Recount #BlogExodus 7th of Nisan

I am late coming to the blogging Exodus party but I started on the right day.  RECOUNT  is today's topic and let me tell you how we count the Omer at Lakeside Congregation.  First what is the Omer and why do we count in the first place and if you google you will find:

Counting of the Omer (Hebrew: ספירת העומר, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot as stated in the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 23:15–16.

We count and RECOUNT from Pesach to Shavuot and at Lakeside we do this not with wheat but with products made from wheat, rice and other grains:  CEREAL boxes.   On every day of the Omer we put on our bimah the number of cereal boxes that correspond to that day.  By the end of the 49 days we have 1225 boxes of cereal which we donate to local food banks.

For the first time this year one of the food banks actually contacted me wondering if they could receive our cereal boxes.  They let me know how much they appreciate getting all of the cereal boxes for their clients. Cereal is not inexpensive and they thank us and I thank all of the families at Lakeside for bringing boxes of cereal all through the end of April, May and the beginning of June.  We appreciate all of the cereal boxes that congregants bring in and if you are in the neighborhood drop off a cereal box or two.