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About Counting the Omer
n
the second day of Passover in ancient times, our ancestors brought the
first sheaf of barley (amounting to a measure called "an omer") reaped
that season as an offering to God. From that day, they began counting
the 49 days to Shavuot, when they would celebrate the beginning of the
wheat harvest by offering the loaves made of the first wheat. Even
after the Temple was destroyed and offerings were no longer brought,
they continued to count the days from Passover to Shavuot in accordance
with the biblical injunction (Lev. 23:15).
In this way our ancestors linked Passover and Shavuot as occasions for thanking God for the fruits of the field. We, too, thank God for the renewal of life which nature proclaims at this season.
However, as Passover and Shavuot acquired historical significance, their linkage through the counting of the intervening days took on new meaning. Passover celebrates the liberation from Egypt, and Shavuot celebrates the receiving of Torah at Sinai. By counting the omer, we symbolically connect liberation with the idea of Torah.
Counting the omer is an exercise in the discipline of mindfulness. Counting each of the days of the omer reminds us that all of our days are numbered, and it is our responsibility to make each day count.
The Counting Ritual (D'ohs and Donuts)
ach
evening, while standing, one first recites the blessing for the mitzvah
of counting, and then declares the number of days and weeks of the omer
count. Traditionally, if one forgets to count at night (D'oh!),
the count may be made the next day without a blessing. One then resumes
the regular count that evening. If, however, one skips an entire day,
then all further counting until Shavuot is done without the blessing
(but see this).
How
To Use This Site
The
Homer Calendar can guide you through
the counting of the omer in three ways: Note:
To improve print quality, the weekly and the single-page calendars are
in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format. As a result, they are fairly big files
and might take some time to download. Click
here to download the free
Acrobat reader that allows you to open .pdf files. Check
out our extras
and links
below for more information and activities
1) You can click on each of the individual days in the calendar below
to go to the blessing and count for that day. However, Jewish "days"
start in the evening, so one shouldn't count the omer for a day in the
calendar until after sundown on that date.
2) You can click on each of the weeks in the far left column below to
open a two-page document you can print out and post on your
refrigerator or whatever (mmmm.... refrigerator). These pages will have
the blessing and the count for each day of the omer in that week.
3) You can view and print out a one-page Homer Calendar with the count
for each day of the omer for this year by
clicking here.
From Temple Beth Springfield to the Springfielder Shvitz, the Jews of Springfield have a proud heritage. Click here to see the photo essay "Jewish Life in Springfield." (All pictures original, unedited frames from Simpsons episodes) |
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Thanks to Howard Cooper for the original idea. This site was designed by Brian Rosman, with help from Aviva and Yonah Rosman and Barbara Penzner. In 2005 the New York Jewish Week published a nice article on the site. That led to a bizarre interview on Washington DC's Sunday morning Jewish radio show, "Awake, Alive and Jewish" (click here to listen; our part starts at 29:48). Previously, the Jewish Advocate in Boston did a feature story on the site, and we were reviewed in the Jerusalem Report, Jerusalem Post (twice!), and the USA Jewish webzine (click here to read all of our reviews). We also got the OU (Orthodox Union) hechsher of approval - read the supportive but cautionary review in the OU's Jewish Action magazine. We were "Web Site of the Week" on Jewish.com, and were named a "Top Site" in March 2002 by the Jewish Agency.
All
things Jewish and Simpsons:
The release of the Simpsons Movie prompted the Jewish Outreach Institute to suggest using the film to somehow "encourage participation in Jewish community." They recommend using the Hebrew-dubbed version released in Israel (JPost: Eat my 'tachtonim'?) for an introductory Hebrew course.
Last year's "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween episode included a Jewish-themed segment titled You Gotta Know When to Golem, featuring the legendary Golem of Prague, voiced by Richard Lewis, who eventually marries a female monster, voiced by a grating Fran Drescher (synopsis here, images here, and watch here). As Krusty described him, the Golem is "the legendary defender of the Jews, like Alan Dershowitz, but with a conscience." Serious Jews began right away dissecting the meaning of the episode, mostly deciding it was Bad.For.The.Jews. The culture critics at Nextbook, the popular webzine Jewcy ("Why the Golem Episode of the Simpsons Was So God-Awful: A Close Reading") and the Jewish Outreach Institute objected to the stereotypes and cheap gags. The exception was the multi-religious site Beliefnet, which praises Fox for exposing another generation to the Golem tale. There's no question about that; internet searches for the term "golem" soared following the show.
The year before we learned that Dolph, the short and quiet bully, is Jewish. After convincing Milhouse that cool kids ride their bikes with their eyes closed (Milhouse gets hit by a train), Dolph whips a tallit and kippah out of his pocket, puts them on, and exclaims, "I'm outta here. I've got Hebrew school." He chants "Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam," with decent pronunciation, as he walks away. No Jewish authorities opined on the meaning, however.
In
December 2003, Fox broadcast a new Simpsons episode with a mostly
Jewish theme, titled "Today, I Am A Clown" (watch it here). Besides seeing Krusty's Bar
Mitzvah (with Mr. T helping: "I
pity the shul that won't let Krusty in now"),
we learned that Springfield has a Jewish Walk of Fame, that Krusty's
full name is Herschel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofski, and that Lisa has a
Jewish imaginary friend ("Her
name is Rachel Cohen. And she just got into Brandeis.").
Read a Jewishy review here.
You can hear some soundclips from the episode here
and see some images here and
here.
The episode, written by Joel Cohen, won the Jewish Image Excellence Award award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Los Angeles Entertainment Industry Council. At the awards ceremony, Laraine Newman said that not since “Bam-Bam’s bris” on the “Flintstones” had Judaism played such a role in an animated series. Writing in the Jewish Week, Rabbi Joshua Hammerman saw Krusty's Bar Mitzvah as a turning point - "the proverbial tipping point when all of America became Jewish."
My jaw dropped when I saw this. I’m more than a casual watcher of “The Simpsons” (principally because just about every bar mitzvah student is able to quote it chapter and verse), so when I tuned in I was expecting the same old shtick for Krusty’s bar mitzvah — an updated version of the excesses of “Goodbye Columbus.” It started out that way, but ended up with Krusty headed on a serious Jewish journey.
To assist your serious Jewish journey, Noah Gradofksy has created a page he calls "The Simpsons Talmud." It's a recap of the Jewish content from the "Like Father, Like Clown" episode (sounds here; watch here), the first Jewish-themed show from 1991, done as a Talmud page in Hebrew and Aramaic, with Rashi and Tosafot too. It's all translated and explained, and is truly brilliant. See this article for more on the episode. Florida journalist Mark I. Pinsky has updated his The Gospel According to The Simpsons. The book examines the role religion plays in The Simpsons, and includes a detailed discussion of the Simpsons and the Jews (by me, too!). Pinsky identifies what he calls an "underlying element of what might be called 'crypto-Judaism'" permeating the show (click here to read an excerpt from MyJewishLearning.com). Last fall, Moment magazine published his article, Do You Know This Family?, which sees the Simpsons' Springfield as a modern-day Chelm, and Krusty, despite having worked 5 shows on the Yom Kippur that Sandy Koufax sat out (he also lost $10,000 betting on the Dodgers that day), as embodying the American Jewish experience. Richard Kalman and Josh Belkin see more than echoes of crypto-Judaism in the show; they propose that the Simpsons are Sephardic crypto-Jews themselves. The show "displays a knowledge of the Sephardic tradition that would make Rabbi Moses ben Maimon blush." Read their detailed, engrossing article, Sephardic Tradition and "The Simpsons" Connections. Along the same vein, a shrei-out to Robert Schneider at bangitout.com, who compiled this exploration of the characters' Jewishness: The Simpsons, Jewish?
More and more, Jewish teachers are using the Simpsons to sell their Jewish content. For example, Sinai Temple in Los Angeles had a Torah study class that watched 10 Simpsons episodes "as a springboard for deeper discussions on Jewish beliefs and values". Or for the more traditional, Rabbi Uri C. Cohen of Princeton has given a talk called "Religion and the Simpsons: HaDat vehaD'oh!" And try listening to this shiur titled "Simpsons in Halakha" by Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman.
Jewish Simpsons producer Mike Reiss ("I'm not gay but I'm Jewish, which is basically the same. Both gays and Jews have been persecuted for centuries -- by their mothers.") says his Jewish talk is his favorite. He's spoken at numerous Hillels (like Cornell and Northwestern), and gave the Irving Blum Memorial Seminar at the Pikesville, MD, Beth Tfiloh Synagogue. This prompted an angry letter to the editor objecting to "promoting 'The Simpsons' vulgar attitudes in shul." Of course, if you want vulgar, there is the Simpsons-themed "Bart" Mitzvahs ("the clever décor featured bright cartoon colors, a Mo’s tavern airbrushed backdrop behind the bar, a Simpson’s living room backdrop for photos with lifesized figures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and the baby, and mountains of frosted donuts on the sweet table"). For the service you can always order an imprinted Simpsons kippah, and afterwards send "Bar Mitzvah Bart" (in a tux and kippah) thank-you notes.
I fell in love with our favorite mishpacha in Israel. You can visit their official site on the "Bip" Israeli comedy channel. Unfortunately, things did not go as well for the show in the Arab world.
The Simpsons Collectible Card set included a nice Rabbi Krustofski card. But fans were very disappointed when the Playmates toy company canceled their planned Rabbi Krustofski action figure. Playmates had produced a prototype (with a Torah accessory!) and started promoting the figure, with Jackie Mason providing the voice. But it was shelved, supposedly due to Mason's worry that it would be seen as offensive. Fans were so disappointed that some put together amazing home-made versions.
"About
Counting the Omer" adapted from
the Reconstructionist
prayerbook series, Kol
Haneshamah. For some interesting material on
counting the omer, follow these links:
Comments? Errors? Let us know: homercalendar@mail2homer.com
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