Sefirah and Uncertainty (Part 7 of 9)

Welcome to the second half of Refa’einu.  In the first half of this course, Rabbi Fohrman and Imu explored Refa’einu, our prayer for healing, and its unexpected connections to Sefirat HaOmer. It turns out, this strange connection holds the key to understanding God’s promise to be our Healer, and may just be able to offer us the spiritual guidance a world battling COVID-19 deeply needs. 

In this second half of the course, Rabbi Fohrman and Imu turn from Refa’einu to dig even deeper into the theme of Sefirat HaOmer. If Sefirat Ha’omer is about the journey from Exodus until the giving of the Torah, then the story of marah, explored in earlier episodes, is only half that story. The other half is the next story in the Exodus saga: the story of the manna. This is a story of lack and scarcity, and the uncertainty which that brought to the Israelites. But it’s also a story that can teach us what it truly means to have faith, even in the worst of times.