12 Days of the Omer. That is 1 Week and 5 Days.
Daughters of Zelophechad
Painting by Yoram Raanan (one of my favorite artists)
Hod of Gevurah
Humility of Discipline/Justice/Boundaries
Saturday evening and Sunday
Evening May 4 and Day of May 5
Three bicycles pull up next to me.
“Hey, you!” my friend Jared, also a rabbi, calls out as he slows and stops. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up!” he shouts to his husband and son. They ride away happily singing the Golden Girls theme song . . . ‘travel down the road and back again . . . .’
“Your family is so awesome,” I say.
“I know, right?” he smiles.
“Maybe I should add the Golden Girls to my Shavuot playlist,” I laugh. “Yesterday I walked a while with Zelophechad’s wife. She could be a Golden Girl.”
“Have you caught up with Machlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirza yet?” he asks.
“Her daughters? Not yet, you?”
“Not yet.”
“Amy! Jared!” a woman calls. “I thought that was you!” she comes closer. “Machlah! Tirza! Look! It’s Amy and Jared!”
“Noa! It’s so good to see you! Can I give you a hug?” I ask.
“Thanks for asking!” she says as she hugs me close. “Hi, Jared,” she says, turning to him.
“How’s the trip been for you so far?” he asks her.
“It feels hard for us this year,” she responds honestly.
“For us, too,” I say as the other 4 sisters join us.
These are our Biblical ancestors who fought for the legal right, if limited, for Israelite women to inherit land. Their father, Zelophechad, died during the forty years in the wilderness after the spies returned with their disastrous report. Machlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah survived and entered the Land. According to God’s decree, the promised land was to be apportioned according to the number of names of members of the second generation counted in the census. Since only men were counted, these women - and all women, would be left without an inheritance. For years they presented their case first to local leadership, then to judges of higher rank, then eventually stating their case in front of the sacred tent of meeting in the presence of Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole community. They argued, like lawyers, that their father’s name should not be cut off from his clan just because he had no son and that they should be permitted to inherit his land portion. Anything else, they said, would be injustice. According to the Torah, Moses consulted God and God announced the decision that the proposal of these women, Machlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah was just and must be implemented. They knew the exact space they needed to take up to bring about justice. That is Hod. That is humility. That is how they changed everything.
Noa has an arm draped over my shoulder. Tirzah’s littlest one is jumping around by my feet. Bending to pick her up I notice she looks just like her aunt Machlah did at her age. I say as much to Tirzah.
“Looks like her and takes after her!” exclaims Tirzah beaming with pride. “She’s going to move mountains!”
“How is she going to move mountains?” asks an older cousin, maybe nine or ten.
Machlah ruffles his hair, “With our help,” she says looking at her sisters. “Our help, and yours, too. That’s how we move anything that needs moving.”
“A mountain?” says the cousin, doubtful.
“Anything,” says Machlah.
“We need to go find Ima,” notes Milcah.
“And Abba,” adds Hoglah.
The cousin reaches out for the toddler and I hand her over.
“I’m so glad we crossed paths,” says Jared.
“Us, too!” says Hoglah as she turns away.
“It’s so wild who we get to see on this journey,” I say to Jared.
“See you at Sinai!” yells the little girl over her cousin’s shoulder.
“See you at Sinai!” we yell back.
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 שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר יוֹם שֶׁהֵם
שָׁבוּעַ אֶחָד וַחֲמִשָׁה יָמִים לָעוֹמֶר.
Hayom asar yom shehem shavua echad v’chamishah
la’omer
Today is twelve days of the Omer.
That is one week and five days of the Omer.
Sefirat HaOmer Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hCiPI1tMQ