Day 45 of the Omer

Today we consider the Divine Attributes of Tiferet in Malchut – Harmony in Leadership, as we reach the third day of the seventh week of the Omer.

The stars are in the sky all the time, during the day and at night, we just can't see them during the day because the light of our star, the Sun, is so bright, not because it is so big, but because it is so close to us, a mere 93 million miles, or 8.2 light-minutes, away. Only at night can we see the stars, and the darker the night, the more we see. If the full moon is shining, it diminishes our ability to see the stars. If there is light pollution from a city, it diminishes our ability to see the stars. And of course, a cloud cover gets in the way of our seeing the stars. Everything must be in the right balance for us to see a star-studded night sky.

We need to keep ourselves in balance, too, in order to maintain our ability to lead – ourselves, our families, our communities. Being in balance through getting enough sleep, keeping night and day separate in terms of how we use them; being in balance through eating what keeps our bodies healthy, in the right amounts, no more no less; drinking enough to keep ourselves hydrated but not so much that we float away – all of these are physical ways of keeping ourselves in balance and harmony, but they impact our spiritual and emotional well being as well. Letting ourselves take care of ourselves, in body and in spirit, helps us stay in balance, so that we can see the stars, so that we can dream and have the physical and emotional and spiritual wherewithal to carry out our dreams.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, vitzivanu, al sefirat ha'omer.

Blessed are you Adonai our G!d, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the Omer.

Today is forty-five days, which is six weeks and three days of the Omer.

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