Day 43 of the Omer, Yom Yerushalayim

 B”H

… and now the ceasefire with Lebanon got extended until another significant day of the Omer, Yom Yerushalyim, 3 weeks from today.

Day 24 of the Omer and Week 24 of the Year (Week of Purim)

 B”H

Trump’s Yom HaZikaron/Ha’Atzma’ut deadline is now followed by a deadline 4 days later, which also matches assessments that is when Iran runs out of storage room for its oil and would be forced to cap its wells.

It is worth mentioning what KoT’s book mentions after Table 1 of the Appendix about the connection of these days of the Omer (Days 19 - 24) with the week of Purim (when the previous strikes began):

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Explanation for the Week of Purim:

By looking at the above table, one can see that, for the most part, the weeks in which there are holidays in the Jewish calendar match important days during the Counting of the Omer (such as holidays and Rosh Chodesh, or the eve of such dates). The only major exceptions to this appear to be the weeks that include the weeks with holidays that fall during the Counting of the Omer itself (such as the week of Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Yom Yerushalayim, and Shavuot) and Purim. It is understandable that the weeks of the first set of holidays would not be able to have matches, since the very days of each of these holidays are matched with other weeks. However, why Purim does not appear to have a parallel during the Counting of the Omer appears to be somewhat of a conundrum.

A likely explanation is that the week of Purim actually matches Yom Ha'Atzmaut as well. The story of Purim somewhat parallels that of Yom Ha'Atzmaut. On Purim, a leader of Amalek got enormous power, and tried to annihilate us completely. We survived, and were victorious in miraculous ways that seemed natural. G-d was "Hidden." In the next generation, the Jewish people were permitted to return to their land. On Yom Ha'Atzmaut, history seemed to repeat itself. At the time of the Holocaust, a leader of Amalek gained enormous power and tried to annihilate us completely. We survived, many of us in miraculous ways, but G-d seemed to be completely "Hidden." Some years later, the United Nations recognized our right to the Land of Israel; we won a War of Independence; and established a Jewish government in our land.

Before Purim, there is a day of fasting, Ta'anit Esther. Before Yom Ha'Atzmaut there is also a solemn day, Yom HaZikaron, the day they remember the soldiers who died in recent wars, as well as victims of terrorism. Ta'anit Esther also commemorates the Jewish people fast before they went to war against their enemies at the time.

The Mishnah in the tractate of Megillah explains that one can read the Megillah from the 11th of Adar until the 15th. Our rabbis instituted that the Megillah could be read earlier (or later) in the countryside, for people who could not easily assemble on the 14th of Adar. The difference between the 11th and the 15th of Adar is 4 days. This is the very difference between day 20 of the omer, which would match the week of Purim. It is very interesting to note that in Israel today Yom Ha'Atzmaut is often not celebrated on the 5th of Iyar. To prevent any violation of Shabbat, our rabbis instituted that we commemorate Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut on different dates, just like the reading of the Megillah was often done on different dates. For example, in year 5771, because the 4th of Iyar fell on a Sunday, Yom HaZikaron was commemorated on Monday the 5th, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut on Tuesday, the 6th of Iyar. Theoretically, if Yom HaZikaron fell on a Thursday, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut on Friday, these holidays could be postponed and celebrated on the following Monday and Tuesday, four days later. Yom Ha'Atzmaut would then fall on the 24th day of the omer, corresponding to week 24 of the year, the week of Purim. So far, the custom now has been to celebrate Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut a day earlier instead.

KoT App Updates

 B”H

Much progress has been made to the app!

 https://kabbalahoftime.github.io/kabalahoftime/

To add the app to your Home Screen, click the “Share” button, scroll down, and then click “Add to Home Screen.”