January 2021 – david g vogel

counting of the Omer

There is a Jewish custom that follows the command to count the days between Passover and Pentecost, known as counting of the Omer.

““Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and tell them: When you have come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you are to bring the omer of the firstfruits of your harvest to the kohen. He is to wave the omer before ADONAI, to be accepted for you. On the morrow after the Shabbat, the kohen is to wave it.”
‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭23:10-11‬ ‭TLV‬‬

““Then you are to count from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the omer of the wave offering, seven complete Shabbatot. Until the morrow after the seventh Shabbat you are to count fifty days, and then present a new grain offering to ADONAI.”
‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭23:15-16‬ ‭TLV‬‬

three figs

The fig tree is a symbol of the Torah. How is that? Figs grow all year round in warm climates. Yet they don’t ripen all at the same time, rather clusters come forth a few days at a time. Hence to eat the yield from the fig tree you need to return daily. Rabbis stress the same practice ought to be how you learn the Torah — read fully to grasp its context, meditate on its meaning, and return for more to find a related teaching. Make connections of anything new with what you already know is trustworthy — that’s how you strengthen your understanding of wisdom.

“Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, whoever takes care of his master will be honored.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭27:18‬ ‭TLV‬‬

See also Proverbs 2, a chapter on wisdom.

Grady

Children are a blessing. Many people have great pride in raising their children as their legacy. It’s an upside down world view that tries to say some politically correct opposite, usually couched as a joke.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not turn from it.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22:6‬ ‭TLV‬‬