Each week during the period of the Omer, the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot, we can deepen our collective actions for caring for the earth. These teachings are disciplines that speak to the head, heart, and hand, corresponding to the three pillars on which the world stands: TorahRefers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, also called the Five Books of Moses, Pentateuch or the Hebrew equivalent, Humash. This is also called the Written Torah. The term may also refer to teachings that expound on Jewish tradition. (Learning), AvodahOriginally understood as Temple service, but expanded to mean any service to God.
Related to: gemilut hasadim. See Pirkei Avot 1:2 (service), and Gemilut HasadimPerforming acts of kindness (hesed).
Often drawn from Pirkei Avot 1:2, “the world stands upon three things: the Torah, the Temple service (avodah), and the practice of acts of piety (gemilut hasadim).” (lovingkindness) (Pirkei Avot 1:2). Take these words, share them, teach them, adapt them, pursue them. Check out the full series here.
We are entering the third week of the Omer, corresponding to the sefirah of Tif’eret: beauty, glory, and awe.
After focusing on God’s Chesed, abundant kindness, during the week of Passover, and experiencing the pendulum swing to Gevurah in the week that followed, Tif’eret brings us back into balance.
We notice the glory of everyday blessings. This week, we imagine our ancestors walking through the desert with its breathtaking surroundings: the magnificent rock formations, the openness of the landscape, the clear starry sky.
This week is an opportunity to appreciate the world God has made and to contemplate our place in it.
Head
A central prayer of our evening service, Ma’ariv, directs our attention to the earth’s soothing rhythms.
After spending long hours shaping the world to meet our needs and desires, we can lay down our burdens, and turn the work back to God who directs the unfailing cycles of time. Living with the certainty that night always follows day and day always follows night, that the heavens and stars will once again appear, allows us to continue to live with purpose.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר בִּדְבָרו מַעֲרִיב עֲרָבִים. בְּחָכְמָה פּותֵחַ שְׁעָרִים, וּבִתְבוּנָה מְשַׁנֶּה עִתִּים וּמַחֲלִיף אֶת הַזְּמַנִּים, וּמְסַדֵּר אֶת הַכּוכָבִים בְּמִשְׁמְרותֵיהֶם בָּרָקִיעַ כִּרְצונו. בּורֵא יום וָלָיְלָה, גּולֵל אור מִפְּנֵי חשֶׁךְ וְחשֶׁךְ מִפְּנֵי אור. וּמַעֲבִיר יום וּמֵבִיא לָיְלָה, וּמַבְדִּיל בֵּין יום וּבֵין לָיְלָה. ה׳ צְבָאות שְׁמו: אֵל חַי וְקַיָּם תָּמִיד יִמְלוךְ עָלֵינוּ לְעולָם וָעֶד. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳, הַמַּעֲרִיב עֲרָבִים.
Barukh atah ADONAI, elokeinu melekh ha’olam a’sher bid’varo ma’ariv aravim. B’chokhma poteach shi’arim, u’vit’vunah m’shaneh itim u’machaliph et h’zmanim, u’m’sader et h’kokhavim b’mish’miroteihem b’rakia kirtzono. borei yom va’laylah, go’lel or mipnei choshekh v’choshekh mipnei or. U’ma’avir yom u’meivi laykah, u’mavdil bein yom u’vein laylah. ADONAI tzivaot sh’mo: El chai v’kayam tamid yimloch a’leinu l’olam vaed. Barukh atah ADONAI, ha’ma’ariv a’ravim.
Blessed are you, Adonai, our God, sovereign of time and space, whose word brings on the evening dusk, whose wisdom opens the gates of dawn, whose understanding arranges the day’s divisions, whose will sets the cycles of the seasons, whose desire arrays the stars in the sky, who creates day and night, who rolls out light amid the darkness and darkness amid the light, who makes day pass into night, and separates day from night. Adonai Tzva’ot is your name. Living and ever-present God, may You guide us, forever and ever. Blessed are you Adonai, who brings on each evening’s dusk.
(translation adapted from Lev Shalem)
Heart
How often do you look up at the sky? In this technological age, we are always looking down, where so much of the world can be found in our phones.
Every once in a while, we need to be reminded that the world is actually all around us and that we should stop and look up. The week of Tif’eret is that reminder.
Make a point this week of looking up at the sky. Notice how the simple act of tilting your head skyward feels. What do you see when you look up? What feelings are evoked for you by looking up? Do this at different times of the day: Watch the clouds move, the sun set, the stars sparkle, and experience the awe of being a small part of this vast world.
Hand
Being partners with God means living in concert with the rhythms of God’s world.
This spring, buy seasonal vegetables and fruit that are at their peak of freshness.
Cook with ingredients that reawaken your body and soul following the dormancy of winter.
Enjoy the bright bounty of the spring harvest.
Try planting a vegetable garden on a small plot of land or in a series of containers, and experience the satisfaction of eating the fruit of your hands.
