COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 47: Hod she b’Malchut
The Blessing (Day 47):
Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sephirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, G-D, Source of Everything, You make us holy through your mitzvot, commanding us to count the Omer.
Ha yom arbaim v shiv’a yom, shehem shisha shavuot v’chamisha yomim l’Omer.
Today is the forty-seventh day, which makes six weeks and five days of the Omer.
Week Seven – Malchut (Indwelling Presence/Manifestation)
Day Forty-seven: Hod she b’Malchut (Splendor within Indwelling Presence) – LEFT HIP to BETWEEN FEET/AT MOUTH
In a reference to the Torah, the 5 books of Jewish wisdom that help link us to G-D, we have been told to “Turn it over and again turn it over, for all is within.” This quote from the Mishna reminds us of the Splendor and Variety of ways that our world is a reflection of G-d in our lives, as well as within our Torah. Multiple interpretations of the Torah, as well as multiple interpretations of things that surround us, are important to fully understand anything. Minority opinions need to be recorded as well as those more obvious and apparent thoughts as that allows us to fully view things through a variety of lenses, to allow complete consideration of all.
In Rabbi Min Kantrowitz’s book, from which I have drawn many of my considerations throughout this Omer period, she refers to an excellent example relating to Hod she b’Malchut. She writes about the Hundred Drawings Project, a venture in which an artist (ONE INDIVIDUAL) decided to do 100 depictions of a simple object…none of which would be the same. The object selected was not an object of emotional significance or one with formal aesthetic qualities, but a plain ordinary item. After a number of drawings the initial excitement of varying the media or style to alter the representation seemed to diminish. Then, there was a shift to a closer, deeper examination of the many subtleties of the object and new insights developed. Whether we are artists or not, we can gain deeper appreciation of the Splendor of the world through closer attention. As we become more deeply appreciative of the subtle wonders of life, we become ever more grateful for all we are given each day.
Today, take time to consider the amazing variety of things that surround you every day, and how each plays an important role in creating the entirety of the world as the Manifestation of G-D around us.
**Much of today’s email has come from and been inspired by Rabbi Min Kantrowitz’s amazing book “Counting the Omer: A Kabbalistic Meditation Guide”
Yedi'a 