Count the Omer: Day 9

Day 8 | Day 10

Day 9: Gevurah sheb'Gevurah, Strength within Restraint
According to Jewish teaching, every person has within them a good inclination (yetzer hatov) and a bad inclination (yetzer hara). My rabbi in Nashville used to say that the mitzvot are like a dumbbell that we use to exercise our good inclination. Some of the mitzvot are positive ("do this") and some are negative ("don't do that"). Not only do we strengthen ourselves by doing the positive commandments, like reciting the morning prayers or wearing a yarmulke, but also by following the negative commandments, like limiting our diets by observing kashrut.

Count the Omer: Day 8

Day 7 | Day 9

Day 8: Chesed sheb'Gevurah, Loving-kindness within Justice
Support for gay marriage is on the rise, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll and with the issue facing judgement from the Supreme Court, what an excellent time to talk about loving-kindness within Justice!

There are issues that we can look back on in history and think:
"What took them so long?"
"Would I have been on the right side of history if I had lived in that time?"
"Could I have made a difference?"

It is easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight and think that we would have stood up for the right thing, but we will never know how we would have acted if we had lived in a different time and faced a different set of issues. We only have the issues before us today. This week is about justice and strength, so take the time to stand up for something you believe in.

Count the Omer: Day 7

Day 6 | Day 8

Day 7: Malchut sheb'Chesed, Kingdom/Leadership within Loving-kindness

"In malchut, God does not act merely by Himself, but rather God acts through us." Aish

This is the first instance of malchut as we count the Omer and the first way in which God acts through us is with loving-kindness. How can you let God's loving-kindness shine through today?