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AllFaith.com and Beit Emunah's

AllFaith Community Worship:
Sundays at 2 PM Eastern.

Welcome to AllFaith.com and Beit Emunah's AllFaith Community Worship! This is a community service for all people of the Light. We invite your participation and contributions.

We begin today on Page 9 of our Songbook with Adon Olam.

Observant Jews are currently in the period of the Omer count. Let's briefly consider the origins and goals of this practice.

From the second night of Passover until the day before Shavuot, the Torah instructs Israelites to observe the mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer or the "counting of the Omer." The Torah instructs that during this time each year, Israelites are to count seven complete weeks, for a total of 49 days, which is 7 X 7. There are various customs surrounding this practice. At the end of the seven-week period, Jews celebrate Shavuot, meaning "weeks." For this reason, Shavuot is often called the Festival of Weeks. This year, Shavuot will begin on the evening of Sunday, June 1 and last until Tuesday June 3.

Sefirat HaOmer, the omer count, takes place each night as the new day begins (remember Jews follow a lunar calendar).

The Rabbis cite several reasons for the count. The most important, other than obedience to the biblical command, is that the count reminds the Israelites that God freed us from slavery and then, 49 days later, gave us the Written Torah of Moses to guide us. Torah says nothing about the Rabbinic Oral Torah being revealed. This giving is believed to have happened on Shavuot.

During the forty-nine days between Pesach and Shavuot, the biblical Hebrews underwent a radical transformation of consciousness as they became the Chosen Nation of Priests. This generation of Israelites witnessed the direct power and love of Elohim as no other generation had, and yet they created a golden calf and chose slavery rather than to place their emunah in God. No generation has witnessed the power of God so publicly displayed since then. At least not in biblical tradition. Arguably, until 1948, when God brought about half of the Jews back to Israel with mighty signs and wonders. Despite this historic divine intervention into human affairs, a large segment of Rabbinic Jews have little to no emunah. Indeed, a large percentage of modern Jews do not even believe in God. The Jewish people remain woefully divided. The nation looks to the Gentile nations for security and guidance rather than God. When leaders arise trying to return Israel to faith in God, such as Meir Kahane did, they are rejected. Today, we are more divided into rival factions and movements than ever. Political and movement affiliation differences rupture us. The movements, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, support grievous evils condemned by Moshe and his Torah. Many Orthodox even reject the Jewishness of their fellow Jews, and when Gentiles come seeking God, they cast them aside rudely. Despite this, we have the audacity to say we believe in HaShem and desire His Theocratic rule over us! May this Sefirat HaOmer be the time Jews cast off our lack of emunah and learn the meaning and importance of LOVE! May all Jews use this opportunity to arise to devekut, attachment to HaShem and His people. May we all unlock the secrets of the indwelling God as we ponder the Sefirot.

Sefirat HaOmer Niggun
by Shir Meira Feit, Zach Fredman, and Yosef Goldman.

These words translate as:
"For the sake of the unification
of the Transcendent Creative Power
with the Divine Presence dwelling here and now,
I am here, I am ready to fulfill the mitzvah
of counting the Omer…
Seven weeks must be completed…"





If we desire liberation, we must complete the inner work of 7 times 7. We must unlock and activate the associated inner powers of the Four Worlds:

The Omer count's mystical teachings present powerful knowledge concerning the Self and our desire for spiritual ascension. The mystical sages explain that our physical world consists of two essential components: One celestial, the other terrestrial. The celestial includes the stars and planets, the physical heavens. The terrestrial realm is our world, the physical earth. These two combine and comprise our physical world. The world we see with our eyes and experience (including through telescopes, etc.). In our foolishness, we usually think our world is the totality of existence, and that nothing is more important than physical matter. But in truth, our world is but a minor realm within a limitless expanse. In this, the wise often seem foolish while the so-called foolish are really wise. Because of their lack of emunah and accurate knowledge, fools blind themselves to material reality and despise truth tellers.

Open My Eyes, Lord

"Above" or beyond our finite realm is the world of the angels and other similar etheric entities. Their realm is much "larger" than ours by comparison, but it too is as nothing when compared with the totality of existence.

"Higher" and more expansive than the second and first worlds combined is the third. This is the world sages sometimes refer to as the Realm of the Higher Forces. This world is also known as the World of the Throne or Merkabah. A slight glimpse into this reality is found in the Chariot Throne referenced by Prophet Yechezkel (Ezekiel) in chapter one of the book bearing his name. There is a mystical school dedicated to the study of the Merkabah. This mystical science explains that within each of us is a merkabah, a personal chariot, which we can board and ascend to One God's greater Merkabah realm. Those who do achieve the blessed state of devekut, called samadhi in the East. This is the state of true KNOWING.

The three words team with diverse life forms or entities. Individualized existence is the Way of G-d. Each life form, each species, and each realm possesses its own nature of existence and its own degree of individuality. Each exists as created by the Holy One, and each fulfills its purpose according to the will of the Creator. Observances like Pesach, the Omer count, Shavuot, and the others are intended to elevate our human consciousness to this plane of be-ing.

Only humans were created in the image of G-d. This image does not refer to physical characteristics but spiritual ones, including our unique ability to search and ponder Truth. The image of G-d refers to our intellectual ability to choose our course. Because we were created with dual impulses (or yetzer), we choose between yetzer hatov and yetzer hara, which are positive and negative. This dual nature grants us free will and holds us accountable for our choices.

By our free will, we can elevate or diminish our consciousness. We can choose the path of light or the way of darkness. Utilizing the tools offered during Sefirat HaOmer, we can uncover the secrets of devekut, attachment to the Holy One. This is our collective origin and our destiny. As we become increasingly attached to the Holy One, our consciousness ascends upwards and we attain God-Consciousness and freedom.

Higher still, transcending the realm of the Merkabah or third world of conceptual existence, is the realm that can only be called a world in the most general sense. The Fourth Realm transcends all descriptions. It encompasses all realities and can only be spoken of in philosophical or allegorical terms because this Reality is so far beyond our finite comprehension as to be inconceivable. This is the Realm of Divine Influences. These emanations proceed from the Holy One. They fill all existence like silver luminous fibers emerging from and returning to the eternal Source. Other than the Holy One, there is no existence! The Influences emanating from the Holy One cannot be considered "entities" because nothing exists with the Holy One. There is no “other.” No gods, nor demigods, no incarnations, or mediators. There are no individual beings, no phenomena, etc., in that Realm or in Reality. There is only God. All such conceived beings are but temporary manifestations of the One. All things come from the One, and they return to the One. Jews call the One Ain Soph. Hindus often refer to Akshar Brahman, and Taoists refer to the Tao. But there is nothing else. There is Unity.

From this Fourth World emanates a spectrum of the Or Chadash or Sacred Light. This all-inclusive Light emanates from the Holy One according to Divine Will due to Love for all creatures great and small. Through this 'spectrum' of Sacred Light the inconceivable Holy One becomes conceivable as the Lord of the Merkabah described by Navi Ezekiel. The Holy One bestows existence, both particular and universal, to the creations of the lower worlds according to their diverse natures. Not all realms are the same, nor are the entities the same. The One provides to each according to its nature and needs through the emanations of His Holy Light.

As a spectrum, the Emanations are One and yet can be categorized or conceptualized, even as music is one and yet consists of diverse notes. Related to this concept is the Ten Utterances perceived in the first chapter of Bereishit-Genesis when the Elohim said, 'Let there be... and there was." All truth is revealed through the Word of God, through Divine manifestations, sometimes in scrolls and sometimes directly into the consciousness and usually by Sound Vibrations. We await the Song of Redemption.

The Emanations exist both as the microcosm and macrocosm of existence. They are therefore conceived as the "Palaces," "Houses," or the Body of Adam Kadmon (the ‘blueprint’ of primordial Man, not to be confused with Adam of Gan Eden). Adam Kadmon is humanity and its unique potential as revealed by the One. Hebrew tradition tells us that humanity is unique among the created beings. By actualizing the individual emanations or powers of the Tree of Life and its Song, humans are empowered to ascend ever higher as we attach ourselves more and more completely with the Holy One. Eastern traditions agree that moksha or liberation is possible only from the human form of life because of our unique ability to ponder our existence. Truth is One, the sages call it by diverse names.

As one’s spirituality ascends or progresses, "Kether becomes Malkuth of the next order" and one processes towards 'enlightenment' or at-one-ment with the Divine Light of the Or Chadash. One advances and becomes ever more 'attached' to the Holy One, Who is both our Source and our Destination, as explained at Tehillim/Psalms 82. This process is taught in the counting of the Omer. The soul, enslaved by material desires and poor choices, can arise as the Son or Daughter of the Most High and achieve the personal unification of these emanations and merit devekut or moksha, liberation. May this holiday season bring each of us greater insights and revelations.

AllFaith Spirituality incorporates such wisdom.

We turn in our Song Book to page 47. Our desire and our prayer is for all hatred and needless division to cease. Truly We Are One In The Spirit of One God and we divide ourselves at every turn.

Despite our divisions:

Never Forget: God is Everywhere!

There Is Only One God, Barbara Streisand

Praises and Prayers to God.

We invite you to share your prayers with us and with God now. Hold those you would pray for in your heart and release them to GOD for healing and blessing as we sing, The Lord Bless you.

May One God hear our prayers and respond favorably to us.

Announcements:

Note: All Times are Eastern.

My new book Below We Stand is NOW available on Kindle and in paperbook at Amazon.com.

    Sundays 8 PM: AllHeart continues. Everyone is welcome to join random, mutually respectful conversations each Sunday at 8 PM. Only in our Zoom Room.

    Mondays at 8 PM: Reading and Discussing the Bible. We are currently in Ezekiel. Live in the Zoom room and on Rumble.

    Wednesdays at 8 PM: we are now discussing Ram Das's insightful book Be Here Now.

    Thursdays 8 PM: Our AllFaith Spiritual Ascension group in Zoom, Rumble, and our Social Media servers. We are currently discussing the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tsu.

    Sundays 2:00 PM Our AllFaith Community Worship Service. We welcome all people of peace.

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