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615 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19123 | 215.627.6747
Today, as you count the Omer, understand Jewish wisdom about the source of our happiness.
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom tishah v’esrim yom, shehem arbah-ah shavuot v’yom echad la-omer. Today is 29 days which are 4 weeks and 1 day of the Omer.
As we begin the 4th week of the Omer, we focus this week on the idea of Netzach, often translated as victory. Netzach communicates the idea of long-suffering, strength, endurance unto completion or patience. A powerful poem, that many of us have heard at funerals and memorial services exemplifies the idea of netzach in our lives:
Life is a Journey
By Alvin Fine
Yom Ha’atzmaut, Independence Day, in Israel is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers. The message of linking these two days is clear: Israelis owe their independence–the very existence of the state–to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it.
The official “switch” from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Ha’atzmaut takes place a few minutes after sundown, with a ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem in which the flag is raised from half staff (due to Memorial Day) to the top of the pole.
As, this Shabbat, we anticipate Tuesday’s celebration of Yom Ha-atzme-ut, Israel Independence Day, we are grateful for Israel and we pray for the day when we will have peace with our neighbors. Reform Movement VP Rabbi Jonah Pesner, now in Israel with their Board, writes of the growing strength and spiritual power of our progressive movement in Israel, the equality work of the Women of the Wall, and the rich arts and culture. Thank you, Reform leaders, for strengthening our ties with Israel. As we count the omer today, let us consider our own connection with Israel.Continue reading
Count the omer and explore the attribute of tiferet, beauty, by witnessing the power of live theater at our production of The Fiery Furnace, Sunday May 4 at 4 pm at RS.
We are staging an original musical right here in this sanctuary on Sunday, May 4. The Fiery Furnace: A New Rock Musical was written for us and directed by John Rea, the director of MacGuffin Theater and Film Company here in Center City, and it features 30 of our Mercaz Limud students ages 5-15.
The story is based on an episode from the book of Daniel. It features big characters, heroic and brave acts, passionate proclamations of faith, and, best of all, dreams and visions. It lends itself so easily to a larger than life musical in the tradition of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (and wait until you see some of the costumes).
We all feel fear. The question is, do we act on it? When, in their escape from slavery, the Israelites are stuck between the Sea of Reeds before them and the Egyptian chariots behind them, what’s Moses’ message? Don’t be afraid. Rabbi Alan Lew, of blessed memory, notes that perhaps the Israelites didn’t really need to be afraid: The Pharaoh sent 600 chariots, while the Israelites numbered more than a million. Why would such an enormous group be afraid of an army of so few? His answer is that they are not responding to what was really there, nor even to what they saw. Rather they were responding to a phantom. They were responding to a fear-inducing product of their own imagination. So when Moses says “Don’t be afraid” he means “don’t panic” or “move forward” or “Don’t spend your life anxious about the things that seem scary or the demons you imagine.” Continue reading
https://www.ted.com/talks/geena_rocero_why_i_must_come_out
For the 12th day of the omer in this week of givurah, strength, the courage of one fashion model to speak her truth.
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom shenayim asar yom, shehem shavuah echad vachamishah yamim, la-omer. Today is 12 days which is one week and 5 days of the Omer.
Wishing you a meaningful omer– Your RS Clergy
A story is told of a rabbi who lay on his deathbed, smiling. “Why” his students asked, “just moments away from death, are you smiling?”
“Because,” the rabbi replied, “For the first time, I understand the words of Vahavta: You shall love the Eternal with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul. Now on my deathbed, I see that when all else is stripped away, what’s left is love.”
The Song of Songs, the biblical scroll traditionally read on Passover, teaches: “Love is as strong as death” (8:6).
In our counting of the omer during this week focused on loving-kindness, may try to strip away ego, distraction, all else but love.Continue reading
A story is told about Rabbi Akiva’s daughter. When she was born, astrologers told Rabbi Akiva that on her wedding day, she would be killed by a poisonous snake and die. Years pass and the evening before the daughter’s wedding day arrives. Exhausted after the rehearsal dinner, she climbs into bed, pulls her hairpin from her head, and sticks it in the wall for the next day.
The next morning, as Rabbi Akiva’s daughter is getting ready for her wedding, she pulls her hairpin from the wall and sees a poisonous snake impaled on the end! She shrieks as she realizes how close the snakeContinue reading
“The laws regarding the Omer are very strict: every day matters and not one may be missed. Not to waste a single day should be our ideal in life…In general we could perhaps say that a day is wasted when we’ve done nothing that brings happiness or good to others and nothing that brings a sense of purpose to ourselves” (Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, The Eternal Journey: Meditation on the Jewish Year).
Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohenu Melech ha-olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha’omer. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with sacred actions and enjoins us to count the omer.
Hayom chamisha yamim la’omer. Today is the 5th day of the omer.
Have a sweet Pesach! Rabbis Kuhn, Maderer, Freedman and Cantor Frankel
Many thanks to Karyn Kedar for publishing her new book, Omer: A Counting, in which she included the Wittenberg passage.
