Counting the Omer: day 44

Count for this day in the evening of the date shown above.

Counting the Omer began the second night of Passover, which was on April 9, 2020. The last day of counting is May 27, 2020.

You can learn more about the practice and history of counting the Omer here.

day 44 of the Omer: qualities of focus

Week 7 of the Omer is focused on Divine Presence – Malkhut/Shekhina. (Image Marlene Burns, copyright 2020. All rights reserved. art-marleneburns

The seventh week of the Omer is focused on Divine Presence (Malkhut/Shekhina).

The second day of the week is focused on Discipline, Strength, and Healthy Boundaries. (Gevurah).

The forty-fourth day is about how Discipline reveals the Divine Presence in our lives.

the blessing for counting the Omer

It’s traditional to say a blessing each evening, followed by reciting which day it is in the Omer journey. Here’s the blessing in English, feminized Hebrew, and the traditional masculine Hebrew. Use whichever Hebrew and/or English versions work for you!

English version of the blessing

Blessed are you, Eternal One-ness, Source and Breath of All Life, that has made us holy with your mitzvot, and compels us to count the Omer.

If you prefer feminine God language in Hebrew:

בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בִּמְצַוְּתָהּ וְצִוָּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר

B’rukhah at Yah Eloheynu khay ha’olamim asher kideshatnu bemitzvoteha vetzivatnu al sefirat ha’omer.

If you prefer masculine God language, or just like the traditional way of saying the blessing:


בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר

Baruch ata adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al sefirat ha-omer.

here’s today’s count, in Hebrew (transliterated), and English.

Process for counting the Omer: bless, count, reflect, repeat!

Ha-yom arba-ah v’arba-im yom, shehem shishah shavuot u’shnei yamim la-omer.

Today is forty-four days, which marks six weeks and two days of the Omer.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ve never done this before via blog post, and need your help to make sure everything works.

prefer Hebrew script?

If you prefer to read the blessing and count using Hebrew text, check out this app.

Or look in your favorite siddur (prayer book). It can often be found at the end of the evening service.

prefer Hebrew script?

If you prefer to read the blessing and count using Hebrew text, check out this app.

Or look in your favorite siddur (prayer book). It can often be found at the end of the evening service.

today’s poetic meditation

I’m posting a poetic meditation for each day to enhance the journey. Each meditation is focused on the kabbalistic qualities (sefirot) associated with the day.

The kabbalists often used the image of gates to describe the portals of consciousness represented by the sefirot, and that’s reflected in the ending to each of the meditations.

Evoking the kabbalistic Tree of Life during the Omer.

The kabbalists also often referenced the Tree of Life, upon which the sefirot are represented by the trunk and branches.

Some people like to read the meditations when they say the blessing at night. Others like to contemplate them in the morning to provide spiritual nourishment for the day’s activities.

Experiment, and see what works for you!

Gevurah b’Malkhut: discipline revealing Shekhina’s Divine Presence

Gevurah is the fortitude
it takes to march
into physical battle
with an enemy
who might kill you, and also
the strength of a horse
determined to pull
a heavy plough across
a rutty field.

It is the strength
of a disciplined
martial artist
knowing just when, 
and how, to approach
and retreat, to move
energy, big or small,
into the larger stream,
or around itself
until it falls.

And then there is
the focused will
to stand against tyranny
without becoming a tyrant,
to advocate for those
in need without
mistaking others’ needs
for our own, to believe
so deeply in justice
that we fight for it justly
without revenge
as our motive, to live
our lives each day
knowing how to
stand tall in gravity,
to hold one another
firmly, lovingly,
from within a deep
groove of integrity.

When our disciplined
Gevurah is channeled
into Life-Affirming
Presence, we can tell,
we are tilling the
soil for consciousness
and new beginnings.

This is our prayer
at the 44th gate.

Copyright Shifrah Tobacman, 2012.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is birdofparadise5_square.jpg
Birds of Paradise looking like they might fly off together!

prefer to hold a book in your hand?

You might be interested in Rabbi Shifrah’s collection Omer/Teshuvah: 49 Poetic Meditations for Counting the Omer or Turning Toward a New Year. Write to rabbishifrah@gmail.com to get a copy!

Rabbi Shifrah’s poetic meditations for counting the Omer..

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About Rabbi Shifrah

Shifrah

I’m a rabbi, holistic teacher, interfaith chaplain, end of life doula, and poet. I have a healer’s spirit, and am dedicated to social, economic, and environmental justice. I live in Emeryville, CA with my beloved wife Ruth, with whom I’ve been happily partnered for over twenty-two years.

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