Beginning on the second day of Passover, we have a tradition of counting the days until our next holiday of Shavuot. Specifically, we are commanded to count 49 days, and that is how we know when it is time to celebrate Shavuot. In Hebrew, this is called Sefirat HaOmer and it commemorates the sacrificial offering of a daily sheaf (omer) of grain used in the Temple.
In fact, Shavuot is the only major Jewish holiday that is not given a specific date in the Torah, but rather, is celebrated at the end of Sefirat HaOmer. So, by counting each and every day, we can determine when the next holiday should be celebrated.
Why do we count today though?
Counting involves more than just numbers. In general, counting is one way to establish order, to create a routine. Counting provides us with structure and purpose. In my personal life, counting has been instrumental to a career on Wall Street and as an independent director of public companies. Perhaps it is no coincidence that my favorite Sesame Street character happens to be The Count.
In our Jewish community this is also an important time for us to count.
We count our blessings that we live in a country that allows us to freely express ourselves and our religious beliefs.
We are counting the 77 years of Israel’s independence.
We are counting, unfortunately, the 573 days that Israeli hostages have been held in captivity in Gaza.
We are counting the thousands of Israelis, who have suffered trauma in the past 19 months and need mental health services.
Inside Jewish Federation, we are nearing the end of our UJA Annual Campaign and counting the thousands upon thousands of people, who benefit from donations to that campaign. The millions of dollars that come from the UJA Annual Campaign is, in turn, counted on by organizations like our three JCCs, our four Jewish Day Schools, our two Jewish Family Services, the four organizations in Greater MetroWest focused on assisting people with special needs, our six partner communities in Israel, and so many others.
Each and every dollar that is pledged to this campaign is put to good use and our professional team can be counted on to ensure that happens.
So many others are counting on our Federation to help them, and we can only do it with your help.
We have counted on your support in the past, and we hope we can count on you to help us finish our campaign strongly in the next two months. Donate now.