Editor’s note: I’m always interested in time and counting. And I follow Ya’el Chaikind’s Omer poems. Given that the pandemic may be altering or relationship to time, I interviewed her about her process.
What is your Omer poetry project?
Counting the Omer is an ancient Jewish custom where each spring you intentionally immerse in the spiritual Kabbalistic qualities of lovingkindness, boundaries, harmony, endurance, awe, foundation, and dignity for 49 days. The 50th day corresponds to the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people, and is known as a time of revelation.
Counting the Omer begins on the second night of Passover. Passover is a Jewish holiday that celebrates freedom from slavery. Could it be that we need to free ourselves from old stories, beliefs, or habits that enslave us in order to receive these revelatory teachings? With the freedom of seven weeks to intentionally interact with these spiritual qualities, what new insights and perspectives will be revealed on the 50th day?
These are the intriguing questions for me. So, eight years ago, I decide to follow this cycle. I write a poem each day for 49 days and directly experience the potency of this sacred technology. Some days I have an hour to write, others, only fifteen minutes. The daily exercise of surrendering to my muse, writing a poem without
censoring myself, and then walking away without editing myself, has become a transformative spiritual practice that I repeat each year.
My book, Revelations of the Heart: A 49-Day Journey of Poems and Prompts to Write Your Way to Revelation, is a writing guide and poetry book that helps readers along their own transformative journeys, no matter what time of the year. It’s available on Amazon in soft cover and kindle. Check out my website for more information or if you want a personal guide on this journey. (yaelchaikind@gmail.com / yaelchaikind.com )
PS: An “omer” is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering. The next day, two measures of barley were offered. This continued for 49 days. The idea of counting each day represented spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah on Shavuot (the 50th day). (Leviticus 23:15).
How many years is this of the project?
This year marked my 8th year of Counting the Omer through poetry. That’s 392 poems!
How influenced by the pandemic were you?
Each year my poems chronicle the intimate details of daily life, and this year was no exception with regards to the pandemic. Each year, I get more and more bold in my willingness to share my vulnerability with others, offering my Facebook friends a daily offering of my heart. Another revelation, to find strength and mutual support when practicing vulnerability! Like all art forms, the Omer provides me an outlet for creative expression. The pandemic definitely influenced me, but there is always something deeper to explore under every event, like universal themes of fear, sadness, finding joy in times of pain, where am I going to buy toilet paper, you know, that sort of thing.
Bio note
Ya’el Chaikind is a licensed psychotherapist, educator, book coach, author, poet, and storyteller living in Santa Fe, NM. Please visit her website for more information: yaelchaikind.com.
FIRST POEM:
APRICOT BLOSSOMS
i call upon the indwelling
presence of a she-god, he-god,
me-god
searching for a vaccination
to innoculate me against
the darkness
skewing my vision as I search
the horizon for better days
to come and my hope
waxes and wanes in the fullness
of the moon holding up
the sky that might fall
what else can I do but remember
there is only love
there is only kindness
and sniff the freshly blossomed
fragrance of apricot flowers
tender and fleeting
like love, like kindness, renewing
their vows to have and to hold
my heart, forever.
Ya’el Chaikind
April 9, 2020 / 15 Nisan 5780
Omer Day 1:
Chesed Shebe Chesed
Lovingkindness within Lovingkindness
***
LAST POEM:
CLOSING THE LOOP
Closing the loop,
dotting my I’s, and
crossing my heart before I die
for tonight I tie the knot
with the Beloved.
Another journey ends,
only to begin again.
Each poem a prayer
that poked holes
in my inner hot air
ballon.
Instead of deflation,
elation,
rising above
the Things That Do
Not Matter on
raven wings.
Tonight I step
towards you
another an inch
and watch as the gates
burst open, wide
enough for a chariot.
Those welcoming arms
that hold the world.
Loving you is
the revelation.
A dignified path that
helps me radically accept
and love myself.
Ya’el Chaikind
5.27.20 // 4 Sivan 5780
Omer Day 49:
Malchut Shebe Malchut
Majesty, Dignity, & Nobility within Majesty, Dignity, & Nobility
Miriam's Well: Poetry, Land Art, and Beyond 