"Jew & Gentile One in Messiah"

As it was in the beginning so it will be in the end-of-days

The Torah writes:"And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbat, from the day that you bring the omer [offering] that is raised, seven complete weeks there shall be until the morrow of the seventh week you shall count fifty days (Leviticus 23:15-16).

The Commandment of Counting

BA-RUCH A-TAH ADO-NAI E-LO-HE-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV VETZI-VA-NU AL SEFI-RAT HA-OMER.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

About the Counting of the Omer

The Torah writes:"And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbat, from the day that you bring the omer [offering] that is raised, seven complete weeks there shall be until the morrow of the seventh week you shall count fifty days (Leviticus 23:15-16).

These verses command us to count seven weeks from the time that the omer, the new barley offering, was brought in the Temple, i.e., from the sixteenth of Nissan. We begin our count on the second night of Passover (the night of the second Seder in the Diaspora) and continue until Shavuot, which is the fiftieth day after the offering.

We actually count forty-nine days, for our Sages had a tradition that the Torah's use of the word fifty meant until the fiftieth day.

It is a mitzvah for each individual to count the days of the omer by himself, for the Torah states: And you shall count for yourselves. This mitzvah is applicable today even though the Holy Temple no longer stands and we no longer bring the omer offering. Some maintain that the obligation today is Rabbinic.

The correct time for counting the omer is at the beginning of the night, for the verse states that we are to count seven complete weeks and the count can be complete only if we commence when the sixteenth of Nissan begins.

Since we commence counting the omer at night, we continue to count at night throughout the entire forty-nine days.

We first recite the evening prayers, for the mitzvah of Ma'ariv and of saying the Shema is obligatory every day and a mitzvah that is frequently obligatory takes precedence over a mitzvah that is performed less often.

Immediately after the Amidah, we count the omer. If one neglected to count then, he may count throughout the night; and if he forgot to count at night, he may count during the day, but without the blessing.

We first recite the blessing on counting the omer "Who has commanded us to count the omer"] and then count, saying: "Today is the... day of the omer" Some congregations have a custom of saying baomer, in the omer, while others have a custom of saying laomer, of the omer. On the first night one says: "Today is one day of the omer" and on the second night one says: "Today is two days of the omer"

This practice is followed until the seventh day, when we make a slight change and say: "Today is seven days which is one week of the omer".

The blessing and the counting should be said while standing, for the verse (Deuteronomy 16:9) states: When the grain is standing in the fields. But if one sat while counting, he has nevertheless fulfilled the obligation.

After counting the omer, it is customary to say: "May it be Your will that that the Beit haMikdash be rebuilt speedily in our days."

The count is to be made at the beginning of the night, i.e., as soon as three stars appear. If one counted earlier [but after sunset], he is not required to count again, but nevertheless it is proper to do so, albeit without a blessing, after the appearance of the stars.

If one is asked what is the proper count for that night: If the person being asked has not yet counted himself, he should not say the number of that night for he will in effect have counted the omer without saying a blessing and he will be unable to count again with a blessing.

Rather, he should say: "Last night was such and such." One should be especially careful on Lag baOmer, the thirty third night of the omer, for it is quite common to refer to that day by its number.

Before reciting the blessing one should know the number of the day. However, if one recited the blessing without being aware of the number and added the number only after having heard it said by someone else, he has fulfilled the obligation.

It is customary that following the counting of the omer, one recites Psalm 67, for according to tradition that psalm has forty nine words, corresponding to the days of the omer

In the Diaspora, where a second Seder is conducted on the night of the sixteenth of Nissan, some have the custom to count the omer at the end of the Seder. Were we to count before the Seder, we would declare the day as the sixteenth of Nissan, and the second Seder, which is held because of a doubt that the date might really be the fifteenth, would seem to be superfluous.

It is customary among the pious and righteous to read the Torah portion which deals with the omer, at the conclusion of the Seder, in Eretz Yisrael, and at the conclusion of the second Seder in the Diaspora.

The word for "number" in Hebrew is mispar. Its root is closely related to the word for "story" -- sipur. What is the relationship between the two?

A collection of events becomes a story -- as opposed to a random anthology of events -- when there is a beginning in which the characters are introduced, a middle in which conflict takes place, and an end in which there is resolution.

Our lives flow by so quickly that we frequently lose awareness of the awesome power of our own stories. The metamorphosis of today into tomorrow is subtle enough for us to lose consciousness of beginnings and ends.
The commandment to count teaches us mindfulness, and it re-opens our hearts to hearing stories.
The commandment to count teaches us mindfulness. It re-opens our hearts to hearing stories. And what story is being told?

There are two stories that are intertwined.

One is the story of a transformation of a people who at Passover become physically free into a people who at Shavuot become spiritually free as well.

The day we left Egypt was one in which we rejected the Egyptian definition of what our lives can hold. We were free to be who we wanted to be. But we didn't yet know our own story. It is only when we received the Torah that we found the channels that could give our souls expression.

It was then that we learned the mechanics of meeting challenges that are genuine and enduring. Our story began to evolve.

BARLEY AND WHEAT

The rituals that define this time of year reflect this change. The sacrifice that was offered on Passover was made out of barley. In ancient times, barley was used as fodder for animals. The sacrifice that was offered on Shavuot was made of wheat. Wheat is often used as an allegory for the human capacity for using our intelligence. While an animal can eat a fruit or a leaf, it requires human intelligence and creativity to make bread.
The Jewish people were transformed from those seeking freedom to those seeking humanity.

What makes us truly human? The mystic literature discusses the bonds that we share with God as being the humanizing factor. These bonds are called sefirot, a name which, as is obvious, also has the same root as number and story.

This common root conveys the fact that our beginning, middle and end are ultimately measured and finite, but nonetheless touched by the infinite spark of Godliness within us.

One of the most central of his teachings is the significance of gaining awareness of the bond that we share with God, the sefirot of our spiritual souls.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra'el, and with the house of Yehudah:

Jer 31:32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says the LORD.

Jer 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra'el after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:

Jer 31:34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

THE SEVEN ASPECTS OF GODLINESS

This next section is from Orthodox Judaism but it matches up well with the fruit of the Spirit that we see in Galatians.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, shalom, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Let us now examine the bonds with God that make us human --- the seven expressive aspects of Godliness.

1. The first is chessed, "kindness."

While the drives of the body are towards oneself, those of the soul are directed outwards towards others. We love those to whom we give because they validate our spirituality. We see our highest self-reflected in them.

2. The second is gevurah, "strength" or "empowerment."

Specifically this refers to empowering one's soul to overcome the obstacles that stand before it. We have the capacity to live for the sake of our goals, and to make sacrifices to attain it. The ultimate goal of every Jew is to be a source of light. In order to do this, we must submit our egos and desires to the scrutiny of God's Torah.

3. The third is tiferet, "beauty."

Beauty is created through harmony and contrast -- that is when we make a "match." When we become people of truth, our words, thoughts, and deeds match. Only humans can lie. The reason for this is that only humans have the possibility of creating themselves in a certain sense. To use the words of the Maharal of Prague, "we give birth to ourselves." When we lie we succumb to our animalistic desire for comfort and ease. When we tell the truth, we reconnect to Gods transcendental reality and chose to be authentic as humans

4. The fourth is netzach, "infinity."

Anyone who has ever resisted the desire for immediate gratification has touched this quality. It is the source of hope and aspiration towards growth.

5. The fifth is hod, "gratitude."

In Hebrew hod is a noun which literally means "splendor," but as a verb means both "to confess" and "to thank." As humans we can be moved by splendor whether its source is spiritual or physical. Our ability to be truly sensitive in this sense is what inspires us to express gratitude. We often resist allowing ourselves to be grateful because of the fragility of our self-esteem. When we begin the day with the words Modeh Ani, "I thank you," we express gratitude towards God, and simultaneously see our selves as creations that are worthy of life.

6. The sixth is yesod, "foundation."

This refers to our ability to bond. It is called "foundation" because it is the very foundation of all interactions. What we ultimately seek in relationships is goodness. Inevitably if we had to choose one trait in a perspective spouse, it would be a spiritual one. For some of us it would be compassion, for others honesty or sensitivity. If we see our own goodness mirrored back to us, we love the person even more. What this tells us is that what we are seeking is in the final analysis, spiritual bonding. We are searching for the face of God.

7. The final attribute is malchut, "kingdship."

It refers to our ability to bring God's kingdom into being in the greater world and into our own hearts. The way we do this is through the recognition that our missions are of infinite significance; at the same time we retain the humility that comes as a result of knowing what a tiny piece of infinity we can individually call our own. 

The seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot have the spiritually potency to give us the ability to let our stories unfold. We can make every day count, and emerge more human than we ever could have imagined. 

Hopes & Dreams HB004 Shavuot 5768/2008

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked person abandon his way and the evil person his thoughts; let him return to Adonai, and he will have mercy on him; let him return to our God, for he will freely forgive.

Isa 55:8  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways," says Adonai.

Isa 55:9  "As high as the sky is above the earth are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Abandoning things that do not work in the eyes of Adonai. Putting your hopes and dreams on Him. It is tough living in this world having that trust. But when we do have that trust in Him and in His perfect ways our marriage to Him is sweet. Many people have this misguided idea that Pentecost was this new thing the Lord was doing. No it was not. Shavuot/Pentecost is about the Almighty remembering His commitment to us His people. Shavuot is the day on HIS calendar that He picked for us to remember the day He gave us His word. When the people were in the desert receiving the word from the Lord it was not just the Jews but also the nations…Goyim!!! All people agree and accepted His wedding contract to us the world. Take the time to take a serious ride through His word to find out what you have agreed to. At the end of the message you will here people taking turns interceding for there countries.

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