A Poetical Journey Through Sefirat HaOmer

Steve Moss has written a hypnotic series of poems to enhance our spiritual experience during the Counting of the Omer. His tools are the kabbalistic sephirot, which he juxtaposes, two at a time, according to the tradition. Thus, we meditate upon, for example, Hesed in Hesed; Gervurah in Hesed; Tiferet in Hesed. If this seems daunting, fear not. Rabbi Moss provides a guide to this use of the terminology in his introduction, and, in any event, the rhythm of his use of these terms becomes clear as the reader progresses through them. These are deeply felt love poems to the many aspects of God and of the man or woman who longs to experience flakes of the Divine according to the interwoven meanings of the word pairs under poetic exploration. Each poem is a meditation, which draws us inward and upward. At the same time, they all cast their spell upon the reader, inviting us to enter into a different and spiritual realm as we move ourselves from Pesach to Shavuot, from redemption to revelation, while inviting us to a recreation of our own individual consciousness. - Rabbi Philip Cohen