| Today is: Sunday, Iyar 7, 5772 · April 29, 2012
Omer: Day 22 - Chessed sheb'Netzach
• Count "Twenty-Three Days to the Omer" Tonight
Tomorrow is the twenty-third day of the Omer Count. Since, on the Jewish calendar, the day begins at nightfall of the previous evening, we count the omer for tomorrow's date tonight, after nightfall: "Today is twenty-three days, which are three weeks and two days, to the Omer." (If you miss the count tonight, you can count the omer all day tomorrow, but without the preceding blessing). The 49-day "Counting of the Omer" retraces our ancestors' seven-week spiritual journey from the Exodus to Sinai. Each evening we recite a special blessing and count the days and weeks that have passed since the Omer; the 50th day is Shavuot, the festival celebrating the Giving of the Torah at Sinai. Tonight's Sefirah: Gevurah sheb'Netzach -- "Restraint in Ambition" The teachings of Kabbalah explain that there are seven "Divine Attributes" -- Sefirot -- that G-d assumes through which to relate to our existence: Chessed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut ("Love", "Strength", "Beauty", "Victory", "Splendor", "Foundation" and "Sovereignty"). In the human being, created in the "image of G-d," the seven sefirot are mirrored in the seven "emotional attributes" of the human soul: Kindness, Restraint, Harmony, Ambition, Humility, Connection and Receptiveness. Each of the seven attributes contain elements of all seven--i.e., "Kindness in Kindness", "Restraint in Kindness", "Harmony in Kindness", etc.--making for a total of forty-nine traits. The 49-day Omer Count is thus a 49-step process of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the "rectification" and perfection of one the forty-nine "sefirot." Links:
How to count the Omer
The deeper significance of the Omer Count
• Sanctification of the Moon
Once a month, as the moon waxes in the sky, we recite a special blessing called Kiddush Levanah, "the sanctification of the moon," praising the Creator for His wondrous work we call astronomy.
Kiddush Levanah is recited after nightfall, usually on Saturday night. The blessing is concluded with songs and dancing, because our nation is likened to the moon—as it waxes and wanes, so have we throughout history. When we bless the moon, we renew our trust that very soon, the light of G‑d's presence will fill all the earth and our people will be redeemed from exile.
Though Kiddush Levanah can be recited as early as three days after the moon's rebirth, the kabbalah tells us it is best to wait a full week, till the seventh of the month. Once 15 days have passed, the moon begins to wane once more and the season for saying the blessing has passed. Links: Brief Guide to Kiddush Levanah: Thank G‑d for the Moon!
More articles on Kiddush Levanah from our knowledgebase.
• Jerusalem Walls Dedicated (335 BCE)
The rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem was celebrated with great jubilation nearly 88 years after they were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia.
• Venetian Ghetto (1516)
On the 7th of Iyar, 1516, the Venetian City Council decreed that all Jews be segregated to a specific area of the city. Venice's ghetto was surrounded by water, with a canal leading to its gates. At night the "Christian guards" patrolled the waters around the ghetto to ensure that the night curfew wasn't violated. At the same time of the establishment of this ghetto, numerous other degrading laws were enacted, including the requirement that all Jews wear yellow stars as identification. Despite all these restrictions, the Jewish community blossomed and functioned normally. In 1797, the ghetto was abolished by Napoleon during the course of the French Revolution. The site chosen to accommodate the Jews had once housed the city's foundries, gettos in Italian -- and thus the eventual popularization throughout Europe of the word "ghetto" to describe the city sections where Jews were forced to reside.
Never, ever, have we seen or heard about a Jewish community that does not have a charity fund
- Maimonides
Chitas and Rambam for today: Chumash: Acharei-Kedoshim, 1st Portion Leviticus 16:1-16:24 with Rashi • English / Hebrew Linear Translation | Video Class Tehillim: Chapters 39 - 43 • Hebrew text
• English text
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 45
• English Text: Lessons in Tanya
• Hebrew Text
• Audio Class: Listen | Download
• Video Class
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
English Text | Hebrew Text |  Audio: Listen | Download | Video Class
• 1 Chapter: Teshuvah Chapter Ten
English Text | Hebrew Text | Audio: Listen | Download | Video Class
• 3 Chapters: Shofar, Sukkah, vLulav Chapter Six, Shofar, Sukkah, vLulav Chapter Seven, Shofar, Sukkah, vLulav Chapter Eight
English Text | Hebrew Text | Audio: Listen | Download
Hayom Yom:
• English Text | Video Class
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