Monday, May 22, 2017

TODAY IN JUDAISM: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - Chabad.org in New York, New York, United States - Today is: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 · 27 Iyar, 5777 - Omer: Day 42 - Malchut sheb'Yesod - Tonight Count 43

TODAY IN JUDAISM: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - Chabad.org in New York, New York, United States - Today is: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 · 27 Iyar, 5777 - Omer: Day 42 - Malchut sheb'Yesod - Tonight Count 43
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Today's Laws and Customs:
Tomorrow is the forty-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 forty-three days, which are six weeks and one day, 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: Chessed sheb'Malchut -- "Kindness in Receptiveness"
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
Daily Quote:
It is written (Psalms 119:98): "From my foes have You given me wisdom." From the negative tendencies a person detects in his natural traits, he can become wise and know how to handle the correction of these traits, and how to subordinate his powers in the service of G-d.[Hayom Yom, Nissan 8]

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