Day 13 of the Omer

Today is the thirteenth day of counting the Omer. On this sixth day of the second week, we experience Y'sod, the Divine Attribute of Bonding in Gevurah, Restraint.


Bonding in bird parlance refers to the relationship between a male and a female bird for breeding. Many birds bond for a season only, the length of time it takes to reproduce and raise to their young to independence. A few birds bond for the lifetime of the members of the pair. These include Atlantic Puffins, which don't start breeding until they are three to six years old, and only lay one egg at a time. They return to the same burrow for nesting each year, share incubating the egg and parenting. 


Whether for a season or for a lifetime, for birds the goal is reproduction and the continuity of the species.


Y'sod of Gevurah - Bonding in Restraint. How do we restrain our anger, our hurt, our jealousy, our despair in order to maintain our bonds with others and with G!d? How do we return for forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace-making after difficult times? Our bonds with our family members will always be there, no matter whether we see them or not, and so, too, our bonds with G!d and with all those with whom we enter into relationship at one time or another. May we find the strength and the restraint to keep our bonds deep and enduring and healthy as we go forward in life from one day to the next.


Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, vitzivanu, al sefirat ha'omer.


Blessed are you Adonai our G!d, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the Omer.


Today is thirteen days which are one week and six days of the Omer.