OMER WEEK 1- DAY 1

Omer Journal

With the mitzvah of counting the 49 days, known as Sefirat Ha'Omer, the Torah invites us on a journey into the human psyche, into the soul. There are seven basic emotions that make up the spectrum of human experience. At the root of all forms of enslavement, is a distortion of these emotions. Each of the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot is dedicated to examining and refining one of them.

The seven emotional attributes are:

Chesed ― Loving-kindness

Gevurah ― Justice and discipline

Tiferet ― Harmony, compassion

Netzach ― Endurance

Hod ― Humility

Yesod ― Bonding

Malchut ― Sovereignty, leadership

The seven weeks, which represent these emotional attributes, further divide into seven days making up the 49 days of the counting. Since a fully functional emotion is multidimensional, it includes within itself a blend of all seven attributes. Thus, the counting of the first week, which begins on the second night of Pesach, as well as consisting of the actual counting ("Today is day one of the Omer...") would consist of the following structure with suggested meditations:

Upon conclusion of the 49 days we arrive at the 50th day ― Mattan Torah. After we have achieved all we can accomplish through our own initiative, traversing and refining every emotional corner of our psyche, we then receive a gift ('mattan' in Hebrew) from above. We receive that which we could not achieve with our own limited faculties. We receive the gift of true freedom ― the ability to transcend our human limitations and touch the divine.

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WEEK 1 ― CHESED: LOVING-KINDNESS

Day 1 ― Chesed of Chesed: Loving-kindness in Loving-kindness

1 Corinthians 5: 6-8

Love is the single most powerful and necessary component in life. It is both giving and receiving. Love allows us to reach above and beyond ourselves, to experience another person and to allow that person to experience us. It is the tool by which we learn to experience the highest reality ― The Most High. Examine the love aspect of your love.

Ask yourself: What is my capacity to love another person? Do I have problems with giving? Am I stingy or selfish? Is it difficult for me to let someone else into my life? Am I afraid of my vulnerability, of opening up and getting hurt?

Exercise for the day: Find a new way to express your love to a dear one.

א ALEPH

1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,

Who walk in the law of the Lord!

2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,

Who seek Him with the whole heart!

3 They also do no iniquity;

They walk in His ways.

4 You have commanded us

To keep Your precepts diligently.

5 Oh, that my ways were directed

To keep Your statutes!

6 Then I would not be ashamed,

When I look into all Your commandments.

7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart,

When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I will keep Your statutes;

Oh, do not forsake me utterly!