Omer 2019 Day 3: Swans

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Omer 2019 Day 3: Tiferet in Chesed, Beauty in Love
Swans

Photo by Chris Child on Unsplash

Though swans aren't born beautiful (as we all know from The Ugly Duckling), they grow into beautiful, graceful birds.

Swans are a classic image of beauty and love. Males stick around to help raise the chicks, and they mate for life.

This year's animal Omer is a collaboration between myself and my friend Halli, a PhD in animal science. Thank you for counting the Omer with us!

Omer 2019 Day 2: Ducklings

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Omer 2019 Day 2: Gevurah in Chesed, Bravery in Loving-Kindness

Merganser Ducklings

There are several species of ducks, including merganser ducks, that lay their eggs high in trees. When the ducklings hatch, they spend a few hours bonding with each other, and then the mother leaves and calls them to follow her. Obviously she can fly out of the tree, but the ducklings essentially have to trust that their mother is giving them good advice, so they have to muster up the courage to jump out of their nest that can be 50+ feet above the ground! It's pretty amazing what these babies will do for the love of their mother.

This year's animal Omer is a collaboration between myself and my friend Halli, a PhD in animal science. Thank you for counting the Omer with us!

Omer 2019 Day 1: Cranes

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It's time, once again, to count the Omer! Beginning on the second night of Passover, we count 49 days, ending on the 50th day with the celebration of Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates our receiving the Torah at Sinai. The mitzvah of counting the Omer connects the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot. Just as the Israelites moved in seven weeks from slavery in Egypt to freedom at Sinai, we count the Omer to reflect on our own personal growth.

According to Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), we don't just count the days. Each week and each day also have a corresponding sephira - an emotion or aspect of God - so that as we count, we also reflect on the intersection of the day's sephira with the sephira of the week. The seven sephirot are:

1. Chesed (חסד): love, kindness

2. Gevurah (גבורה): strength, power, justice, bravery

3. Tiferet (תפארת): beauty, balance, compassion

4. Netzach (נצח‎): eternity, endurance, victory

5. Hod (הוד): splendor, majesty, glory, humility

6. Yesod (יסוד): foundation, connection

7. Malchut (מלכות): leadership

You can read past years of blogs here. I am particularly excited this year to be collaborating with my friend, Halli. Not only is she incredibly Jewishly knowledgeable, but she also has a PhD in animal science, so it was a natural fit for this year's blog theme to be animals (something she suggested two years ago, but we finally got around to putting together this year). Without further ado, let's get counting!

Day 1: Chesed in Chesed, Love in Love
Cranes

Image by Linda29 from Pixabay

Cranes are monogamous and mate for life. They bond with each other using elaborate dances and songs that only the two of them can match.

Their beautiful movements and calls to each other have made them symbols of love and endurance in many societies, and that commitment to each other is something we should all strive for on this first day of the Omer. What bonds can we strengthen with our partners? How can we show them love? Whether through elaborate song and dance, or through little moments of quiet understanding, the bonds we have with our partners make up the building blocks of a loving relationship to last a lifetime.