var now = new Date();
var time=new Date(); //'4/21/2011');
var omerHour = now.getHours();
var omerMins = now.getMinutes();
var month = time.getMonth()+1;
var day = time.getDate();
var year = time.getFullYear();
if (omerHour < 20 ) { // After 8pm show the current day, before switch it to the prev day
/*if (day == 1) { // knock it back to the previous day in the month
if (month==5) { // May - kick back to Apr 30th
month = 4; day = 31;
}
else if (month==6) { // June - kick back to May 31st
month = 5; day = 30;
}
} else {
day = day - 1;*/
//if (day == 30) { // knock it over to the next day in the month
if (month==4 & day==30) { // April - knock to May 1st
month = 5; day = 1;
}
if (month==5 & day==31) { // May - knock to June 1st
month = 6; day = 1;
}
} else {
day = day + 1;
}
var omerDate = month+'/'+day+'/'+year;
function getOmer( omerDate ) {
var arOmer = omerDate.split('/');
var month = arOmer[0]-1; var day = arOmer[1]; var year = arOmer[2];
var today_obj = new Date(year,month,day); // Simulate any date
var today_date = today_obj.getDate();
var today_month = today_obj.getMonth();
var today_year = today_obj.getYear();
var omer = new Array();
var offset = 0;
var errtext = '';
//Configure the below array to hold the 31 possible messages for the month
if (today_month == 3) { // April
offset = 20; // we're starting midmonth so we need to offset to make the array work
omer[0]='Today is the 1st day of the Omer'+'
'
+'You stand, all of you, before the LORD your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water-drawer—to enter into the covenant of the LORD your God….so that He may establish you this day as His people and be your God, as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I make this covenant…not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here this day.'+'
'
+'Deuteronomy 29:9-14'+'
'
+'Submitted by Ben Goldberg';
omer[1]='Today is the 2nd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Be Here, Now'+'
'
+'Counting the Omer is a funny thing. It forces you to be very focused on the present. You can\'t worry about what happened yesterday and whether you counted then - it\'s gone and doesn\'t matter anymore. You can\'t worry about tomorrow and whether you\'ll count then - it\'s not here yet and doesn\'t matter. All you can focus on when counting the Omer is counting the present day. In a way, this teaches an important lesson. I know that when I\'m at services, I\'m not always good at being present. Sometimes I\'m worrying whether I remembered to lock the door. Or I\'m trying to figure out what I\'m going to do with the kids in Sunday School. And so the experience isn\'t very good for me. What counting the Omer can teach me is that I need to be focused on the present. If I\'m interacting with the words, with the melody, with the shaliach tzibur, and with those around me, I\'ll get more out of the service and I\'ll be able to contribute more to the community. And with that, I wish you a lifetime of being present.'+'
'
+'Submitted by David Schwartz';
omer[2]='Today is the 3rd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'I love the idea of not even mentioning the next number each day until it\'s time for the official counting of the Omer. It makes me notice the passage of time and reminds me to slow down and not get ahead of myself.'+'
'
+'Submitted by Gabriela Geselowitz';
omer[3]='Today is the 4th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Synonyms: count1, import, matter, signify, weigh1'+'
'
+'These verbs mean to be of significance or importance: an opinion that counts; actions that import little; decisions that really matter; thoughts that signify much; considerations that weigh with her.'+'
'
+'thefreedictionary.com';
omer[4]='Today is the 5th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The counting of the omer serves us as a link between Passover and Shavuot. It reminds us of the liberation we celebrated during Passover, and just how easy it is for us to slip back into slavery. Let each day of the 50 days bring us a moment of meditation, to work on our best selves and ready ourselves for receiving rules to live by (Torah) on Shavuot. May we learn how to make our lives easier, yet more meaningful as we celebrate in a small way each day, focusing on the important moments of life.'+'
'
+'myjewishlearning.com'+'
'
+'Submitted by Rabbi Andrea Steinberger, University of Wisconsin Hillel';
omer[5]='Today is the 6th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'It has long been considered unlucky to count things too accurately—it is tempting fate to announce (even to yourself) the exact number in case it makes you lose some. ‘Don\'t count your chickens before they are hatched’ is an oft-quoted maxim even today. The references given in Opie and Tatem show that the fear of counting stretches back at least to biblical and classical times, but British examples only appear from the 18th century, and the majority of illustrations given by them are from Scotland. Nevertheless, English card-players are particularly advised against counting their winnings at the card-table, and on a similar principle: ‘A Suffolk shepherd… will seldom willingly tell even his master the number of lambs born until the lambing-season is over for fear of bad luck’ (Folk-Lore 54 (1943), 390). The only thing one should definitely count is warts, as from the mid-19th century to the present day this has been a standard way of getting rid of them.'+'
'
+'Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore' ;
omer[6]='Today is the 7th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'sing me a song and cheer me up'+'
'
+'clear my thoughts and ease the pain away'+'
'
+'cause I\'m lost in my head'+'
'
+'I can\'t wake up, so I\'m counting on you'+'
'
+'counting on you'+'
'
+'counting on you'+'
'
+'counting on you'+'
'
+'counting on you'+'
'
+'Counting on You by The Kickdrums';
omer[7]='Today is the 8th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Teach us to number our days, that we may attain a heart of wisdom.'+'
'
+'Psalm 90:12';
omer[8]='Today is the 9th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year.'+'
'
+'Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath';
omer[9]='Today is the 10th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Time is on my side, yes it is'+'
'
+'Time is on my side, yes it is'+'
'
+'Now you always say'+'
'
+'That you want to be free'+'
'
+'But you\'ll come running back (said you would baby)'+'
'
+'You\'ll come running back (I said so many times before)'+'
'
+'You\'ll come running back to me'+'
'
+'Time is on My Side, Rolling Stones';
omer[10]='Today is the 11th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'We can never know about the days to come'+'
'
+'But we think about them anyway, yay'+'
'
+'And I wonder if I\'m really with you now'+'
'
+'Or just chasin\' after some finer day'+'
'
+'Anticipation, anticipation'+'
'
+'Is makin\' me late'+'
'
+'Is keepin\' me waitin\''+'
'
+'Anticipation, Carly Simon';
if (today_date-offset < 0 || today_date-offset > 10 ) {
errtext = "That date is not within the omer period!";
}
} else if ( today_month == 4 ) { // May
offset = 1; // we start from the beginning of the month
omer[0]='Today is the 12th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The mitzvah of counting the Omer is incumbent on every Jew, in every place, at every time.'+'
'
+'based on the Rambam, Hilkhot Temidim uMusafim, 7:24';
omer[1]='Today is the 13th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'We can sense the spirit of the nation - bound to the Torah\'s light like a flame to a glowing coal — that shaped the unique form of the Oral Torah.'+'
'
+'Orot HaTorah, Rav Kook';
omer[2]='Today is the 14th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The days between the barley and wheat harvests are also the period of the Counting of the Omer. When we read the verses depicting the days when the Omer is counted, we can sense the excitement of the farmers who, during this time, devote all their energies to the work of harvesting, as they proceed from one crop to the next. This is the natural pulse of the life of a people dwelling in its native land and eating the fruits of its labors.'+'
'
+'When we were exiled, we were distanced from our native land - literally and figuratively. We stopped working the land, and the days of the Counting of the Omer became a period of mourning.'+'
'
+'Rav Benny Lau';
omer[3]='Today is the 15th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Relationship with the future, the presence of the future in the present, seems all the same accomplished in face-to-face with the Other. The situation of the face-to-face would be the very accomplishment of time; the encroachment of the present on the future is not the feat of the subject alone, but the intersubjective relationship. The condition of time lies in the relationship between humans, or in history.'+'
'
+'Emmanuel Levinas, Time and the Other';
omer[4]='Today is the 16th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Narrative needs time to do its work, to renegotiate the sense of total presence and fullness that the self craves. This, I suggest, is the core tension that the midrashic narratives express. By intimating unconscious conflicts about living in time, about the self as multiple, diffracted, discontinuous, the midrash often confronts the apparent simplicity of the biblical narrative with a more complext and nuanced notion of the self.'+'
'
+'Aviva Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture';
omer[5]='Today is the 17th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'\'You don\'t need a watch, Zayde. See how many watches there are in the world.\' She showed me the shadow of the eucalyptus that said nine in the morning with its size, its direction, and its chill, the little red leaves of the pomegranate that said mid-March, the tooth that wiggled in my mouth and said six years, and the small wrinkles in the corners of her eyes that capered and said forty. \'You see, Zayde, this way you\'re inside time. If they bought you a watch, you\'d only be next to it.\''+'
'
+'Meir Shalev, Four Meals';
omer[6]='Today is the 18th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Every year on Shavuot, Jews enter the synagogue and seek to reawaken their imagination to the reconstruction of the Sinai experience. This approach reinforces the idea that the Torah was given to Israel on the sixth day of the month of Nisan. This is a religious statement in which is hidden the acknowledgement that the Torah was not given to us only once. Each year we restore this idea and receive the Torah anew.'+'
'
+'Rabbi Binny Lau, Etnahta';
omer[7]='Today is the 19th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The Edges of Time'+'
'
+'It is at the edges'+'
'
+'that time thins.'+'
'
+'Time which had been'+'
'
+'dense and viscous'+'
'
+'as amber suspending'+'
'
+'intentions like bees'+'
'
+'unseizes them. A'+'
'
+'humming begins,'+'
'
+'apparently coming'+'
'
+'from stacks of'+'
'
+'put-off things or'+'
'
+'just in back. A'+'
'
+'racket of claims now,'+'
'
+'as time flattens. A'+'
'
+'glittering fan of things'+'
'
+'competing to happen,'+'
'
+'brilliant and urgent'+'
'
+'as fish when seas'+'
'
+'retreat.'+'
'
+'Kay Ryan in The New Yorker';
omer[8]='Today is the 20th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'God does not wish to hand over His Torah to the ministering angels, the denizens of a transcendent world. Rather, He handed over His Torah to Moses, who brought it down to earth and caused it to dwell among human beings, "who reside in darkness and deep gloom." (Psalm 107:10) The earth and bodily life are the very ground of halakhic reality. Only against the concrete, empirical backdrop of this world can Torah be implemented; angels, who neither eat nor drink, who neither quarrel with one another nor are envious of one another, are not worthy and fit for the receiving of the Torah.'+'
'
+'Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik';
omer[9]='Today is the 21st day of the Omer'+'
'
+'For there are eternal verities that have enriched life through the ages. There are grand truths and values more wondrous than life itself that lift us up and strengthen our resolve. Our metaphors, the way we speak about God, help to remind us of the truths buried deep in our hearts and sining at us from the brightest stars. Judged from this perspective, religion is true when it helps us to shape our lives by those timeless profundities and helps us to experience those elevating sentiments. Religion works when it plugs us into the reality of being connected with all that is and all that ever was, when it infuses our lives with purpose and our communities with a zeal for justice and compassion. Religion is true, in short, when it can produce Godliness among its practitioners, justice among its disciples, and a deep sense of belonging and peace.'+'
'
+'Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Walking with God';
omer[10]='Today is the 22nd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Why do we literally check off the days between Pesah and Shavuot? "Just as one who expects his dearest frined on a certain day counts the days and even the hours...we count the days that follow the offering of the Omer, between the anniversary of our departure from Mitzrayim and the anniversary of our arrival at Sinai and the Giving of the Torah." The number forty-nine can also be associated with the forty-nine gates of purity through which Israel graduated, by God\'s grace, passing day after day through gate after gate, as God brought His people closer and closer to Sinai and Himself.'+'
'
+'based on the Rambam, Guide for the Perplexed, in The Feast of Freedom Haggadah';
omer[11]='Today is the 23rd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'In the Kiddush with which we began the Seder, Passover is called the "time of our freedom." But as we know, attaining inner freedom is very difficult. It is not something we can do in just one -- or two -- nights. The Slonimer rebbe teaches taht while God took us physically out of Egypt on Pesach night, the spiritual Egypt and all of its enslaving aspects are still within us. There are still 50 spiritual aspects of enslavement within us, 50 inner steps that lead up the staircase to freedom. But God is not going to push us up those stairs, as God pushed us out of Egypt. God has already done the big work -- the Exodus -- from above, in a miraculous and momentous event ath we, frankly, had little to do with. But it is now up to us to start our own, inner journey towards freedom. This is what the counting of the Omer signifies.'+'
'
+'from A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices';
omer[12]='Today is the 24th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'On the second night of Pesach we begin counting the 50 days from the Exodus to Sinai, from Pesah, the harvest of Barley, until Shavuot, the harvest of wheat. Traditionally, the Rabbis interpret the coutning as reflecting Israel\'s eager anticipation of the giving of the Torah at Sinai on Shavuot. The physical liberation is not an end in itself, but must be wedded to a life of values and responsibility.'+'
'
+'from A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah';
omer[13]='Today is the 25th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'In a sense, the whole purpose of the Exodus is to prepare Israel to accept the Torah. The true menaing of liberation is fulfilled in choosing freely to enter into a commitment to God as a community. Rabbi Y. M. Epstein interprets the barley offering, the "omer," as animal fodder and the wheat offering of the Holiday of the Giving of the Torah as the food of civilized human beings. He took that to symbolize that through Torah we cultivate our new freedom into the spiritual liverty befitting a dignified human being.'+'
'
+'based on Aruch HaShulchan in A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah';
omer[14]='Today is the 26th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'"An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth." - Bonnie Friedman (New York Times)'+'
'
+'In a world where it is far too easy to speed through the day, counting the Omer reminds us to cherish the moments. Let us use this opportunity to take a moment every day to reflect on ourselves and on the world around us, and to acknowledge that we are members of a community much greater than our individual selves.'+'
'
+'Submitted by Alyssa Blumenthal';
omer[15]='Today is the 27th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Just as one who awaits a most intimate friend on a certain day counts the days in eager anticipation of his arrival, so do we count the days from our liberation till the day we receive the Torah, which is the culmination and fulfillment of our freedom.'+'
'
+'The Metsudah Siddur';
omer[16]='Today is the 28th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'According to tradition, it was announced to the Israelites in Egypt that fifty days after the exodus the Torah would be given to them. As soon as they were liberated, they were so eager for the arrival of the promised day that they began to count the days, saying each time: “Now we have one day less to wait for the giving of the Torah.”'+'
'
+'Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem';
omer[17]='Today is the 29th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Sovereign of the universe, as we count the days of the Omer, we recall the time when our people were established in the land of Israel. May this observance serve as another reminder of the need to reclaim the soil of the Holy Land so that it may again flow with milk and honey and provide a homeland for our scattered folk. May our love for Israel’s land quicken our love for the Torah, Israel’s heritage. As in the past, may Eretz Yisrael become the center of our spiritual life from which again shall come Thy word, O Lord, revealing Thy will to all men.'+'
'
+'Siddur Tefilat Yisrael Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book';
omer[18]='Today is the 30th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The Omer (literally “sheaf”) is an ancient measure of grain (equal to about a half-gallon) which was brought to the Temple on the sixteenth of Nisan, the eve of the second day of Pesah. Each day of 49 days between Pesah and Shavuot, another measure was brought, each one counted daily. This is the “Sefirat ha-Omer.” The Jews of ancient Israel were an agricultural people. Passover was also a festival of the first spring crops and the seven weeks until Shavuot was a time of harvesting. Thus, the Counting of the Omer reminds us of our tie to the land and our gratitude for the yearly harvest.'+'
'
+'Dr. Ron Wolfson, The Art of Jewish Living: The Passover Seder';
omer[19]='Today is the 31st day of the Omer'+'
'
+'We count the days between Pesah and Shavuot with endearment to heighten our anticipation of celebrating the revelation of Torah, an event which gave deep meaning to the liberation. On our personal journeys in life, we each have our own enslavements and liberations, revelations and promised lands.'+'
'
+'Siddur Sim Shalom';
omer[20]='Today is the 32nd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Psalm 90 teaches, “Let us number our days, so we may attain a wise heart.” But the psalmist leaves ambiguous whether we are to count the days already past or those that lie ahead. Both are finite. One is a known quantity; the other is an open question. Where should we focus – on what has happened and cannot be changed, or on what lies ahead? Should we focus on determining how that time is filled or used or sanctified? In a paradoxical way, knowing that the time we have left is by definition finite opens up an array of opportunities that are infinite.'+'
'
+'Richard Hirsch, Knowing What Counts, Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsbility';
omer[21]='Today is the 33rd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Like the 49 days of the omer, or the eight progressively brighter days of Hanukkah, the 40 or so weeks of pregnancy are most fully counted up. Counting down trivializes the remaining time, focusing entirely on the anticipated event. Counting up fills time expansively with meaning and power. Hear the difference between: “I’m four weeks from meeting my baby” and, “I’ve spent 36 weeks building a baby.” Counting up allows us to be present in the moment, appreciate what we’ve been through, and anticipate with wonder what is yet to come.'+'
'
+'Shira Shazeer, Counting Our Children’s Days, Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility';
omer[22]='Today is the 34th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Buffalo Dusk'+'
'
+'The buffaloes are gone.'+'
'
+'And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.'+'
'
+'Those who saw the buffaloes by thousands and how they'+'
'
+' pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs, their'+'
'
+' great heads down pawing on in a great pageant of dusk,'+'
'
+'Those who saw the buffaloes are gone.'+'
'
+'And the buffaloes are gone.'+'
'
+'Carl Sandburg';
omer[23]='Today is the 35th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Yet the timeless in you is aware of life\'s timelessness,'+'
'
+'And knows that yesterday is but today\'s memory and tomorrow is today\'s dream.'+'
'
+'And that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.'+'
'
+'The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran';
omer[24]='Today is the 36th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'"Teach us to number our days, so we may attain a heart of wisdom." (Psalms 90:12)'+'
'
+'As we number each of our days in an upward direction during this season between Pesah and Shavuot, may we merit to raise the strength of our connections with God and our fellows through Torah, Mitzvot, wisdom and understanding.'+'
'
+'Submitted by Gabriel Seed';
omer[25]='Today is the 37th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The period of the counting of the Omer was originally a period of joy and merriment, preparing the Children of Israel to recieve the Torah. The harvest was representative of bounty and plenty. However, after the deaths of Rabbi Akiva\'s 24,000 students in the 2nd century CE, due to a plague, this period turned into a period of sadness. Traditonally, we are forbidden from haircuts, shaving, listening to music and getting married. According to tradition, the plague was caused by the students having hatred towards and jealousy of one another. During this time, in order for us to be once again worthy to recieve the Torah, we must work on how we treat one another. As we transition from Passover to Shavuot we must look deep inside ourselves and work on being worthy of our holy Torah and reverse the historical trend and transition from sadness to once again joy...'+'
'
+'Submitted by Jake Nasar';
omer[26]='Today is the 38th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.'+'
'
+'Benjamin Disraeli';
omer[27]='Today is the 39th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Had I gone looking for some particular place rather than any place, I\'d never have found this spring under the sycamores. Since leaving home, I felt for the first time at rest. Sitting full in the moment, I practiced on the god-awful difficulty of just paying attention. It is a contention of Heat Moon\'s -- believing as he does any travel who misses the journey misses about all he\'s going to get -- that a man becomes his attentions. His observations and curiosity, they make and remake him.'+'
'
+'Blue Highways: a Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon'+'
'
+'Submitted by Rafi Spitzer';
omer[28]='Today is the 40th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'As of late, I follow a mystical tradition of counting the Omer through 7 Sefirot—an ordering of Godly attributes: (1) Chesed/lovingkindness, (2) Gevurah/strength, (3) Tif’eret/beauty, (4) Netzach/everlastingness, (5) Hod/glory, (6) Yesod/foundation, and (7) Shekhinah/presence.'+'
'
+'On week 1 the Omer, we account for Chesed in our lives; on week 2, Gevurah; and so forth. On the 1st day of each Omer-week (days 1-7, 8-14, etc.), we think of how Chesed interacts with the weekly theme; on the 2nd day of each Omer-week, we think of Gevurah in the week’s theme; and so on.'+'
'
+'On this sixth week of the Omer, we reflect on Yesod—that which is firm in our lives: our confidence, our faith, our determination. On this fifth day of the Omer-week, we reflect on Hod: all that we recognize as awesome, amazing, extraordinary. On Day 40, this day of Hod in the week of Yesod, we reflect on those unbelievable experiences in our lives that have served as the foundation of our beliefs. Blessed is God who enables us both to articulate why we stand where we stand today, and to recognize when there are no words to say.'+'
'
+'Submitted by Jonah Rank';
omer[29]='Today is the 41st day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.'+'
'
+'C.S. Lewis';
omer[30]='Today is the 42nd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.'+'
'
+'Soren Kierkegaard';
// Continue til May 31st - the 42nd day of the omer
if (today_date-offset < 0 || today_date-offset > 30 )
errtext = "That date is not within the omer period!";
} else if ( today_month == 5 ) { // June
offset = 1; // Again, starting at the beginning
// 43rd day - 49th day on June 7th
omer[0]='Today is the 43rd day of the Omer'+'
'
+'What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.'+'
'
+'Saint Augustine';
omer[1]='Today is the 44th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.'+'
'
+'Nelson Mandela';
omer[2]='Today is the 45th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'Seven weeks after we celebrate Passover, we mark the holiday of Shavuot – literally “weeks.” In the Bible, Shavuot was primarily an agricultural holiday, marking the end of the grain harvest and the beginning of a new agricultural season during which first fruits were brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. Later, Shavuot came to be associated with the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. On Passover, we were physically freed from slavery; on Shavuot, our freedom is given purpose – we are free in order to serve God according to the dictates of the Torah.'+'
'
+'ritualwell.org';
omer[3]='Today is the 46th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The bittersweet sadness of time passing by'+'
'
+'Trying to hold back the years'+'
'
+'you try to reach out and touch yesterday'+'
'
+'But yesterday just disappears'+'
'
+'We\'ve shared a lot of sadness'+'
'
+'We\'ve shared a lot of pain'+'
'
+'Let\'s make good use of the time that remains'+'
'
+'Let\'s make every moment count'+'
'
+'Let\'s taste the richness of life to its fullest amount'+'
'
+'Between me and you and all we\'ve been through'+'
'
+'There are no problems that we can\'t surmount'+'
'
+'Let\'s make every moment count+'+'
'
+'Let\'s make every moment count'+'
'
+'Tom Snow/Gerry Goffin';
omer[4]='Today is the 47th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'What happened on Sinai? The Bible tries to say it in two ways. What it says in one is something words can hardly bear: "The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai" (Exodus 19:20). No sentence in the world has ever said more: He who is beyond, hidden and exalted above space and time was humbly here, for all of Israel to sense. But the Bible also speaks in another way: "I have talked to you from heaven" (Exodus 20:22). He did not descend upon the earth; all that happened was that His word welled "from heaven." These passages do not contradict each other; they refer not to one but to two events. For revelation was both an event to God and an event to man. Indeed, in the second passage it is God who speaks (in the first person); the first passage conveys what the people experienced (it speaks of God in the third person). The same act had two aspects. God did and did not descend upon the earth. The voice came out of heaven but man heard it out of Sinai.'+'
'
+'Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man';
omer[5]='Today is the 48th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'We All Stood Together'+'
'
+'by Merle Feld'+'
'
+'My brother and I were at Sinai'+'
'
+'He kept a journal'+'
'
+'of what he saw'+'
'
+'of what he heard'+'
'
+'of what it all meant to him'+'
'
+'I wish I had such a record'+'
'
+'of what happened to me there'+'
'
+'It seems like every time I want to write'+'
'
+'I can’t'+'
'
+'I’m always holding a baby'+'
'
+'one of my own'+'
'
+'or one for a friend'+'
'
+'always holding a baby'+'
'
+'so my hands are never free'+'
'
+'to write things down'+'
'
+'And then'+'
'
+'as time passes'+'
'
+'the particulars the hard data'+'
'
+'the who what when where why'+'
'
+'slip away from me'+'
'
+'and all I’m left with is'+'
'
+'the feeling'+'
'
+'But feelings are just sounds'+'
'
+'and vowel barkings of a mute'+'
'
+'My brother is so sure of what he heard'+'
'
+'after all he’s got a record of it'+'
'
+'consonant after consonant after consonant'+'
'
+'If we remembered it together'+'
'
+'we could create holy time'+'
'
+'sparks flying';
omer[6]='Today is the 49th day of the Omer'+'
'
+'The season of the counting of the Omer comes at an ideal moment in the academic calendar, just when we are anxiously anticipating the end of our responsibilities -- but also when we are anticipating the void to follow, leaving behind the familiarity of friends and classes, heading off to summer or even the greater journeys beyond. Counting forces us to slow down time, to appreciate and relish every moment, to breathe deeply of the experience and be incredibly present. At the end of our season of counting, a celebration of meaning and fulfillment, we receive the Torah, an abundant spring in the raw, bare desert. All of that anticipation and then, in a flash, we are there and the moment has passed.'+'
'
+'May your harvests be fruitful and your Torah be exceedingly sweet. May your liberation be framed with purpose and may you always be filled with the joy of anticipation.'+'
'
+'Hag Sameah.'+'
'
+'Rabbi Elyse Winick';
if (today_date-offset < 0 || today_date-offset > 6 )
errtext = "That date is not within the omer period!";
}
if (errtext == '' )
return omer[today_date-offset];
else
return errtext;
}
function getOmerDate( omerDate ) {
var arOmer = omerDate.split('/');
var month = arOmer[0]-1; var day = arOmer[1]; var year = arOmer[2];
var today_obj = new Date(year,month,day); // Simulate any date
var today_date = today_obj.getDate();
var today_month = today_obj.getMonth();
var today_year = today_obj.getYear();
var omer = new Array();
var offset = 0;
var errtext = '';
//Configure the below array to hold the 31 possible messages for the month
if (today_month == 3) { // April
offset = 20; // we're starting midmonth so we need to offset to make the array work
omer[0]='1st';
omer[1]='2nd';
omer[2]='3rd';
omer[3]='4th';
omer[4]='5th';
omer[5]='6th';
omer[6]='7th';
omer[7]='8th';
omer[8]='9th';
omer[9]='10th';
omer[10]='11th';
if (today_date-offset < 0 || today_date-offset > 10 ) {
errtext = "err";
}
} else if ( today_month == 4 ) { // May
offset = 1; // we start from the beginning of the month
omer[0]='12th';
omer[1]='13th';
omer[2]='14th';
omer[3]='15th';
omer[4]='16th';
omer[5]='17th';
omer[6]='18th';
omer[7]='19th';
omer[8]='20th';
omer[9]='21st';
omer[10]='22nd';
omer[11]='23rd';
omer[12]='24th';
omer[13]='25th';
omer[14]='26th';
omer[15]='27th';
omer[16]='28th';
omer[17]='29th';
omer[18]='30th';
omer[19]='31st';
omer[20]='32nd';
omer[21]='33rd';
omer[22]='34th';
omer[23]='35th';
omer[24]='36th';
omer[25]='37th';
omer[26]='38th';
omer[27]='39th';
omer[28]='40th';
omer[29]='41st';
omer[30]='42nd';
// Continue til May 31st - the 42nd
if (today_date-offset < 0 || today_date-offset > 30 )
errtext = "That date is not within the omer period!";
} else if ( today_month == 5 ) { // June
offset = 1; // Again, starting at the beginning
// 43rd day - 49th day on June 7th
omer[0]='43rd';
omer[1]='44th';
omer[2]='45th';
omer[3]='46th';
omer[4]='47th';
omer[5]='48th';
omer[6]='49th';
if (today_date-offset < 0 || today_date-offset > 6 )
errtext = "That date is not within the omer period!";
}
if (errtext == '' )
return omer[today_date-offset];
else
return errtext;
}