The Jewish community of Cologne, Germany, designated the 23rd of Nissan as a day of fasting and mourning to commemorate the Jews of Cologne massacred in 1147 during the Second Crusade.
In remembrance of the tragic death of Rabbi Akiva's disciples who died in a plague in the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, several mourning practices are observed during this period: no marriages are conducted during this time, and like mourners, we don't cut our hair or enjoy the sound of music. Customs vary as to the proscribed activities and the dates during which the mourning is observed; consult your rabbi as to the traditions followed by your community.
Link: 24,000 Plus One
Tomorrow is the ninth day of the Omer Count. Since, on the Jewish calendar, the day begins at nightfall of the previous evening, we count the omer for tomorrow's date tonight, after nightfall: "Today is nine days, which are one week and two days, to the Omer." (If you miss the count tonight, you can count the omer all day tomorrow, but without the preceding blessing).
The 49-day "Counting of the Omer" retraces our ancestors' seven-week spiritual journey from the Exodus to Sinai. Each evening we recite a special blessing and count the days and weeks that have passed since the Omer; the 50th day is Shavuot, the festival celebrating the Giving of the Torah at Sinai.
Tonight's Sefirah: Gevurah sheb'Gevurah -- "Restraint in Restraint"
The teachings of Kabbalah explain that there are seven "Divine Attributes" -- Sefirot -- that G-d assumes through which to relate to our existence: Chessed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut ("Love", "Strength", "Beauty", "Victory", "Splendor", "Foundation" and "Sovereignty"). In the human being, created in the "image of G-d," the seven sefirot are mirrored in the seven "emotional attributes" of the human soul: Kindness, Restraint, Harmony, Ambition, Humility, Connection and Receptiveness. Each of the seven attributes contain elements of all seven--i.e., "Kindness in Kindness", "Restraint in Kindness", "Harmony in Kindness", etc.--making for a total of forty-nine traits. The 49-day Omer Count is thus a 49-step process of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the "rectification" and perfection of one the forty-nine "sefirot."
Links:
How to count the Omer
The deeper significance of the Omer Count
The day following a festival is called Isru Chag ("tied to the festival"). Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers are omitted.
The great men who spied out the Land of Canaan returned and reported:
“We cannot go. They are stronger than us.”
They were brave, wise men, hand-picked by Moses. How could they have erred so disastrously?
Because, subconsciously, they never really wanted to leave the spiritual high of the desert for a life of tilling soil and building homes.
If they had only realized their true issue and asked Moses, he would have explained to them:
“This experience now is only the chrysalis. In the land, you will spread your wings.”
“From within these clouds of glory that surround us on our journey, you can perceive great light. There, in that earth, stone and clay, you will hold raw truth in your hands.”
And so to each of us Moses says:
Do not be afraid to emerge from your spiritual cocoon and enter that monstrous, formidable world.
As much as you can attain in your studies, even in deep contemplation and intense prayer, it will never come close to the wisdom that will open itself to you in your mission to build a home, give life, learn Torah, do mitzvahs, and lend a hand to others in a hostile universe.
Your eyes will see that which no book could tell, your heart will feel that which no thought could imagine.
In the joy that comes out of pain, in the sweetness that emerges from bitter suffering, this world will carry you to a place beyond anything your soul could otherwise have known.