Beginning this evening, many in the Jewish world will observe Tisha B’Av. It’s the date that, in different years, the two Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed.

There are two reasons that you might want to pay attention to it — first, those traumas led to the total reinvention of Judaism into the religion as we know it today.

And second, it comes exactly 50 days before Rosh Hashanah. Which this year falls on September 11th.

These seven weeks give us a chance to take a spiritual journey leading up to the High Holidays — from the saddest day of the Jewish year (and the incredible heat of mid-summer) to the renewal of Rosh Hashanah and the hope that has arisen in our nation since the terrible tragedies of 9/11.

Inspired by the seven week Omer count of the spring, from Passover to Shavuot, this Reverse Omer Counter takes you on a different spiritual journey. It offers 50 days of reflection, using daily quotations by Jews and non-Jews alike.

Why bother? Because you matter. What you do and how you live shape the meaning of your days and of all the lives that you touch.

You are important. So is your spiritual life. It’s worthy of your time. Click on the pdf below and give it a try.