Day 48 of the Omer

On this penultimate day of counting the Omer, we consider the attributes of Y'sod in Malchut, Bonding in Leadership.

When we look up at the sky on a clear night, we see a milky section of the expanse of stars, what we have dubbed the Milky Way, which we all know contains no milk and is not a candy bar! It is, rather, our view of the galaxy in which we live – a rotating group of gases and dust and hundreds of billions of stars bound together by the force of gravity. When we stand outside and look skyward, the Milky Way looks like it is far away, but actually we are about 2/3 of the way outward from the center of the galaxy. Amazing is our galaxy, and every other galaxy in the Universe. Amazing in its size, in its many, many member parts, in its diversity, in its contained energy, its age, its future, its past, its mystery.

To look at the families and communities of which we are a part, bound together by forces stronger even than gravity, to see them as we see the Milky Way, as if from the outside, can give us a glimpse of what is amazing about them, and such a glimpse can give us hope and strength and a sense of security and understanding and vision, and can help us move ever forward, with spirit, with joy, and with hope.

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-eight days, which is six weeks and six days of the Omer.

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