READINGS FOR OMER COUNT – DAY 29

Behold, I am about to fulfill the affirmative precept of the counting of the Omer, as it is written in the Torah:

“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Shabbath, from the day that ye brought the Omer of the wave-offering, seven complete weeks they shall be; until the morrow of the seventh Shabbath shall ye number fifty days.”

Blessed art Thou YHWH, our Elohym, King of the universe, who hast set us apart by Thy commandments and hast given us command concerning the counting of the Omer.

This is the twenty-ninth day, making four weeks and one day of the Omer.

May the All Merciful restore the service of the Temple to its place. May it be Thy will, YHWH our Elohym and Elohym of our fathers, that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our days, and grant our portion in Thy Torah. And there we will serve Thee with awe, as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

May Elohym be favorable unto us and bless us. That Thy way may be known upon the earth, Thy salvation among all nations. Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, Elohym; let all the peoples give thanks unto Thee. Let the nations rejoice and exult: for Thou wilt judge the peoples with equity and lead the nations upon the earth. Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, Elohym; let all the peoples give thanks unto Thee. The earth hath yielded her increase: Elohym, even our Elohym, shall bless us. Elohym shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

READINGS: TEHILLAH 78

My people, give ear to my Torah, Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I open my mouth in a parable; I utter riddles of old, Which we have heard and known, For our fathers have related them to us.

We do not hide them from their children, Relating to the generation to come the praises of YHWH, And His strength and His wonders which He has done.

For He raised a witness in Ya‛aqoḇ, And set a Torah in Yisra’ěl, Which He commanded our fathers, To teach them to their children; That it might be known to a generation to come, To children who would be born, To rise up and relate them to their children, And place their trust in Elohim, And not forget the works of Ěl, But watch over His commands, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation which did not prepare its heart, Whose spirit was not steadfast to Ěl.

The children of Ephrayim, armed bowmen, Turned back in the day of battle.

They did not guard the covenant of Elohim, And they refused to walk in His Torah, And they forgot His deeds And His wonders which He had shown them.

He did wonders in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Mitsrayim, in the field of Tso‛an.

He split the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap, And led them with the cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire.

He split the rocks in the wilderness, And made them drink, as from the great depths, And brought forth streams from the rock, And caused waters to come down as rivers.

Yet they sinned still more against Him To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

And they tried Ěl in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

And they spoke against Elohim. They said, “Is Ěl able to set a table in the wilderness?

“Look, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Is He able to give bread also? Would He provide meat for His people?”

Therefore YHWH heard, and He was angry; So a fire was kindled against Ya‛aqoḇ, And displeasure also came up against Yisra’ěl, Because they did not believe in Elohim, Neither did they trust in His deliverance.

Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of the heavens, And He rained down manna on them to eat, And He gave them the grain of the heavens.

Men ate bread of the mighty; He sent them provisions to satisfaction.

He made an east wind blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.

And He rained meat on them like the dust, And winged birds like the sand of the seas, And let them fall in the midst of His camp, All around His Dwelling Place.

So they ate and were completely satisfied, For He brought them what they desired.

They had not turned away from their desire, Their food was still in their mouths, When the wrath of Elohim came against them, And He killed among their fat ones, And He struck down the choice ones of Yisra’ěl.

In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonders.

So He ended their days in a breath, And their years in trouble.

When He killed them, then they sought Him, And they returned and did earnestly seek Ěl.

And they remembered that Elohim was their rock, And the Most High Ěl their redeemer.

But they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue, For their heart was not steadfast with Him, And they were not true to His covenant.

But He, the Compassionate One, Pardoned crookedness, And did not destroy them. And many a time He turned His displeasure away, And did not stir up all His wrath.

For He remembered that they were but flesh, A passing breath that does not return.

How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

And again and again they tried Ěl, And provoked the Set-apart One of Yisra’ěl.

They did not remember His hand, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary, How He worked His signs in Mitsrayim, And His wonders in the field of Tso‛an.

He turned their rivers into blood, And they could not drink their streams.

He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them, And gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost, And gave their beasts over to the hail, And their livestock to bolts of fire.

He sent on them the burning of His displeasure, Wrath, and rage, and distress, A deputation of messengers of evils.

He made a path for His displeasure; He did not spare their being from death, But gave their life over to the plague.

And He struck all the first-born in Mitsrayim, The first-fruits of strength in the tents of Ḥam, Then made His own people go forth like sheep, And led them in the wilderness like a flock.

And He led them on safely, And they did not fear, But the sea covered their enemies.

And He brought them to the border of His set-apart place, This mountain which His right hand had gained, And drove out nations before them, And allotted them a measured inheritance, And made the tribes of Yisra’ěl dwell in their tents.

Yet they tried and rebelled Against the Most High Elohim, And did not guard His witnesses, But they turned back And acted treacherously like their fathers; They twisted like a treacherous bow.

For they enraged Him with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

When Elohim heard this, He was angry, And greatly despised Yisra’ěl, And He left the Dwelling Place of Shiloh, The Tent which He had set up among men.

And He gave His strength into captivity, And His comeliness into the hand of the adversary.

And He gave His people over to the sword, And He was angry with His inheritance.

His young men were consumed by fire, And His maidens were not praised.

His kohenim fell by the sword, And their widows could not weep.

Then YHWH awoke as one asleep, As a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

And He struck His adversaries backward, He put them to an everlasting reproach.

Then He rejected the tent of Yosěph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephrayim, But chose the tribe of Yehuḏah, Mount Tsiyon, which He loved.

And He built His set-apart place like the heights, Like the earth He founded it forever.

And He chose Dawiḏ His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; He brought him in from tending the ewes, To shepherd Ya‛aqoḇ His people, And Yisra’ěl His inheritance.

And he shepherded them According to the integrity of his heart, And led them by the skill of his hands.

READINGS: MISHLE 19:1-14

Better is the poor walking in his integrity Than one of perverse lips, who is a fool.

Also, desire without knowledge is not excellent; And he who hurries with his feet sins.

The foolishness of a man perverts his way, And his heart is angry against YHWH.

Wealth adds many friends, But the poor is separated from his friend.

A false witness does not go unpunished, And he who breaths out lies does not escape.

Many entreat the favor of the noble. And all are friends to him who gives gifts.

All the brothers of the poor shall hate him; How much more shall his friends go far from him! He pursues promises – they are gone!.

He who gets heart loves his own life; He who guards understanding finds excellence.

A false witness does not go unpunished, And he who breathes out lies perishes.

Luxury is not fitting for a fool, Much less for a servant to rule over princes.

A man’s discretion makes him patient, And his adorning is to pass over a transgression.

The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, But his delight is like dew on the grass.

A foolish son is a calamity to his father, And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.

Houses and riches are the inheritance from fathers, But an understanding wife is from YHWH.

READINGS: AVOTH 4:7-8

Rabbi Tzadoq said, separate not thyself from the congregation; (in the judge’s office) act not the counsel’s part; make not of the Torah a crown wherewith to aggrandize thyself, nor a spade wherewith to dig. So also used Hillel to say, he who makes a worldly use of the crown of the Torah shall pass away. Hence, thou mayest infer that whosoever derives a profit for himself from the words of the Torah is helping on his own destruction.

Rabbi Yosey said, whoso honors the Torah will himself be honored by mankind; but whoso dishonors the Torah will himself be dishonored by mankind.