Day 23 of the Omer

23
Gevurah b’netzach
Boundaried strength within Endurance

Tonight (Sunday night) at sundown begins the day of gevurah, boundaried strength, within netzah, endurance.

Netzach is also sometimes translated as victory, sometimes as eternity, sometimes as fortitude. The power to overcome obstacles — especially obstacles which stand in the way of one’s desire to bestow goodness on the world — is netzach. Netzach is the long slog of the marathon; it is persistence and focus. And today is the day for the strength, the determination, and the good boundaries which enable us to pursue things with endurance.

Today we ask: how do I bring my strength, my fortitude, and my good boundaries to the work of building things which will endure when I am gone? What am I building in my life which I hope will endure, and how can I build those things — institutions, relationships, art, love — in a way which is strong?

This is the 23rd step toward Shavuot, toward Sinai, toward revelation.

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As I count the Omer, let my counting create a tikkun, a healing, between transcendence and immanence, God far above and God deep within.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוּחַ הַעולָם, אָשֶר קִדשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָנוּ אַל סְפִירַת הַעמֶר.

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu ruach ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sfirat ha-omer.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, breath of life, who makes us holy with mitzvot and gives us this opportunity to count the Omer.

Today is twenty-three days, which are three weeks and three days of the Omer.

Announcing the upcoming Rumi Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Israel

On Saturday, May 5, at 9:30am, Congregation Beth Israel will celebrate Shabbat with a unique service in which each of the poems of the traditional liturgy is paired with a poem by Sufi mystic poet Rumi.

“For many of us today,” says Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, “the poetry of our Hebrew liturgy may be inaccessible or obscure. The poetry of Rumi, especially in Coleman Barks’ beautiful translations, is wildly popular in America today. This is a chance to see our prayers in a new light, through the lenses of Rumi poems which speak to the same themes as our classical prayers.”

The service will run from 9:30-11am, as usual; at 11am the community will enjoy a kiddush (the blessing of wine/juice and bread, and a bit of snacking and conversation time) followed by text study.

“This week,” Rabbi Barenblat says, “we’ll probably spend our text study time discussing the service we will have just experienced. People may want to talk about the Rumi poems, or about the poetry of the Hebrew liturgy, or both.”

For this Rumi Shabbat service, the community will pray using a booklet of prayers collected by Rabbi Barenblat, inspired by her colleague Rabbi Ed Stafman of Bozeman, Montana, a fellow musmach (ordinand) of ALEPH: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. “Rabbi Ed led a Rumi morning service this winter at Ohalah, the annual conference of Jewish Renewal clergy,” explains Rabbi Barenblat. “As soon as I experienced that, I knew I wanted to bring it home to CBI.”

Congregation Beth Israel, Northern Berkshire county’s only synagogue, was founded in 1893 and today is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. 53 Lois Street, North Adams 01247.