Who knew that Taylor Swift’s music and the Jewish tradition of counting the Omer could be so intertwined? Both offer opportunities for personal growth, reflection, and a deeper connection with the world around us🌾
The period of the counting of the OmerFrom the second day of Passover until Shavuot, Jews count seven weeks – seven times seven days – to commemorate the period between the Exodus from Egypt and the Revelation at Sinai. When the Temple stood, a certain measure (omer) of barley was offered on the altar each day; today, we merely count out the days. is a time of introspection and growth – for a person to work on one’s good characteristics (middot) through reflection and development of one aspect each day for the 49 days of the counting.
In KabbalahThe tradition of Jewish mystical interpretation of sacred texts. The foundational kabbalistic text is the Zohar., each of the seven weeks of the Omer-counting is associated with one of the seven lower sefirot(pl of sefirah) In Kabbalah, the 10 “attributes” – channels of Divine energy – via which God interacts with creation.:
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Chesed (loving-kindness)
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Gevurah (might)
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Tipheret (beauty)
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Netzach (victory)
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Hod (acknowledgment)
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Yesod (foundation)
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Malchut (kingdom)
Each day of each week is also associated with one of these same seven sefirot, creating forty-nine permutations. The first day of the Omer is therefore associated with “chesed that is in chesed” (loving-kindness within loving-kindness), the second day with “gevurah that is in chesed” (might within loving-kindness); the first day of the second week is associated with “chesed that is in gevurah” (loving-kindness within might), the second day of the second week with “gevurah that is in gevurah” (might within might), and so on.
Based on these themes, I assigned each day of the Omer a Taylor Swift song!
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Our Song
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Midnight Rain
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the 1
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New Year’s Day
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Mine
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So High School
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This Love
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Better Man
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Jump then Fall
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You’re On Your Own, Kid
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Clean
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Back to December
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mad woman
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Mean
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The Best Day
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this is me trying
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Innocent
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A Place in this World
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happiness
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It’s Nice To Have A Friend
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The Archer
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22
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long story short
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Timeless
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Dear Reader
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All Of The Girls You Loved Before
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Look What You Made Me Do
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Vigilante Shit
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Foolish One
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How You GetA writ of divorce. Traditionally, only a man can grant his wife a get. Liberal Jews have amended this tradition, making divorce more egalitarian. The Girl
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Stay Beautiful
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Begin Again
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The Lucky One
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peace – the long pond studio sessions
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Mastermind
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Daylight
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tolerate it
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Sweet Nothing
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All Too Well (10 Minute Version)
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Change
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invisible string
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The Man
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White Horse
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You Need to Calm Down
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Call It What You Want
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Shake It Off
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Castles Crumbling
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Mary’s Song
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Long Live
