Day 25 of the Omer

On this 25th Day of the Omer we consider Netzach in Netzach, Endurance in Endurance - double Endurance!


The flowers of the night-blooming cereus open only at night. The flowers of the four o'clock open only in late afternoon. Neither of these is the norm for flowering plants. Most flowers with which we are familiar open and remain open until they fade and the fruits begin to form, or they may close up at night and open during the day.


A flower that blooms eternally - a green plant whose flowers endure forever is one not likely to succeed, for it will bear no fruit, it will produce no seeds for new plants. In short, it will not reproduce. Flowers are meant to be ephemeral, that is their role in the cycle of a plant's life - their very short-livedness helps them bring about the endurance, the survival, of their species.


We, too, are short lived, in the scheme of things. Imagine all the human beings who have ever lived on this planet over the generations upon generations upon generations. It is hard to wrap our minds around that thought. We are each such a tiny spec in the history of human kind. And yet, our lives are so important to us!


What will it take for our species, and for the planet to endure, to survive? What role can we - single grain of sand that we each are - play in helping to keep the human race going? 


Just as we are each so small, and yet so important, so too, are each of our actions and deeds so small, and yet so important. For double Endurance, we need to pay attention to these small daily occurrences, and do our best to follow in G!d's footsteps and bring the Divine Attributes into being on this planet.


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 twenty-five days which is three weeks and four days of the Omer.