Count Tonight
Day 20 April 16
Hod she’ b’ Tiferet--humility in beauty
Today is the 19th day of the Omer, and the spiritual focus is hod she’ b’ tiferet--humility in beauty. Mussar defines beauty as the shining of inner good qualities.
Tonight we will count the 20th day of the Omer. The Omer, as you know, is the counting of the days between Pesah and Shavuot. In the Bible, it was the counting from the barley harvest until the wheat harvest. We counted sheaves and growth of badly needed crops. At the end of the 49 days of the Omer, we could celebrate at Shavuot, and appreciate the gifts of the harvest.
During the Omer, many collect sheaves of wheat every day, so that by the end there are many sheaves.
We have 30 more days of the Omer. We have been promised a matching donation of $30,000 by generous donors. We are asking you to help us grow our crop of spiritual, communal, intellectual and pastoral ‘wheat.’ We need to match the $30,000 by the end of the Omer, so that we can harvest $60,000. Watch our artistic sheaves of wheat get coloured in with every donation, week by week over the next four weeks.
Throughout the pandemic, Congregation Mishkan Tefila has been a constant support for all of us. Over and over the community has revealed its inner beauty. Together, we have shopped, called, delivered medicines, sent fun packages at Purim and Pesah, studied racial injustice, sang, prayed, laughed, drank tea with the team, watched movies, shared heartaches and illness, recovery and sorrow for and with each other. We have learned to zoom, mute, unmute, join breakout rooms, and pray from digital siddurim. Twice, we have eaten haroset together, and many times, we have sung with our CMT family musicians in Israel.
The pandemic is not over. The need remains. We are planning many ways in the coming year of continuing to lift each other up and nourish our minds and souls, whether you are online or not.
We need your help to do it. Please, make a donation in honour or memory of someone, and make your contribution to our Omer harvest.
30 days for $30,000. Let’s get farming!
I wish you a Shabbat filled with beauty and gratitude,
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Marcia Plumb
