Day 9 of the Omer

 The ninth day of the omer - the second day of the second week - is Gevurah in Gevurah. Gevurah is strength, but a special kind of strength, "Who is gibor - strong? One who restrains one's urge." (Prov. 16:23). Restraint in restraint - double restraint

Soaring high in the air, the hawk expends relatively little energy. Its outstretched wings catch the breezes and it rides the updrafts, spiraling higher and higher. Far above the ground, the hawk's keen eyes watch for movement among the grasses, and then the winged predator suddenly zooms earthward, talons outstretched, to powerfully grab its sustenance. 


Like the hawk, we, too, are powerful. We have more strength than we think we do, until such moments when we need it. Restraint in Restraint - what does it take to hold onto ourselves, to find that deep strength and power, instead of collapsing in anger or despair? What does it take for us to soar on the updrafts, to allow G!d to hold us through tough times?


We have Restraint within Restraint, the Divine Presence is with us, and we can do it.


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 nine days which are one week and two days of the Omer.

Day 8 of the Omer

Tonight begins Week Two of counting the Omer. The Divine Attribute for this week is Gevurah, which means justice and discipline, but also restraint. Gevurah is about boundaries and limits. On the first day of this week, we have Chesed of Gevurah


In this second week of the omer, we focus on birds. Birds are able to navigate across boundaries - they may walk and feed and nest on land and then fly through the sky. Some dive and swim in or under the water. 


A great blue heron stands on its long spindly legs, nobly still and silent in the shallow water as it stalks its prey. So still, it looks like a statue. Then, suddenly, as fast as lightning, its long neck stretches out straight and the heron stabs its beak into the water. It quickly comes back up, a fish in its beak. When the heron takes flight, it long legs stretch behind it and its huge wings cut majestically through the air.


At times, we may, as fast as lightning, lash out or speak words we later wish we hadn't said. Let us remember to be like the heron, still and silent, exhibiting restraint. Let us hold ourselves, let us hold ourselves with Chesed, with lovingkindness, and wait, like the heron, with Gevurah, until it is the right time for us to respond, until it is the right moment for us to catch our fish, and then we will be able to spread our wings and fly. 



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 eight days which is one day and one week of the Omer.

Day 7 of the Omer

The last day of the first week of counting the Omer is represented by the Divine Attribute of Malchut - Sovereignty or Leadership. And so today, we recognize the Leadership in Lovingkindness that comes to us from G!d.


This is also our last day of having the Moon as the representative of our creation connection. We can see the effect of the gravitational pull of the Moon on the water in Earth's oceans when we see the rising tides. The Moon has an impact and makes a difference to life on our planet. 


We, too, can have an impact and make a difference to life on our planet when we act with leadership -- leadership stemming from the Divine Attributes of Leadership embedded within Lovingkindness. May our sense of being loved by G!d give us the strength to open our mouths and express words of lovingkindness that lead others as we follow in G!d's footsteps.


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 seven days, which is one week of the Omer.

  

Day 6 of the Omer

Today is the sixth day of counting the Omer, and it is represented by the Divine Attribute of Y'sod, bonding. We experience from G!d bonding in lovingkindness.

The Moon revolves around the Earth, again and again and again. They are stuck to each other by gravity, and connected for a lifetime. As we feel and experience G!d's strong and ongoing connection to us, lovingkindness with depth and without end, let us try to let our love and our kindness be the same. Let us focus today on allowing ourselves to connect deeply, to feel and to give love, and not to give up. May our connections to G!d and to others be strong and lasting. May we feel the bonds of love powerfully in our lives. 


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 six days of the Omer.

Day 5 of the Omer

Tonight we experience Hod - Humility - in Chesed - Lovingkindness - as we count the fifth day of the Omer.


The Moon is slowing "disappearing," behind the clouds as well as in the cycle of the Moon's monthly waning. Yet, it remains present, in the background - it is still there behind the clouds, and despite the lack of light reflecting off it, it is in its ordained location in the sky, at same average distance of 238,857 miles  from the center of the Earth that it always is at this particular Moon cycle. The Moon is present but is not (or almost not) visible.


What about us? Are we able to find the humility to allow ourselves to act from the sidelines or the background without being visible, without being out in front and all lit up? Are we able to acknowledge that we are not always right? When we find the strength to do either or both of these, our kindness becomes more pervasive - there is more room for it. Humility in Lovingkindness - letting our hearts take center stage and leaving our egos in the background, behind the clouds and away from the stage lights.


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 regarding the counting of the omer.

Today is five days of the Omer.

Day 4 of the Omer

Netzach is the Divine Attribute of Endurance, and on this fourth day of counting the omer, we encounter Netzach in Chesed, Endurance in Lovingkindness. 


The Moon continues to wane, and eventually will be just a thin crescent in the night sky; it will grow dark, it will gradually wax until it becomes full, and then the cycle will start again, to repeat itself over and over again. The Moon may appear to be fickle as it comes and goes, but in reality it endures, it continues to be present even when we can't see it, and it becomes visible over and over again. The Moon is always there. It is with us for the long haul.


So, too, is G!d with us for the long haul, and G!d's kindness is with us for the long haul, through thick and thin, through hard times and good, through days when we feel like no one loves us and days when we know we are loved, through times when people treat us unfairly and times when we feel on top of the world. May our kindness be like the Moon and like G!d -- always present, always with us, enduring.

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 regarding the counting of the omer.

Today is four days of the Omer.

Day 3 of the Omer

By Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

On day 3 of the Omer, we consider the Divine Attributes of Tiferet in Chesed. Tiferet is Harmony or Compassion.

When we see the Moon, the light we are seeing is not generated by the Moon, it is the light of the Sun reflected off the Moon's surface. Our light and our love increase when we reflect the light and the love we receive from G!d. When we have Compassion in Lovingkindness how much deeper our love and our kindness becomes. During the seder, we dipped our finger in the wine and removed 10 drops, one for each plague, diminishing the amount of wine and symbolically diminishing our joy as we remember that G!d's children, the Egyptians, were drowning in the Sea even as our ancestors were being redeemed. 

 What does it take to have compassion on those who pursue us, on our enemies, on those people with whom we find it difficult to engage? It take a deep connection to the Beyond and to our innermost selves, it takes a compassion that enriches love. It takes receiving and reflecting G!d's Chesed and G!d's Tiferet - both of which are needed for us to help increase the Harmony in the Universe.

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 regarding the counting of the omer.

Today is three days of the Omer.

Day 2 of the Omer

The second night of counting the omer gives us the combination of the Divine Attributes Chesed and Gevurah - Lovingkindness and Justice or Discipline. As we see the moon beginning to wane, may we remember that love in a framework is a more effective and useful and safe way of loving and being loved, and sometimes we need to contain ourselves in order to feel the Divine Presence and to truly be able to love others. When anger or jealousy or pain get in the way, if we remember, "Be still, and know that I am G!d," (Ps. 46:11), we can get back to loving with our full hearts and being G!d's instruments of love on Earth.


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 regarding the counting of the omer.


Today is two days of the Omer.

Counting the Omer

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

On the second night of Passover, we begin counting the Omer. We count the 49 days from crossing into freedom to receiving the Torah, the 49 days from redemption to revelation, from Passover to Shavuot, from the  Sea of Reeds to the Mountain of Sinai, from the depths of despair to the heights of joy, from physical enslavement to spiritual freedom, from the barley harvest offering to the wheat harvest offering, from the food of animals offering to the food of humans offering. We count 49 days. We count seven weeks of seven. We count seven weeks of Divine Attributes. We count a myriad of human emotions. We count the nights.

I invite you to count the Omer. I invite you to count the days and the nights, starting at the seder on Saturday night.

First we say the blessing:
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 its commandments and commands regarding the counting of the omer.
Or, alternatively,
Brucha at Yah, Eloheinu ruach ha'olam, asher kidshtanu b'mitzvoteha, vitzivatanu al sefirat ha'omer.
Blessed are you Ya our G!d spirit of the universe, who sanctifies us with its mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the omer.

Then we count:
HaYom yom echad laomer. 
Today is Day 1 of the Omer.

Tonight (Friday) the Moon will be full. Tomorrow night will be night #1 of the Omer. The Moon will be starting to wane. We will be starting our journey from the Sea to the Mountain.

What do you want to count?
Whom would you choose to remember?
What do you wish to mark?
Where do you dream to be?
What do you desire to notice?
What is the source of meaning?

Each day in the counting of the omer, each S'firah day, is connected to a combination of Divine Attributes, the Divine S'firot, or luminances. As we count, we are encouraged to engage with these attributes, both those emanating from the Divine, and those emanating from ourselves, as a way to help improve ourselves, to make, step-by-step, an upward physical and spiritual journey from the Sea to the Mountain, from Redemption from Slavery to Revelation of Torah.

These are the seven Divine Attributes associated with Counting the Omer:
1. Chesed - Lovingkingness
2. Gevurah - Justice and Discipline
3. Tiferet - Harmony, Compassion
4. Netzach - Endurance
5. Hod - Humility
6. Y'sod - Bonding
7. Mallchut - Sovereignty, Leadership

Each week during the Omer, we take one Divine Attribute and we connect it in turn each day to each of the other Attributes. WE also take a bit of nature to connect to these Attributes. We begin tomorrow night with the Moon, watching it diminish in size and brightness, and as we watch the natural cycle of the Moon, we connect it to the first of the seven Divine Attributes, Chesed, or Lovingkindness. Although the size of the Moon may appear to us to be diminishing, in fact, it does not change, just our perception of it, due to its illumination by the Sun, makes it appear to diminish. But we are headed toward Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, and in Judaism, the new month, and so, as we think of Lovingkindness / Lovingkindness, let us feel the love G!d feels for us, let us allow that sense of being loved to grow over this week, and let us make that sense of G!d's love manifest in the world to a greater and greater degree through how we interact with others, by being kind, sharing our knowledge and our wealth.

So, I invite you to choose a question,  your own question, and count it - not down, but up - up from the Sea to the Mountain. I invite you to follow these posts, as I connect Earth to Omer, Earth to Torah. I will be on this journey with you, hopefully each night, but at least each week. On days I don't catch you, take the attribute of the week - this first week Chesed, Lovingkindness - and match it to the next attribute in the list, add in your question, and take a look at the natural world around you - this week the Moon, and then put it all together in your heart and your mind and your soul.

May you find yourself journeying from enslavement to freedom, and may that journey give you the strength to walk beside others and support them as they, too, journey toward greater freedom.

Chag Sameach - Happy Passover

With best wishes to all!

Katy

Birds and Blessings

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen


This Shabbat is Shabbat Shira, when we read the Song of the Sea, the song Moses sang after the Israelites passed through the opening in the Sea of Reeds and arrived in the desert of future wandering, where Pharaoh could not touch them, a song of praise and exaltation. This weekend is also Mass Audubon's Focus on Feeders weekend, a time to watch the birds at our feeders, count and record them, and send in our data to Mass Audubon. Counting the birds, we can think of the celebration of freedom, and praise the Creator in our own way. Here is a sample blessing to recite while watching the birds, thinking about all kinds of songs, and remembering to be grateful:


On this glorious day, I give thanks to you, O G!d. Thank you for the many wonders of the Earth, for fleeting glimpses of color - red and blue and yellow, white and green and orange, for feathers long and short and for light through the luminous sky, for nests large and small of grass and mud and sticks, for songs that awaken us in the morning and lull us to sleep in the evening, "that my soul might sing to you and not be silent, Wondrous One my G!d. Forever will I thank you." (Ps. 31:13)