COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 19: Hod she b’Tiferet
The Blessing (Day 19):
Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sephirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, G-D, Source of Beauty, You make us holy through your mitzvot, commanding us to count the Omer.
Ha yom shisha asar yom, shehem shnai shavuot v’chamisha yamim l’Omer. Today is the nineteenth day of the Omer, which makes two weeks and five days of the Omer.
Week Three – Tiferet (Harmony, Balance, Beauty)
Day Nineteen: Hod she b’Tiferet (Splendor within Harmony) – LEFT HIP to HEART
Have you ever had those moments when you get a glimpse of something in a new way, and realize the sheer beauty of it all? Like when you see a flower growing by your porch, and stop all of a sudden at the vibrant color that is there in front of you. We pass it multiple times a day (at least we did when we could be out often!), yet we do not realize the amazing features of it until that one moment when we are struck by it. This may only last for a second, a millisecond even, but it is profound, and that moment changes you. Your soul sings at this moment, with a connection to the appreciation of the beauty of life. I read once that if you are balanced and together in your mind and spirit, life is beautiful for you no matter what happens in your world.
There are many ways that we can celebrate the Splendor of diversity, and appreciate the Beauty of it, not just observing nature around us. From the Jewish tradition of reading the Five Books of Moses (the Torah) every year in weekly sections to possibly something that your family does every year, like coming together at the same house each year to celebrate the Fourth of July, we can see how these repeating and similar patterns can expose a Splendid order yet each time can bring new wisdom into our lives. This continuation of traditional patterns help to maintain the Balance and Harmony we cherish.
I know for all of us right now, the traditional patterns have been disrupted. But, like the pebble tossed into calm waters, a ripple will appear, but over time it will return to the calm waters again. That is kind of what we are experiencing. The patterns of our lives have been interrupted but overall we are going to return to the calm waters once again.
Each spring is different, and each has its own Beauty. With Hod she b’Tiferet, we recognize the Splendid, varied order within Harmony. There is an underlying order within every beautiful object. I most came to appreciate this when I was in high school, observing for the first time the intricate order of things when I looked at them through a microscope. The further I looked at things down to their cellular level, the more I came to appreciate the Splendor within everything around us, and how easily this Balance can be disturbed. Both in science and in spirit, more of the hidden is revealed every day. However, each day the diversity of the planet is decreasing as a result of habitat destruction, poor management, and indiscriminate actions. When we do not honor the wonder of variety, we destroy it. Earth Day may have been celebrated last week, but today is another great moment to think of how we can honor the variety of our world and care for it for ourselves and for future generations. Life and the Earth are filled with wonderous variety and harmonious splendor, and Hod she b’Tiferet reminds us to embrace that Splendor and bring Balance and Harmony to our world.
Yedi'a 