26 Days of the Omer. That is 3 Weeks and 5 Days.

Pixabay KarlHeinzBoehmer

Hod shebe Netzach
Hidden Splendor within Endurance
Saturday evening May 18 and Sunday May 19
Shavua Tov

Devon Spier is sitting on a big rock and shouting out her poetry into the sky.
It falls around us like rain if rain were fairy dust.  

You have permission
 to laugh until you can't speak.
 And to speak until you can't catch your breath.
 You have permission to fall in love with yourself.
 Or to not know which self you really are today.
You have permission to be curious, confused, clueless and aimless.
 Yes, you have permission.
 The rainbow spirit inside of you has been
lighting up the world ever since
the day you were born.
 And you, in all your radiance
 Are worth being seen, however you want to be.

Ahava Raba, the biggest love there is.

Enjoying the soft butterfly kisses of her words on my skin, I’m watching Joseph and Asnat dance in the light. They are a swirl of blues and reds, greens and yellows, and of course they are wearing bells. When they lean together and their heads touch their curls, hers bouncing on her shoulders and his loose and flowing down his back, intertwine. 

I wonder what it is for Dinah to see her child emanating joy.
I wonder what it is for Rachel to see her child radiating splendor.
Together they are lighting up the world.

Joseph is wearing Asnat’s amulet around his neck. Jacob gave it to her before Gabriel . . . what’s that? Yeah, Gabriel the angel. That one. Jacob gave it to her before Gabriel took her to Egypt to hide her in the home of a loving couple telling her that, for now, she must tell no one who she was. On it are the words, “Holy to Adonai.” That was how Joseph knew it was her. He recognized his father’s handwriting. He recognized the amulet. After he emerged from the pit, then from Potiphar’s home, then from khnry - from prison, when he became Pharaoh’s advisor, he asked for Asnat as his wife. 

It took them a long time to get here.
They are both exactly themselves.
Joseph and Asnat.

They move to music I can’t hear but can see in the curves of their bodies, the rise and fall of their feet, and the delight on their faces.

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 שִׁשָּׁה וְעֶשְׂריִם יוֹם
שֶׁהֵם  שְׁלֹשָׁה  שָׁבוּעוֹת וַחֲמִשָּׁה יָמִים לָעוֹמֶר.

Hayom shishah v’esrim yom
shehem shlosha shavuot v’chamisha yamim la’omer

Today is twenty-six days of the Omer.
That is three weeks and five days of the Omer.
Sefirat HaOmer Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hCiPI1tMQ