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 day seven of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 2:1-2
2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.
Devotional
The house is a powerful metaphor in the Bible. God makes houses and God does things in houses. Creation is God’s house. The garden in Eden is God’s house to be kept by Adam. The house of Egypt becomes a house of bondage for the people of Israel. God prospers the house of the midwives. God raises up a deliverer from the house of Levi and the womb (house) of his mother who stores him in an ark (house). But every house is not a home. Out of genocide comes a male child, a future savior, deliverer, priest, prophet and warrior. The tribe of Levi will become the priests and the keepers of God’s house. From this house of Levi comes forth a son. His mother saw that he was “good,” echoing creation in Genesis 1:31. She hid him for three months to spare his life. What houses do you live in? Who is safe in your house? What can God do through your house for others?