<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" align="center" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Untitled <b class=""> </b></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" align="center" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b style="text-align: center;" class=""> </b></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We have all known times like this…in between times.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">A time between a life that is familiar and a new life still unknown.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">An unformed time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Perhaps it was a time when we lost someone to circumstances beyond our control.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">A wilderness time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We have all known times like this.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Maybe it was a time when we saw something that changed everything, and we knew our life<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">would never be the same.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Maybe a time when we left behind a life that had become too small for us.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We knew we had to leave so that something new would have room to grow.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">A waiting time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Maybe we have planted seeds. We water them. We weed them. But we can’t make them grow.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">A watching time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Maybe we don’t even know what seeds to plant.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We become impatient.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We try to return to the past, or rush to find something new.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We say, “I should be over this by now.”<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We say, “This isn’t happening fast enough.”<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We say, “There’s nothing to hold on to.”<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Sometimes it feels like we’re alone in empty space.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We have all known times like this.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">It’s an unformed time…a wilderness time…a waiting time…a watching time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">A counting time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Time is doing its invisible work.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Although we can’t see it, something new is taking shape.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Days pass. Weeks and months.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We wait. We watch. We water. We weed. We count.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">And one day we notice that our feet are planted in a new life.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="ydp79a7ec51msonormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in;">This is the time of the omer*.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><b class=""> -</b> Susan Rothbaum </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">*<font face="Arial" class=""><span style="color: rgb(29, 41, 54); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">The </span><i style="color: rgb(29, 41, 54); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Omer</i><span style="color: rgb(29, 41, 54); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""> (“sheaf”) was a harvest offering brought to the </span><a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-temple-its-destruction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(29, 41, 54); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.74902) 0px 1px 0px; box-shadow: rgb(63, 198, 243) 0px -0.1em 0px inset; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Temple</a><span style="color: rgb(29, 41, 54); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""> on the second day of Passover</span></font></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: HelveticaNeue, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div></div></body></html>