Parshas Emor- Climbing Step by Step We live in a time where there appears to be cruelty, biggotry, and selfishness all around us. Why? Because we are human beings, imperfect people, and so the Torah has given us a beautiful 49 day growth guideline during this time period to refine and raise ourselves up to the angels and ensure we never fall so low. This weeks Parsha-Parshas Emor- discusses the different holidays (chagim) that God commands the Jewish people to keep. We see the command to count the Omer and bring the Omer offering: From the day following the rest day (of Pesach)-the day you bring the Omer as a wave-offering- you should COUNT for yourselves seven weeks. They should be perfect. (Vayikra 23: 15). We have just begun the month of Iyar, the only month that we count Sfira every single night. Mitzrayim (Egypt in hebrew) means limitations and boundaries, thus leaving Egypt means freedom from constraints. Before the Jews left they were on the 49th level of impurity, so low that if they would have gone one level lower they would be unable to be saved. This forty-nine day period in the desert was spiritually preparing themselves for the monumental experience of receiving the Torah (Shavuous). They climbed one step at a time up the spiritual latter for forty-nine days of intense chracter refinement. This period has just as much relevance to our lives today as it did over 3,000 years ago. Just as we were slaves in Egypt, we can also be slaves to our personalities, driven by forces over which we often seem to have no control. This period teaches us how to regain control over our emotions and refine our character so we can arrive to Shavuos with a fully achieved inner renewal and we are truly worthy of receiving the gift from above, the Torah. The month of Iyar is especially important to this growth process because the sign of Iyar is the ox, which represents the spiritual origin of man’s animal soul. Hence the focus of Iyar is the rectification of our animal souls by refining each of our innate character traits through the spiritual work of the Counting of the Omer. The word for “ox” in Hebrew also means to look, or to observe, because Iyar is the month of introspection for the sake of self improvement. But what I find most beautiful is that the ox also represents the animal who works alone, always with a yoke on its back and toiling. The month of Nisan was the sign of the sheep, an animal always fed, sheered, pampered and taken care of in a flock. The month of Nisan God rescued us as a nation because He loved us regardless of our many sins. The month of Iyar, however, is the time when we need to work on our own and truly toil for self-improvement and we cannot rely on anyone else to help us get there, like the lone ox. Iyar is also referred to as the month of (natural) healing because its name is an acronym for the words “I am God your Healer” (אֲנִי י־הוה רֹפְאֶךָ ). May it be a time of healing from the evils of our past, filled with growth and introspection, step by step, until we will no longer be a slave to our personalities and negative character traits, but break free to become our ideal selves! Have a BEAUTIFUL shabbos and only success in your journey of counting sfirah! (Tonight is Day 18 - Netzach of Tiferet: Endurance in Compassion- Is my compassion enduring and consistent? Is it reliable or whimsical? Does it prevail among other forces in my life? Am I ready to stand up and fight for another?) Exercise for the day: In the middle of your busy day take a moment and call someone who needs a compassionate word. Defend someone who is in need of sympathy even if its not a popular position. ps. if you did not count the sefirah until now you can still count without a bracha and learn the sefirot of that day for spiritual refinement
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 15:48:28 +0000
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