COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 24: Tiferet she b’Netzach
The Blessing (Day 24):
Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sephirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, G-D, Source of Endurance, You make us holy through your mitzvot, commanding us to count the Omer.
Hayom arba’a v’esrim yom, shehem shlosha shavuot v’shloshim yomim l’Omer.
Today is the twenty-fourth day, which makes three weeks and three days of the Omer
Week Four – Netzach (Endurance, Perserverance, Continual Energy)
Day Twenty-four: Tiferet she b’Netzach (Harmony within Endurance) – HEART to RIGHT HIP
Tiferet she b’Netzach is the state of having a balanced approach to life to assist in our ability to endure, persist, and ultimately thrive. Our life is filled with a multitude of changing circumstances that cause us to make adjustments to continue on. Having a sense of internal Harmony and Balance enables us to make these small, or large, changes in our lives and help us in our Persistence to live our lives to our best ability.
Most of us are at a point now where our increased time with loved ones, although certainly wonderful on one hand as we may be able to have more time to spend with those closest to us, can be challenging to our relationships. I hear often from friends that this “together all the time” with their spouse is lovely, but ENOUGH! Admittedly, it is mostly women who I have heard this from, but I believe that is more likely because men would be less inclined to say such a thing to me because I am a woman! I have heard from men though who have said similar things about being at home with their school-age children. They say the togetherness is wonderful and they are happy to have this quality time with their kids, but it is definitely challenging as well.
Due to external factors which have changed in our lives, we can understand the situation and effect. But, this doesn’t consider that there are changes that have occurred INSIDE each of us as we are maturing and learning from these new experiences. Maybe your spouse is struggling to find meaning in her day now that she is not working outside the home so she is scrutinizing you and your home more than she ever did before. Or maybe your child is missing the freedom from his family that going to school allowed him, and he may at first have been silent and melancholy, but now has become quarrelsome. Maintaining any long-term relationship under the stresses of balancing all different demands requires frequent adjustments, and open responses to each other’s needs as well as our own. There is an understanding of our own Harmony, of what Balances ourselves as well as our relationship, and this has a direct effect on the Enduring respect and love we have for the other person. When we don’t respect what is in our deepest hearts, we cannot have a strong relationship filled with honesty and beauty.
Today, consider relationships in your own life. How do the scales in your situations function? Are they balanced? If not, is there a way to bring them into a harmonious place so that you can continue to move forward? Can a sense of this Balanced Harmony help you to making a better, lasting relationship that can Endure? If so, take a moment to reflect on ways that you can work toward this goal.
Yedi'a 