49 days, seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot
29 Iyar 5773 | May 9, 2013
44th Day of the Omer
At the Center of our worship stands a cry. The cry itself is beyond worship, almost beyond words. All of our prayers, the ordered literary creation of our best rabbinic minds, serve as mere accompaniment to this cry. They prepare us for it, lead us up to the appropriate moment, coax the cry forth from deep within us, and then gently guide us back from it.
The cry itself -Sh'ma Yisra'el- "Hear O Israel, Y-H-W-H our God, Y-H-W-H is One!" - is not addressed to God. It is a call to Israel, to ourselves and those around us. It is a call to all who struggle with the divine and the human, who struggle to understand. It is our cry to one another; we call it out as the angels call out, "Holy, holy, holy!" This act of calling demands all our strength; sometimes it even demands life itself.
Arthur Green, Seek My Face
Baruch Ata Adonai Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam a-sher ke-d-sha-nu b- mitz-vo-tav, v-tzi-va-nu al s-fi-rat ha-omer.
Praised be you Adonai our God who rules the Universe instilling within us the holiness of mitzvot by commanding us to count the Omer.
Today is the forty-fourth day - six weeks and two days of the Omer.