With Shavuot beginning on Saturday night, June 4, this is the final week of the counting of the Omer.
Today is the 46th day of the Omer, which is
Netzach in Malchut: Eternity in Sovereignty
This afternoon, our Wise School second graders (including one Jacob Cutter!) will ascend the bimah in the sanctuary to present their Heroes Assembly. The culmination of a year-long focus on the value of leadership, this project combines research skills, art, music, and more. As the parent of a second grader and as an educator, I know that this is also—deeply—a project about legacy, about what it means to leave a lasting impression on the world, and about understanding what it means to be a changemaker.
But, I remember from past Heroes Museum days here at Wise, we celebrate not only public figures—those who have books written about them—but also the heroes in the students’ lives, the ones who teach them and love them and show them who and how to be in the world. Today, the Omer count turns us towards netzach in malchut, eternity in sovereignty. Legacy is our gift of eternity, our circle of influence, our sovereignty.
We honor our own heroes—those we looked up as children, and those we look up to now. We honor the legacies left to us by those of great renown, whose stories grace the pages of history books, but also those whose stories grace our Shabbat and holiday tables. And, perhaps we can take a moment to think about the legacy we hope to leave—to those for whom we might be a hero.
—Rabbi Sari Laufer