Sefirat HaOmer Discussion

So....
Who is shaving? Who is letting it grow?
Do you listen to music, or not?
Do you count the days?
What changes for you, during these 7 weeks?

I don't shave anyway, but no haircuts.
No music.
Count of course.
I'd like to say that I try to work on my attributes. But I don't.

dantech said:

So....
Who is shaving? Who is letting it grow?
Do you listen to music, or not?
Do you count the days?
What changes for you, during these 7 weeks?

Click to expand...

I count, and I use the Kabbalistic/Sefirot count (for example, tonight will be Netzach she-bi'Gevurah) as kind of a point of kavanah, turning the count into a spiritual exercise. Every day I try to think briefly about how, in my life, I can more effectively move from freedom alone (Yetziat Mitzrayim) to freedom channelled productively into 'asiyat ha-mitzvot and tikkun ha-olam (Kabbalat ha-Torah).

That said, I don't hold by most of the minhagim about Sefirat ha-Omer (not listening to music or going to entertainments before Lag b'Omer, not shaving/trimming hair before then, etc.). I have a beard, so shaving isn't a question, but I do trim it, and I do get my hair trimmed, and I do listen to music, watch TV/movies, etc.

For me, Sefirat ha-Omer is purely a spiritual practice inspired by the mitzvah d'oraita to count the days.

I've started counting by putting one grain of barley each night into a cup on my kitchen table, and collecting those as I count (starting after Pesach). I'm not sure if that's allowed, though, since I've never heard of anyone doing it...