41 Days of the Omer. That is 5 Weeks and 6 Days.
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Yesod shebe Yesod
Foundation within Foundation
Sunday evening June 2 and Monday June 3
Tonight as the rain fell in soft droplets on my face, Rabbi Avi Strausberg told me about a text from the Zohar.
“According to the Zohar,” she said, “Zohar Mishpatim 11:99a, the rainbow from the story of the Flood tried to look after Moshe. . . . “The Zohar shares a story in which Rabbi Yose encounters a very wise person on his travels who says, ‘And Moshe went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain (Exodus 24:18). This cloud, what is it? It is this that which is written, “I placed My rainbow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:13). We recite, ‘The rainbow cast off its clothing and gave it to Moshe. In that clothing, Moshe went up the mountain, and because of it he saw what he saw, and benefitted from all of it.’”
I look up to a sky full of clouds and think about that one - the first cloud to hold a rainbow. I think about the cloud Moses entered when he went up the mountain. I think about what Rabbi Strausberg offers us, that the rainbow itself said to Moses, “Take me with you. When you go up on the mountain, when you are before God, you are going to need all of this color.”
You are going to need all of this color.
I picture Moses standing on the mountain, resplendent, radiant, colorful, chatting with God and receiving the Torah.
We are also taught that color was and is part of revelation for all of us.
Each tribe was represented by their own unique shade of color, and so are each of us. The Torah is revealed to us in colors, colors made just for us.
Of course it is.
“When Moshe goes up the mountain,” Rabbi Strausberg continues, “clothed in God’s very own rainbow placed in the cloud so long ago, two things are happening. First, adorned in the colors of the rainbow, it’s as if Moshe goes up there with each of us accompanying him as he stands before God. Moshe has to do this hard, scary, exciting, awesome thing—but he is not alone in it because of the gift given to him by the rainbow, representing us. Each person, in every radiant shade and hue—we stand with Moshe before God when he gets the Torah. Second, God sees us. God sees that we each have our own color, a color for every tribe, for every person, and God reveals the light of God’s Torah to us each in our own shade. God’s Torah is one where every color of the rainbow is present.”
Behind all of the clouds above me the sun is setting and the sky is too dark for a rainbow, but earlier today Liddy, my legal wife who I stood with, each of us wearing a tallit, under a chuppah, mentioned how wild it is that June is welcomed with rainbows all over our city and our neighborhood. Synagogues and Jewish organizations have Pride month and Pride Shabbat on their calendars now. Libraries have Pride book lists, and also, books and TV shows regularly have queer characters. This morning I read that a Russian trans man is seeking asylum here in Minnesota. From what I understand, when he was released from ICE detention, a nonprofit gave him food and asked if he needed to call anyone and said they would buy him a one-way plane ticket. They asked Erik Beda where he wanted to go. He said he wanted to go to Minnesota. “It’s an obvious fact that Minnesota is a refuge for trans people, so we had no doubts that we had to go,” Erik Beda said.
I look down at my arms, at the spots of water dotting my skin.
I look back up again at the sky and smile because I know how water works.
‘It was you, wasn’t it?’ I whisper. ‘You who held that first rainbow. You who shared all that color with Moses because he needed it. You who share all that color with us. See you at Sinai.’
And you.
I’ll see you at Sinai, too.
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 אֶחָד וְאַרְבָּעִים יוֹם
שֶׁהֵם חֲמִשָּׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת
וְשִׁשָּׁה יָמִים לָעוֹמֶר.
Hayom echad v’arba’im yom
shehem chamishah shavuot
v’chamishah yamim la’omer
Today is forty-one days.
That is five weeks and six days of the Omer.
Sefirat HaOmer Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hCiPI1tMQ