Omer/Teshuvah:
49 Poetic Meditations for Counting the Omer
or Turning Toward a New Year

by ALEPH rabbinic student Shifrah Tobacman

edited by Rachel Barenblat

Omeremo Nanopress 2013

$8 (USD)

Omer/Teshuvah collects Shifrah Tobacman’s poems for Counting the Omer, mindfully sanctifying the passage of time between Pesach and Shavuot — and, if you read the book from back to front, these poems can be used for the Omer Teshuvah, the 49 days between Tisha b’Av and Rosh Hashanah. These devotional poems will open your heart and spirit.

 

Gate 1

Chesed b’Chesed / Loving-kindness
within Loving-kindness

Take a breath. Look around.
Hear the shofar beckon
from another time of year.
Awaken to it. Let it open you to beauty,
even in difficult times.

Take in the goodness
that surrounds you.
Kindness rests within kindness.
This is the platform
from which we begin
the ascent to Shavuot.

Notice the journey
you have already taken.
Look back at the terrain.
Remember its variations,
its constancies.

Turn again and look ahead.
The mountain on the horizon
is your heart’s deepest wisdom.
Take time to notice
its shape and size from afar,
the path to reach it.

Feel the ground beneath your feet,
trust the earth which holds you.
The Universal Generosity
which contains within it all the kindnesses
you have ever known,
or could want to know.

Step up to the first gate,
cross the threshold
and see what awaits.

You can buy the book from the Omer/Teshuvah website or on Amazon. (Remember to use smile.Amazon.com so that a portion of the cost goes to ALEPH!)