23 Days of the Omer. That is 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
Pixabay estall
Gevurah shebe Netzach
Strength/Might and Judgment within Endurance
Wednesday evening May 15 and Thursday May 16
טוֹב אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם מִגִּבּוֹר וּמֹשֵׁל בְּרוּחוֹ מִלֹּכֵד עִיר׃
Proverbs 16:32
Better to be slow to anger than mighty,
To have self-control than to conquer a city.
I have never seen them together before.
Gray curls wisp around her lined face and she raises her arms and circles them above her, gesturing in a kind of ‘all of them’ motion.
I wonder what story Judith is telling.
She was a widow when General Holofernes besieged Bethulia. The people became desperate, the leaders irresolute, and Judith, frustrated in their lack of faith. She took matters into her own hands, ultimately outsmarting and killing the general. The Israelites, led by the Maccabees, their faith restored, secured victory and eventually rededicated the Temple.
Right now she has the undivided attention of Devorah - warrior, prophet, and judge - who is nodding.
Devorah summoned Barak to lead the battle against the Canaanites and he agreed to do it only if she accompanied him. As his forces lost the battle, General Sisera fled to Yael’s tent where she killed him fulfilling Devorah’s prophecy. As a judge, Devorah was the highest arbiter in Israelite society.
She reaches out her right hand and grasps Judith’s upper arm, then holds up her left as if to say, ‘Just wait until you hear how it was for me!’
They are both old women.
Did they arrive together this year or find each other along the way?
Are they, okay wait, could they be a couple now?
I don’t feel compelled to ship together all of my favorite women from the TaNaKh, and I wouldn’t have thought Judith and Devorah . . . but here we are, and here they are, and . . . welcome to the way my mind works. Watching them together, they sure seem well-matched.
I’m liking the idea of a romance between these two elders.
Anyway, unlike Chesed, which is an outward and expansive sephirah, Gevurah is inward focused. Self-discipline, self-control, the ability to use good judgment in one’s decisions, true inner strength - these are Gevurah. Of course, our decisions also impact others. When we have power, Gevurah is using that power appropriately.
If Gevurah is good choices, Netzach is good habits. Netzach is knowing who we are and where we are going, at least in a values and general direction kind of way, so we don’t have to constantly choose. Netzach is in it for the long game while painfully aware of how impossible the task ahead truly is. Netzach is a lifetime together, a neverending story.
Devorah has stopped talking and the punchline must hang in the air because Judith has paused and turned to her just as both women rock the air with their laughter.
See you at Sinai.
How to say the blessing:
Choose the language that resonates with you the most.
Non-gendered Hebrew based on grammar system built by Lior Gross and Eyal Rivlin,
available at www.nonbinaryhebrew.com
Gender Expansive:
הִנְנִי מוּכָנֶה וּמְזֻמֶּנֶה …
Hineni muchaneh um’zumeneh …
Here I am, ready and prepared …
Feminine:
הִנְנִי מוּכָנָה וּמְזֻמֶּנֶת …
Hineni muchanah um’zumenet …
Here I am, ready and prepared …
Masculine:
הִנְנִי מוּכָן וּמְזֻמַן …
Hineni muchan um’zuman …
Here I am, ready and prepared …
All Continue:
… לְקַיֵּם מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּתּוֹרָה וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת
מִיּוֹם הַבִיאֳכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימוֹת תִּהְיֶנָה. עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת
הַשְּׁבִיעִית תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶם מִנְחָה חֲדָשָה לַיי
… lekayyem mitzvat aseh shel sefirat ha-omer, kemo shekatuv batorah: us’fartem lakhem mimacharat hashabbat, miyom havi’akhem et omer hat’nufah, sheva shabbatot temimot tih’yena, ad mimacharat hashabbat hash’vi’it tis’peru khamishim yom, vehikravtem minkha khadasha l’adonai.
… to fulfill the mitzvah of counting the Omer, as it is written in the Torah: And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Shabbat, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the wave-offering, you shall count seven full weeks. Until the day after the seventh Shabbat, you shall count fifty days, until you bring a new gift to the Eternal.
Gender-Expansive Language for God
בְּרוּכֶה אַתֶּה יי אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשֶׁנוּ בְּמִצַוְּתֶהּ וְצִוֶּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר
Brucheh ateh Adonai, Eloheinu khei ha’olamim, asher kidshenu bemitzvoteh v’tzivenu al sefirat ha’omer.
Blessed are You, Eternal, Life of all worlds who has made us holy with Their commandments, and commanded us to count the Omer.
Feminine Language for God
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָ-הּ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוְּתָהּ וְצִוָּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר
Bruchah at Yah, ru’akh ha’olam asher kidshanu bemitzvotah v’tzivanu al sefirat ha’omer
Blessed are You, Yah, our God, Spirit of the universe who has made us holy with Her commandments, and commanded us to count the Omer.
Masculine Language for God
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kidshanu bemitzvotav v’tzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, ruler of the universe who has made us holy with His commandments, and commanded us to count the Omer.
Count the day and week
Today is the _________ day, which is _________ weeks and _________ days of the Omer.
Today:
הַיּוֹם שְׁלֹשָׁה וְעֶשְׂריִם יוֹם
שֶׁהֵם שְׁלֹשָׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת וּשְׁנֵי יָמִים לָעוֹמֶר.
Hayom shlosha v‘esrim yom
shehem shlosha shavuot u’shnei yamim la’omer
Today is twenty-three days of the Omer.
That is three weeks and two days of the Omer.
Sefirat HaOmer Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hCiPI1tMQ