pinion
OTH
Counting Of The Omer
I
just finished reading a New York
Times bestseller that was "Gripping,
thrilling, a real page turner from
start to finish!" While the plot was indeed
captivating, the writing was mediocre and
cliched, starting from the fact that almost
every major character went to Harvard,
to the hundreds of cups of coffee drunk
daily by the protagonist. The end took a
morbid Stephen Kingesque twist with the
U.S. dropping two A-bombs on an enemy
country. The novel concluded with the
most hackneyed line of all, something to
the effect of, "It was all over now, or maybe
it was just the beginning:'
While that line didn't do much for the
book, it does describe the period the
Jewish people currently finds itself in,
the Sefirat Ha'Omer (the counting of the
Omer). "It was all over now, or maybe it
was just the beginning." We just finished
the whole Passover rush; the last of the
matzah has finally been digested; the
examples of life events where
Passover dishes stored away.
we take on a lot of responsibility
But the holiday isn't really over.
and restrictions, but in a way
We're actually only beginning
that frees us to pursue our great-
a whole period of personal
est potential in life. These major
development that spans the
milestones require significant
time from Passover when we
preparation and that is Sefirat
celebrate the exodus, to Shavuot,
Ha'Omer.
when we celebrate receiving
When the Jews came out of
the Torah, 49 glorious days of
Egypt they were not simply
growth.
free like a violin string left on
Rabb i Leiby
Passover represents freedom,
a table. Forty-nine days later,
Bur nham
but is freedom alone the high-
on Shavuot, they were given an
Corn munity
est goal? An Indian mystic
instruction manual, the Torah,
V iew
once said, "On my table I have
that would guide them in pur-
a violin string. It is totally free
suing a goal of fixing the world, of tikkun
and unrestrained, but it makes no music.
olam, of making the world a kinder and
On my violin I have a violin string. It is
more spiritual place.
wound taut, but it is free to make beauti-
The Omer period was the time the
ful music." It seems that "good freedom"
Jews used to prepare themselves for their
is a freedom that allows one to reach their
new role in the world. Today, we do the
potential, but that usually requires some
same.
structure or system.
On Passover, we reflected on the fact
Getting married and having children are
that we are not slaves to our previous hab-
its, challenges or patterns. We recognized
that we are free people, able to carve out
any path we put our minds to. During the
Omer, we examine all of our character
traits, trying to find the areas that can use
some tweaking, the changes we need to
make if we want to make a difference in
this world. Where we can be a bit more
humble? A tad kinder? How can we be
more consistent? More disciplined? More
forgiving?
After 49 days of self-improvement and
introspection, we re-experience receiv-
ing the Torah, the culmination of a great
Sefirat Ha'Omer.
"It was all over now, or maybe it was
just the beginning."
Rabbi Leiby Burnham is associate director
of the Jean and Theodore Weiss Partners in
Torah program of the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in
Southfield.
Are You Really A Jew?
M
y friend called from the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's office of Partnership
2000, the program that promotes projects
linking Michigan to the Central Galilee in
Israel.
"I think I have a project that will inter-
est you. It's called Virtual
Visitor:'
If it means I don't really go
to Israel, I thought, I might just
pass.
She explained:
"You can do this from home
using your computer. We're
linking people in the Detroit
area to specific schools in our
Partnership Region. You just
write to the children. The goal
is to use language with them
that is relevant to their lives
and to yours."
It sounded too easy. I'm a
writer and a retired teacher.
Then she mentioned the name of the
school. Hoshaya.
Yes.
I had visited Hoshaya, a town of obser-
vant Jews, many times. I had friends there
and had been to the school. I began to
write to two sixth-grade classes, one class
of boys and one of girls. I wrote them
about my family, my vacations and the
Jewish community in suburban Detroit.
Some of the children wrote back. They
described their sisters and brothers and
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May 7
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2009
their hobbies. They were learning English
and used these letters for practice. They
often asked for a photo, but I never got
around to sending one.
Then a few months ago, my husband
and I decided we needed to go to Israel. It
had been too long since our last trip. We
wanted to see friends and family
and planned to stop at Hoshaya.
We reserved a room in a small
bed and breakfast about 10 min-
utes from the school. I sent an
e-mail message the class to tell
them I was coming.
When we arrived, Ilana, the
teacher, ushered me into the
principal's office and the teach-
ers' lounge. Then I walked into
the classroom. The girls were
polite, warm and friendly. They
asked questions, "Why did you
come to Israel? Why didn't you
send a photo?"
The next day, the boys were noisy, exu-
berant; some rushed toward me with a
gush of words. "We didn't think you were
real. We thought our teacher made you up."
One of them asked, "Why do you live in
America and not in Israel? Are you really
a Jew?"
I remembered the first Partnership
2000 meeting I had attended many years
earlier when a teenage boy asked me the
same questions. As some Israeli children
recognize and begin to try to understand
the deep love American Jews have for Israel,
Teacher Ilana Amromin and her sixth-graders at Hoshaya School in Israel's
Central Galilee. Jeannie Weiner is at far right.
they have to ask these questions — ques-
tions many Israeli adults want to ask as well.
I told the children that I am an
American and a Jew. My heart belongs to
both countries. Like a parent with two
different children, I love both equally but
differently. America is my home. Israel is
my homeland. American Jews are loyal to
the United States and love both Israel and
their country. Both countries share the
fundamental belief in democratic ideals
— freedom, tolerance, respect for the rule
of law, the goal of peace.
I remembered a Detroit reporter once
questioning me about my commitment to
Israel. I did not tell the children what I said
to the reporter years earlier, that Americans
are linked to Israel with strategic, economic,
intellectual and religious ties.
Before I departed from Hoshaya, the
children gathered around me for fare-
well hugs. As always when in Israel, I felt
grateful to be there and to be a part of a
Federation program linking Michigan to
Israel. I felt lucky to be part of a partner-
ship building bridges between Americans
and Israelis.
Jeannie Weiner of West Bloomfield is past
president of Jewish Community Relations
Council of Metropolitan Detroit and the
Michigan Jewish Conference.