Rabbi’s Reflections – Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Shalom,
Counting the Omer – Day 11
Here is the proper blessing to be said each day. This is how Jewish people fulfill the command to count.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.
Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer. Today is one week and four days of the counting of the Omer.
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Rabbi Trail: Pity the next person who “puns” me about today’s date. Come to think about it, I probably shouldn’t have drawn attention to it. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. Contrary to popular belief, tomorrow (which is Cinco de Mayo), is NOT the annual commemoration of Mexican independence day. https://www.purewow.com/entertainment/cinco-de-mayo-facts
However; Cinco de Mayo does bring something to the forefront. God loves the various cultures He created in the world. Each people group is special to Him. One of the special features of the Mexican culture is what they call “fiesta!” These are a people who love to party. Their exuberance is expressed in their music and in their spicy food. I love that. One other thing I like about Mexican culture (and there is much more) rhymes with fiesta. You guessed it, siesta. Siesta gave inspiration to the “Shnap.” Bye bye for today. End RT.
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As you may be aware, today is Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance). In Israel, it is one of several holidays that are non-biblical, but are memorials of the modern State of Israel. It is a national holiday on the day when all Israel mourns anyone who died (both military and civilian) during any of Israel’s many wars, including victims of terrorism. (All of Israel’s wars have been wars for independence and existential threats.) On the Jewish calendar, it is always commemorated on the 3rd day of Iyyar (the 18th day of counting the omer), and it always precedes Yom HaAtzma’ut (Israel Independence Day). I’ll write about Yom HaAtzma’ut tomorrow.
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Matthew 5:7 part 1 of 2
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
Bam! God is speaking through His only begotten Son. John 3:17 God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
As He speaks (the words of the Sermon on the Mount), He is revealing His own character. John 5:19 Therefore Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself. He can do only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.
The principle of sowing and reaping is on demonstration. God has many attributes. Among them (and perhaps chief among them) is mercy. His mercy shows us the core of His heart which is His love. That creates in us a heart of thanksgiving. (I was tempted to quote all of Ephesians 2 here, but had to stop. Read it if you want the full blessing.)
Ephesians 2:4 But God was rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us. 5 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Messiah. (By grace you have been saved!) 6 And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua— 7 to show in the olam ha-ba the measureless richness of His grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua.
And, because I’ll be writing again tomorrow on this, I have liberty to end for today with this…. Jacob 2:13 For judgment is merciless to the one who does not show mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
That’s right, “mercy triumphs over judgment.” Matthew 5: 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Wed 04-May-2022 3rd of Iyyar, 5782 11th day of the Omer
Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for fallen Israeli soldiers)
Le 19:33-37 Isa 59 Job 5 (Mt 21:23-46) Ro 4
Week 19
Memory Verse: Psalm 139:1 For the music director: a psalm of David. Adonai, You searched me and know me. 2 Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it. You discern my thinking from afar. 3 You observe my journeying and my resting and You are familiar with all my ways.
91 5/02 Monday: Psalm 119:129-176; 139
92 5/03 Tuesday: Psalm 148-150
93 5/04 Wednesday: 1 Kings 2
94 5/05 Thursday: 1 Kings 3; 6
95 5/06 Friday: 1 Kings 8; 9:1-9