49 days, seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot
28 Iyar 5773 | May 8, 2013
Yom Yerushalayim: Jersusalem Day
43rd Day of the Omer
Rejoice with Jerusalem in joy
All you who mourn over her.
Isaiah 66:10
This text from Isaiah is particularly appropriate this month as we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), which commemorates the unification of the city during the Six-Day War in 1967. But it is an unusual text. And while the prophet Isaiah was speaking about the destruction of the ancient city of Jerusalem, we understand its contradiction today. Those who mourned over Jerusalem throughout Jewish history did so because of an unparalleled love for the city and all it represents. So we continue to mourn for the destruction it suffered in the past, even as we rejoice in its accomplishments and beauty today.
I take the opportunity to go to Israel whenever I can, even if it is to just breathe its air for a short time. In Jerusalem, I am renewed. It is in Jerusalem where I can be rooted in the ground and soar to its heavens. It is in Jerusalem where I can feel most blessed.
Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky, Life's Daily Blessings
Baruch Ata Adonai Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam a-sher ke-d-sha-nu b- mitz-vo-tav, v-tzi-va-nu al s-fi-rat ha-omer.
Praised be you Adonai our God who rules the Universe instilling within us the holiness of mitzvot by commanding us to count the Omer.
Today is the forty-third day - six weeks and one day of the Omer.