Blessing
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.
Barukh atah, A-donai E-loheinu, Melekh Ha-ʿolam, asher qid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu ʿal S’firat Ha-ʿomer.
Count
Today is thirteen days, which is one week and six days of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 2:21-22
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”
Devotional
Moses found a home and a wife in Jethro’s house, who bore him a son. Moses called him “Gershom.” His name told of his life spent as a traveller in a foreign land. Moses would never live in the Promised Land. His tent was always pitched in the land of another. But in every house he found himself it became a home. God gives us visions and missions of a better life for ourselves, our families and our people. We might not see the fulfillment of the promise but we might play an important role in bringing it about. We won’t miss out on anything. Every step of the way God is with you (Psalm 23). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a key leader in the Civil Right Movement in the United States, said “I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land” (King, “I’ve Been,” 222–223). The next day he was assassinated by James Earl Ray. But today we are reaping the benefits from his vision of life for his people.