Counting the Days

Counting the Days

Counting the days
In Israel
For the safe return of
The hostages
In Gaza
For the bombs
To stop falling
For sufficient aid
To get through
So many days
Since October 7
How many more?

The counting
Of the days of the Omer
Forty-nine days
From the second day of Pesach
Festival of
Freedom
To the eve of Shavuot
The Feast of  
‘Weeks’
The ‘Day of First Fruits’
The first harvest
After the long months of
Winter
Seven anxious weeks
In ancient times
Lest the harvest
Failed

And then
Centuries later
After the Roman overlords
Defeated rebellion
Destroyed Jerusalem
And the Temple
The land
Laid waste
Those seven weeks
Consumed with
Anxiety
For the future
And the anguish of
Continuing occupation
Emperor Hadrian
Crushing the rabbis’ revolt
Lashing persecutions
Subjugation
Exile

And now
After
The depraved
Killings
Violations
Abductions
Of October 7
The relentless
Bombardment
Of Gaza
Its people
Displaced
Trapped
Starved
Lives destroyed
That strip of land
Laid waste
As if it is possible
To defeat
Murderous extremism
With extreme
Indiscriminate
Violence

The commencement of
The Omer counting
Marked
One hundred and ninety-nine days
Of destruction
How much longer?

We continue
To count
The days
Will we still be counting
When the seven weeks are
Complete?
When will the horror end?
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah