When Jewish holidays can seem like too much, and meaning-making too soon

This story was originally published on My Jewish Learning.

(JTA) - My son's hair is more unruly than usual, though that's typical for this time of year. In our family, we follow the custom of not cutting our hair during the Omer, the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot.

The Omer is treated as a time of mourning - first marking the deaths of many thousands of Jews in the Bar Kochba revolt and subsequent plague in 132 CE, and later taking on significance as the time of year when Ashkenazi Jews frequently experienced pogroms.

In a few days, we'll get a reprieve - a picnic, maybe a haircut - on t...