Today is Day 43. Tonight’s count is below.
“I don’t know where life will lead me, but I know where I’ve been”
When one counts, one ushers in a continuum….At any position in which you find yourself while counting, you have to be aware of two things: of the preceding position and of the following position…
– R. Joseph Soloveitchik (see Day 27).
“Sittin’ in Limbo” — “…I can’t say what life will show me, but I know what I’ve seen…” — seems an appropriate anthem for the final days of the omer…Even if we’re not so much sitting as on our way (“limbo,” as an afterlife concept, being another story entirely). We may know which day to count, up to 49, and we have the obligations of Sinai to guide us. But overall it’s mostly unknowns we face out here in the desert.
While we’re still in the omer, might be useful to consider which “they(s)” are “putting up resistance” and how, exactly, we plan to “move along.”
Sittin’ in Limbo
by Jimmy Cliff and Guillermo Bright
Sitting here in limbo
But I know it won’t be long
Sitting here in limbo
Like a bird without a song
Well, they’re putting up resistance
But I know that my faith will lead me on
Sitting here in limbo
Waiting for the dice to roll
Sitting here in limbo
Got some time to search my soul
Well, they’re putting up resistance
But I know that my faith will lead me on
I don’t know where life will lead me
But I know where I’ve been
I can’t say what life will show me
But I know what I’ve seen
Tried my hand at love and friendship
But all that is past and gone
This little boy is moving on
[Alt:"...little girl..."/"And now it's time to move along"]
Sitting here in limbo
Waiting for the tide to flow
Sitting here in limbo
Knowing that I have to go
Well, they’re putting up resistance
But I know that my faith will lead me on
[Alt: ...Waiting for the tide to turn...
...So many things I've got to learn]
I can’t say what life will show me
But I know what I’ve seen
I can’t say where life will lead me
But I know where I’ve been
Tried my hand at love and friendship
But all that is past and gone
This little boy is moving on
…Yes, they’re putting up resistance
But I know it’s the truth that leads me home
Separate Entities
Here is a YouTube piece incorporating photos and a musical performance by Jimmy Cliff. The creator of this piece notes with pride that it is posted with permission from the copyright holder. Kol HaKavod [all due respect] to those who honor copyright and create something of their own to post along with another artist’s work — a reflection, in its way, of the idea that weeks counted during the omer are a separate entity from the days.
Here’s another version: photos with performance by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman.
And, finally, a version from Fiona Apple (with no real video component), just for variety’s sake.
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During evening prayers, add:
A) (Address for God:) Barukh ata YHVH, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sefirat ha-omer.
We praise You, Adonai, Our God, Master of time and space whose commandments add holiness to our lives, Who commanded us to count the omer.
B) (Address God as feminine:) Beruchah at yah, eloheinu ruach haolam, asher kidshatnu bemitzvoteha vetzivatnu al sefirat ha’omer.
Blessed are You, God, Ruler/Spirit of the Universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.
Ha-yom arba’ah v’arba’im yom, shehem shishah sh’vuot u’shnei yamim la’omer.
Today is day forty-four, making six weeks and two days of the omer.
[This translation and transliteration was borrowed from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and from Jill Hammer's Omer Calendar of Biblical Women at RitualWell.org. For additional text to accompany the counting, see Five Steps.]
