“How Do I Count?” – Let Me Count the Ways
by Arliene Botnick, April 27, 2016
As a people, we spend an inordinate amount of time counting. Right now we are in the process of counting the omer, counting a “sheaf” of grain each day for 49 days from the 2nd night of Passover, right up until 50th day (the holiday of Shavuot). We count to remind ourselves of the value our ancestors put on the changing seasonal crops, (from barley to wheat), we count to remind ourselves of the value of experiencing each day of freedom as did our ancestors from the physical salvation from Egypt to the spiritual imperative at Mt. Sinai. We count to remember that each day, each moment, each nano-second is a gift that we should value and for which we should thank God.
Counting not only impacts us during Lag B’Omer. When a boy child is born, we count to the 8th day when he too can be brought into the Brit, the Covenant that we (through Abraham) made, to circumcise our sons. During Sukkot, we count the days in which we have our temporary dwellings in which to live as our ancestors once did in the desert. As parents, we count down to our child’s 13th birthday when he or she stands on the bimah as Bar/Bat Mitzvah, formally accepting his/her role as a Jewish adult.
Even today, as a teacher/educator, I count the number of classes still remaining this school year, during which our staff does its best to educate your child and model for your child what it means to be an informed, involved and dedicated Jew.
Our last Tuesday Hebrew class is May 3rd, but we count on all students (and families) to attend the Thursday May 12th celebration of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s 68th birthday. She’s a young nation; may we be able to count her years through the 3rd and 4th and even to the 100th generation (at least).
Our Sunday program will end on June 5th, and we count on all students attending as best they can until the end of the year.
Finally, we count on one another to continue to enrich Solel and Bet Sefer Solel by being involved, volunteering where possible, assisting whenever one can and financially being supportive.
Opportunities to help at school and at shul are abundant. Just call us and we can share the some details with you.
Numbers, time, counting – all part of our shared heritage. May it be so for many, many years to come. Let’s count on it!
Filed under: Educator's Message
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