spirituality, and personal growth – and a question to carry with you. These offerings are meant to open space for reflection, guide our steps through the wilderness, and help us shape not only who we are but who we are becoming – individually and together.
Week 6: Humanity in the Image of God
“And God created humankind in the divine image, creating it in the image of God.”
Genesis 1:27
This week we come face to face with ourselves. After days of sky and sea, plants and stars, animals and light, God creates something different – human beings, reflections of The Holy One, with all the beauty, contradiction, tenderness, and strength that entails. To be human is to be a bearer of possibility. It means living with both fragility and fire, with the ache of longing and the miracle of presence. It means noticing, revealing, becoming.
The sixth week of the Omer invites us to ask not only who am I becoming, but how am I showing up for the world? Can I live with nothing to hide? Can I see others in their fullness and allow myself to be seen? What if my truest gifts – my kindness, my curiosity, my quiet hopes – are not only allowed, but needed? We are not perfect, but we are very good. An that, too, is holy.
We hope you enjoy this video of our cantorial team singing about counting the Omer.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha’Olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tizivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to count the omer.
Daily Quotes and Questions
Week 6: May 19 – 25
Day 36 – May 19
Daily Quote:
“Every day that we are gifted another moment of life, we are offered an invitation to awaken the spirit to the grandeur and reality of love. We are summoned to bear witness to the beauty and miracle of everyday living. To bear witness is the crucial step toward becoming fully human.”
– Rabbi Karyn Kedar
Daily Question:
What small moment of love, beauty, or wonder have you witnessed recently that reminded you what it means to be fully alive?
Day 37 – May 20
Daily Quote:
“Very soon the mask will be drawn from the world and all will know that we are the people of God, that God deals with us well.”
– Orot HaRiyah
Daily Questions:
What part of your truest self is ready to be revealed to the world?
What would it feel like with nothing to hide?
Day 38 – May 21
Daily Quote:
“Your fervent wishes can only find fulfillment if you succeed in attaining love and understanding of men, and animals, and plants, and stars, so that every joy becomes your joy and every pain your pain.”
– Albert Einstein
Daily Question:
How might your life be different if you allowed yourself to feel more deeply connected to everything around you??
Day 39 – May 22
Daily Quote:
“No two minds are alike, [just as] no two face are alike.”
– Berachot 58a
Daily Question:
When have you felt truly seen for who you are – not despite your differences, but because of them?
Day 40 – May 23
Daily Quote:
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. ”
– Golda Meir
Daily Question:
What quiet part of you is ready to believe it was meant to do something meaningful—and what might change if you listened to it?
Day 41 – May 24
Daily Quote:
“When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”
– Abraham Joshua Heschel
Daily Question:
Who has taught you the power of kindness—and how are you passing that kindness on?
Day 42 – May 25
Daily Quote:
“Let the Good in me connect with the good in others, until the world is transformed through the compelling power of love.”
– Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
Daily Question:
Where in your life is there an opportunity for deeper connection?
