Counting the Omer in a Time of Heartache: What Kabbalah Can Teach Us About Resilience

By Rabbi Matthew Ponak

(AJNews) – As we move through the final weeks of counting the Omer, the Jewish people continue to carry an emotional burden.

With war in Israel and Gaza, heightened rates of antisemitism in Canada, and the anxiety many of us carry simply by opening the news, there’s a heaviness in the air. For some, the pain is personal and communal, for others it’s the anguish of seeing innocent lives lost on all sides or the fears that polarization and hate are deepening across society. And for many, the pain is spiritual: a question of where God is in all this—or what role we’re meant to play as individuals and as a people.

And yet, in the middle of this heartache, Jewish tradition invites us to count the days.

The counting of the Omer—seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot—might seem to some like a quaint ritual. Traditionally, we recite a blessing each evening and name the day, for example: “Today is the 36th day, which is five weeks and one day of the Omer…” But according to centuries of Kabbalah, this isn’t just about keeping track of time, it’s about transforming ourselves one step at a time.

Each of the 49 days between spiritual freedom (Passover) and revelatory insight (Shavuot) corresponds to a combination of Sephirot—Divine qualities like love, boundaries, harmony, and connection. These are part of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, a mystical and psychological roadmap of the soul. The idea is simple but powerful: as we move from liberation to wisdom, each day becomes a chance to refine our inner world.

Right now, when the outer world feels anything but tranquil, this inner path offers a quiet form of resilience. The 49 days are opportunities for tangible, momentary pauses for reflection and growth.

For example, the first week of the Omer (which thankfully returns every year) focuses on Hesed, lovingkindness. It’s not about pretending everything is okay. It’s about choosing compassion as a practice—even when it feels hard—knowing that one act of kindness often leads to another. Week two, Gevurah, is about boundaries and discipline. It’s a week where we ask: How do I protect what matters without becoming overly harsh or rigid? In a healthy way, how can I cultivate boundaries within myself and also around me?

Even if you haven’t been counting since day one, it’s not too late to begin drawing meaning from this season. Whether we have two weeks or two days left in the Omer, the spiritual invitation still stands. Judaism’s values hold that every step toward becoming a better person matters.

In my new book, The Path of the Sephirot: A 49-Day Omer Counter for Spiritual Growth and Inner Balance, I offer daily reflections and practices based on this Kabbalistic framework. The goal is access and practicality. The esoteric concepts are demystified. The aim of the book is to help people feel more anchored in their spiritual lives. And during a time like this, spiritual anchoring is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.

What I find so moving about the Omer is that it doesn’t rush us. It doesn’t demand we feel okay before we are. It just asks us to show up—to count one more day, to open our hearts a little more, to pay attention.

Even in a time of fear or anger, we are still allowed to grow. That’s a radical message.

In many ways, this mirrors the journey from Passover to Shavuot. On Passover, we recall escaping slavery. But it’s only at Shavuot—weeks later—that we receive the Torah. Freedom is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of a transformation. The mystics understood this well.

And they understood something else, too: that the personal and the collective are deeply linked. When we refine ourselves, we help elevate the world. When we bring more kindness, clarity, or courage into our communities—even in small ways—we ripple healing outward. Our ancestors, who faced so many challenging times, understood the value of simple and consistent moments that connect us with meaning and hope despite what surrounds us at any given time.

If the world feels broken right now, Kabbalah doesn’t deny it. But it also doesn’t let us give up. The Tree of Life is not a ladder for climbing away from the world. It’s a map for how to be rooted in it with soul.

So tonight, when the sun goes down, consider counting the Omer—even if you never have before. Consider joining millions of Jews across centuries who have used this time to walk slowly and deliberately toward tikun: the spiritual refinement of the individual for the sake of the world.

In a time of heartache, this may be one of our most potent—and most needed—acts of resilience.

Rabbi Matthew Ponak is a spiritual counselor, teacher of Jewish Mysticism, and the author of The Path of the Sephirot: A 49-Day Omer Counter for Spiritual Growth and Inner Balance. Learn more at matthewponak.com.