Gratitude — Words of Torah (my blog!) — Rabbi Amy Josefa Ariel (she/her)

34 Days of the Omer. That is 4 Weeks and 6 Days.

Yesod shebe Hod
Foundation in Gratitude
Sunday evening May 26 and Monday May 27
I look at the man more closely. The yellow undertones of his skin soak in the slanted light as the day settles into evening. His eyes are green like the leaves of an olive tree. ‘Modah ani lefanecha, I give thanks before You for my soul,’ I think. Then I know who he is. This is Judah. Yehudah. When he was born, his mother Leah said, “This time I will give thanks to God,” and named him. “Odeh et Adonai,” she said. “Sh’mo Yehudah,” and named him Yehudah.

Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielMay 27, 2024Yesod shebe hod, Judah, Gratitude, Hodah, Modah, Modeh, Yehudim, Jonathan Sacks, ElaineComment

19 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 5 Days.

Hod shebe Tiferet
Gratitude within Beauty
Saturday evening May 11 and Sunday May 12
That is 4,749 days I have counted since my bone marrow transplant on May 12, 2011.
Which was the 8th of Iyar that year.
This year, the 8th of Iyar is May 16th.
I’m going to go ahead and celebrate both days.

The sun glows extra warmly tonight as it sets and one by one, and group by group, so many people come to walk with me that a Biblical author would tell you we count in the thousands. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands.

Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielMay 11, 2024Omer, AML, Hod, Tiferet, Sefirat haOmer, BMT, Gratitude, BeautyComment