46 Days of the Omer. That is 6 Weeks and 4 Days.
Netzach shebe Malchut
Endurance within Nobility/Sovereignty
Friday evening June 7 and Saturday June 8
“Look,” she says, handing me a stone. “See how blue it is . . . and green.” I take the stone and look at it. The combination of copper-bearing minerals, chrysocolla, malachite, azurite, and turquoize make it these rich watery colors. I hand it back to her.
“A stone fit for a queen?” I say, it’s not really a question.
She laughs, a rich, deep, warm, full laugh. “Or a king, so they say, born of a different wife.”
Abigail is speaking of King Solomon, the second son of Batsheva, David’s wife after Michal, Ahinoam, Abigail, Maachah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah. This stone is sometimes called Solomon’s stone, sometimes Eilat stone. It’s beautiful.
“It’s essential,” she says now, continuing to hold the stone in her palm, “to remember that what has been will be, in one form or another.” Wrapping her fingers around it now, she tucks the stone into a pocket hidden in the folds of her skirts. “Remember that, and one can know the past and tell the future. Revenge is ill-conceived and needless bloodshed is a staggering burden.”
She is very matter-of-fact about this. Her voice makes it sound as if it is an old idea, obvious. I wonder if it was in this way that she said the same to David to dissuade him from killing her first husband, who soon died anyway.
“Some say you are a prophet,” I comment.
“Others say I am merely astute,” she rejoins.
There is nothing mere about this woman.
“I lived in a tumultuous time,” says Abigail. “The sands were always shifting, but what is sand, anyway?” Her hand goes again to her pocket. “What has been, will be.”
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 שִׁשָׁה וְאַרְבָּעִים יוֹם
שֶׁהֵם שִׁשָּׁה שָׁבוּעוֹת
וְאַרְבָּעָ יָמִים לָעוֹמֶר.
Hayom shishah v’arba’im yom
shehem shishah shavuot v’arba’ah yamim la’omer
Today is forty-six days.
That is six weeks and four days of the Omer.
Sefirat HaOmer Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hCiPI1tMQ