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 thirty eight days, which is five weeks and three days of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 19:21-23
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’”
Devotional
Moses was commanded to go down and warn the people that they will die if they transgress the boundaries of the mountain. For Mt Sinai is God’s house. The priests who represent the people were to prepare themselves for service in God’s house. God’s house is off limits to most and accessible to some. Like all spaces, containers, buildings and institutions we make, there are limitations and invitations. Perhaps the most important and chief metaphor given in scripture is that of the temple. The instructions and construction for the building of God’s house, whether the tabernacle or temple, received lengthy and considerable chapters in scripture (eg, Exodus, Ezekiel, Revelation). I will take this further and say that all we do as humans is create “institutions,” that is defined spaces and containers to define ritual behaviors for some and not for others. These spaces have degrees of accessibility. Everyone is outside. Some are inside. That which is at home in the space is treasure, sacred and protected within the temple. Now, the people of Israel have left Pharaoh’s House on their way to their new house. But before they can possess that land they must come to God’s house which becomes an institution of learning and instruction where they will learn how to be a people who can keep the house they will be given. What is most important we protect, we safeguard, we place in secure locations. We cherish those things, whether they are material or immaterial. We expect others to respect what we treasure. We must learn to respect what belongs to God and to others. This is the first lesson. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10-12).