Today is 16th day of the Omer.

Ayin is the sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Numerical value: 70
Sound: silent
Meaning: 1. Eyes 2. salvation

John 12:35-50 TLV Choose Either the Light or the Darkness

³⁵ Therefore Yeshua said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.” Yeshua spoke these things, then left and hid Himself from them.

³⁷ But even though He had performed so many signs before them, they weren’t trusting in Him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said,

“Adonai, who has believed our report?
To whom has the arm of Adonai been revealed?”^[a]

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah also said,

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they might not see with their eyes
nor understand with their hearts and turn back,
    and I would heal them.”^[b]

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

⁴² Nevertheless many, even among the leaders, put their trust in Him. But because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing Yeshua,^[c] so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue; ^[d] 43 for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.

⁴⁴ Yeshua cried out, “Whoever puts trust in Me believes not in Me but in the One who sent Me! ⁴⁵ And whoever beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶ As light I have come into the world, so that everyone who trusts in Me should not remain in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears My words but doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I came to save the world, not to judge the world. ⁴⁸ The one who rejects Me and doesn’t receive My words has a judge; the word I spoke will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. Therefore what I say, I say just as the Father has told Me.”

Footnotes

1. John 12:38 Is. 53:1(LXX).
2. John 12:40 cf. Is. 6:10.
3. John 12:42 cf. Jn. 9:22.
4. John 12:43 Lit. from the synagogue, i.e. excommunicated, cut off from all community, banned; cf. Mt. 18:17.

Begin each night’s count with the blessing:
Hebrew: “Baruch atah YAHWEH Eloheinu Melekh Ha-olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al S’firat Ha-omer.”

(English: Blessed are You, YAHWEH our Elohim, King of the Universe who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.) 

Please click The Refiner’s Fire 2022 Omer

Psalms 119:121-128 TLV AYIN ע

¹²¹ I did what is just and right.
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
¹²² Guarantee Your servant’s well-being.
Do not let arrogant ones oppress me.
¹²³ My eyes fail, longing for Your salvation
and for Your righteous word.
¹²⁴ Deal with Your servant as befits Your lovingkindness,
and teach me Your statutes.
¹²⁵ I am Your servant, give me discernment,
so I may understand Your testimonies.
¹²⁶ It is time for Adonai to act—
they have violated Your Torah!
¹²⁷ Therefore I love Your mitzvot
more than gold, more than pure gold.
¹²⁸ Therefore I esteem all Your precepts as right in every way
—every false way I hate.

By Rabbi Simon Jacobson DAY 16       GEVURAH OF TIFERET: Discipline in Compassion

Sunday evening, May 1  we count sixteen days of the Omer. For compassion to be effective and healthy it needs to be disciplined and focused. It requires discretion both to whom you express compassion, and in the measure of the compassion itself. It is recognizing when compassion should be expressed and when it should be withheld or limited. Discipline in compassion is knowing that being truly compassionate sometimes requires withholding compassion. Because compassion is not an expression of the bestower’s needs but a response to the recipient’s needs. Exercise for the day:  Express your compassion in a focused and constructive manner by addressing someone’s specific needs.