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Today is twenty-six days of the Omer, three weeks and five days 

4/29/2015

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Hod of Netzach - Humility in Endurance. As you awake, offer gratitude to God for your soul’s ability to endure despite trying challenges. Draw on this intentionality throughout the day.

From Rabbi Jill Hammer's "Omer Calendar of Biblical Women":


In ancient Israel, the position of the queen mother was an important political office. When the names of the kings of Judah and Israel are listed, the names of the queen mothers always appear as well. When one of the last of the kings of Judah, Yehoyachin, is exiled to Babylon, the Bible mentions that his mother, Nechushta, daughter of Elnatan, is exiled with him.

We don't know anything about Nechushta but her name. Nechushta, “the bronze one,” reminds us of the bronze serpents Moses uses to heal the Israelites in the wilderness (Num. 21:4–9). Nechushta’s name is a reminder of the healing that the Shekhinah can bring. A midrash about Nechushta claims that her doors were always open. Perhaps her doors remained open in exile so that, like the bronze serpent, she could nourish and heal the other exiles. Nechushta is hod shebe'netzach, the humility, glory and grace we exhibit when we endure. We are most like Nechushta when we find ways of nurturing trust and healing in a broken world.

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    Counting the Omer - 

    These brief reflections are based on A Spiritual Guide to the Counting of the Omer, by Rabbi Simon Jacobson. You can read more here.


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