SEFIRAT HAOMER
REBBETZIN YEHUDIS GOLSHEVSKY
& REBBETZIN YAEL DWORKIN
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעוֹמֶר:
*הַיּוֹם __ ימים לעומר:*
הָרַחֲמָן הוּא יַחֲזִיר לָנוּ עֲבוֹדַת בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לִמְקוֹמָהּ, בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ, אָמֵן סֶלָה:
לַמְנַצֵּחַ בִּנְגִינוֹת מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר: אֱלֹהִים יְחָנֵּנוּ וִיבָרְכֵנוּ, יָאֵר פָּנָיו אִתָּנוּ, סֶלָה: לָדַעַת בָּאָרֶץ דַרְכֶּךָ, בְּכָל גּוֹיִם יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ: יוֹדוּךָ עַמִּים אֱלֹהִים, יוֹדוּךָ עַמִּים כֻּלָּם: יִשְׂמְחוּ וִירַנְּנוּ לְאֻמִּים, כִּי תִשְׁפֹּט עַמִּים מִישֹׁר, וּלְאֻמִּים בָּאָרֶץ תַּנְחֵם סֶלָה: יוֹדוּךָ עַמִּים אֱלֹהִים, יוֹדוּךָ עַמִּים כֻּלָּם: אֶרֶץ נָתְנָה יְבוּלָהּ, יְבָרְכֵנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֵינוּ: יְבָרְכֵנוּ אֱלֹהִים, וְיִירְאוּ אוֹתוֹ כָּל אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ
אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ
אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ גְּדֻלַּת יְמִינְךָ תַּתִּיר צְרוּרָה. (אב"ג ית"ץ):
קַבֵּל רִנַּת עַמְּךָ שַׂגְּבֵנוּ טַהֲרֵנוּ נוֹרָא. (קר"ע שט"ן):
נָא גִבּוֹר דּוֹרְשֵׁי יִחוּדְךָ כְּבָבַת שָׁמְרֵם. (נג"ד יכ"ש):
בָּרְכֵם טַהֲרֵם רַחֲמֵי צִדְקָתְךָ תָּמִיד גָּמְלֵם. (בט"ר צת"ג):
חֲסִין קָדוֹשׁ בְּרוֹב טוּבְךָ נַהֵל עֲדָתֶךָ. (חק"ב טנ"ע):
יָחִיד גֵּאֶה לְעַמְּךָ פְּנֵה זוֹכְרֵי קְדֻשָּׁתֶךָ. (יג"ל פז"ק):
שַׁוְעָתֵנוּ קַבֵּל וּשְׁמַע צַעֲקָתֵנוּ יוֹדֵעַ תַּעֲלוּמוֹת. (שק"ו צי"ת):
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, אַתָּה צִוִּיתָנוּ עַל יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה עַבְדֶּךָ לִסְפּוֹר סְפִירַת הָעוֹמֶר כְּדֵי לְטַהֲרֵנוּ מִקְּלִפּוֹתֵינוּ וּמִטֻּמְאוֹתֵינוּ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַבְתָּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ: וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת־עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם, כְּדֵי שֶׁיּטָּהֲרוּ נַפְשׁוֹת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִזֻּהֲמָתָם, וְּבְכֵן יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁבִּזְכוּת סְפִירַת הָעוֹמֶר שֶׁסָּפַרְתִּי הַיּוֹם, יְתֻקַּן מַה שֶׁפָּגַמְתִּי בִּסְפִירָה *גבורה שבחסד* וְאֶטָּהֵר וְאֶתְקַדֵּשׁ בִּקְדֻשָּׁה שֶׁל מַעְלָה, וְעל יְדֵי זֶה יֻשְׁפַּע שֶׁפַע רַב בְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת וּלְתַקֵּן אֶת נַפְשׁוֹתֵינוּ וְרוּחוֹתֵינוּ וְנִשְׁמוֹתֵינוּ מִכָּל סִיג וּפְגַם וּלְטַהֲרֵנוּ וּלְקַדְּשֵׁנוּ בִּקְדֻשָּׁתְךָ הָעֶלְיוֹנָה, אָמֵן סֶלָה:
CHESSED
DAY 4
Netzach shebChessed
REBBETZIN YEHUDIS GOLSHEVSKY & YAEL DWORKIN:
In regards our relationship with HaShem:
Contemplate how H' exists eternally- outlasting all His works, and how none of His works outlast Him. And in this manner so too- His bounty and loving kindness last eternally- sustaining the world as a whole in general, and every individual in particular - as they too are drawn out from Him with consistency in an everlasting manner. Contemplate on this and come to love the Creator blessed be He- through the awakening of seeing the abundant good and loving kindness that are revealed in His eternity- and in this way the middah of Chessed (love) is made complete through the middah of Netzach (eternal and consistent).
We must take to heart that to acquire H's love and reach closeness to Him, we must try to come up with winning arguments (להתנצח) when talking to Him. This is H's will- as seen by Avraham avinu and Moshe Rabeinu- how they argued when they saw H's anger in the world, they stood and argued (התנצחו) with their Creator, so to speak, and in the end they attained His love. Whereas Noach didn't give heart to argue for the sake of his generation- and he is called a foolish shepherd. In this way too we must learn to come up with new winning arguments- for the benefit of the klal and the individual- and in the end we too will attain H's love rooted in Chessed through victorious arguments- rooted in Netzach.
And we must take to heart too- that to attain H's love (the root of which is Chessed) - we must argue with our yetzer hara- to compel it towards the good. As chazal taught: a person should not say i do not want to eat meat and milk, or wear shatnez- but rather- a person should say "i want!" but what can i do if my Father in Heaven decreed upon me forbidding me these things. In this way, by awakening a bit the yetzer hara (by saying "i want (meat and milk)..) and then arguing with it (by saying- but i can't since H' forbids it)- in this way we can achieve H's love, and acquire the middah of Chessed through the middah of Netzach.
In interpersonal relations:
To do acts of chessed consistently, to do more than "one and done," but to go back and emulate the Creator in being matmidah in doing chessed. The universe only exists by virtue of Hashem's consistent and persistent bestowal of chessed. For us, too, this is netzach (consistency and persistence) within chessed, within the realm of our own giving.
For "winning" actions, use the right hand of chessed. For example, hold your siddur in your right hand, do the persistent act of kindness with the right hand. When you're following up with a phone call to someone who is in need of support, dial with your right hand!
Netzach involves using speech to win over a situation, as described in tefillah above. This also applies within ourselves, to dialogue out a challenge with our yetzer and win the argument, so to speak. Netzach within chessed means to focus on this during the day, and especially during the morning. Bokra d'Avraham: morning is the chessed time of day. L'hagid baboker chasdechah...
The blessing of mevareich hashanim is rooted in netzach, within shacharis. Special focus there...
Kinyan Torah:
Binas HaLev, Sichlus Halev
Emotional Intelligence. For example, in interpersonal relations, there is what someone says, and then there is what they mean, why they say what they say. Binas HaLev means that we are mevein davar mitoch davar when dealing with others and ourselves. Not in nitpicking overanalysis, but in seeing into the heart of a matter with emotional intelligence and to act from there.
DAY 3 Wed March 31, 2021 / 18 Nissan 5781
REBBETZIN YEHUDIS GOLSHEVSKY
Tiferes sheb'Chessed:
To contemplate the pe'er, the splendor, that Hashem invests within His creation, and through His hashgachah, and within His people, and through this contemplation to feel a powerful love for Him.
To focus especially on the blessing "Oter Yisrael b'Tifarah" -that He chooses to be beautified and made glorious specifically through the unique capacities of every single Jew and the Jewish people as a whole, and through this to feel a very powerful love for Him.
To consider how G-d's creation is a melding of both chessed and din, but that chessed prevails, because everything tends toward the ultimate chessedike purpose. And that this is the beauty and the glory of G-d's creation, that even though the application of din to chessed is necessary, it is for the purpose of the completion of chessed.
To realize that I can achieve greater love for my Creator by contemplating His wisdom- especially His written Torah – and through Tiferes/Torah to come to chessed (love).
To have mercy (din tempered by chessed) on other Jews, to glorify them, their good deeds, and to teach them written Torah, with the special goal of bringing the Jewish people to love one another.
When giving to another person, to do so with a smiling face, to do it beautifully -tiferes within chessed- both in terms of one's own attitude and approach as well as the form that the chessed takes in an aesthetically beautiful way that glorifies the recipient. This helps to repair the potential for self-glorification within doing an act of chessed. The focus should only be on beautifying the act, doing it in a beautiful way, and making known the beauty of doing chessed in general. To deflect personal tiferes and make sure that it goes to where it belongs- within middas hachessed.
When i do my act of rachamim, or i teach written Torah, or do the beautiful act of chessed beautifully, it should be with the right hand.
To glorify G-d and show mercy to others specifically by day and in the morning.
To have especial focus on the blessing "refaeinu" in Shemonah Esrei of Shacharis.
Kinyan Torah
arichas sefasayim - to self-edit one's speech.
My father-in-law, he should live and be well, shared a vort on this today with us from Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlit"a. We know that the dogs didn't bark when the Jewish people left Egypt, and so they were rewarded that they receive the neveilos, the animal carcasses that are forbidden to us to eat. Yet we see that the frogs acted with much greater mesirus nefesh -jumping into the ovens and so on during makas tzefarde'a- without receiving any special reward. Why should that be?
Because sometimes it's harder to hold your tongue than it is to jump into a fiery oven
DAY 2 Tues March 30, 2021 / 17 Nissan 5781
Gevurah sheb'Chessed
REBBETZIN YEHUDIS GOLSHEVSKY
To contemplate the ways in which Hashem's gevuros are manifest in the world in order to accomplish chessedik goals. personally, how painful experiences have brought me to teshuvah. how great and awesome events have come to awaken people's hearts to G-d's providence.
In order to come close to Hashem and repair my soul, and to love him wholeheartedly, I must learn to overcome myself even when it's difficult. But such pains are really nothing to me when compared to the love that I feel for Him and the good that comes from them. Through the gevurah comes the chessed.
All acts of chessed also require a limit and a measure, just like Hashem's loving and expansive creation also required the incorporation of the midas hagevurah and limitation.
When carrying out a chessed act, I need to focus my mind to determine just what the chessed is and just the chessed isn't –what only seems to be kindness temporarily but ends badly, and that which is genuinely chessed. This requires limits within chessed.
I must also determine whether the recipient has the capacity to receive that which I have to give. And if what I have to give will overpower that person's ability to receive, I must limit the giving.
I must give energetically, with alacrity – gevurah within chessed.
When I must do a withholding act, I do it with the right hand.
To act with self-restraint in the morning
To build my yiras shomayim in the morning
To focus especially on the blessing re'ei na in shemonah esrei of shacharis - gevurah within the chessed of shacharis
DAY 1 Mon March 29, 2021 / 16 Nissan 5781
Chessed she b'Chessed
REBBETZIN YEHUDIS GOLSHEVSKY
To contemplate the chassadim that Hashem does for me and has done for me, of which I'm completely undeserving, and this leads me to love Him wholeheartedly.
And because of this great love, to go above and beyond my usual limitations to serve Him and go lifnim mishuras ha'din.
To wholeheartedly engage in chessed in a way that is fully seen and experienced as chessed. and in so doing to realize that I'm only acting as a channel for the flow of the higher middas hachessed to express itself.
To see the other person's good point and love it
To be generous with baalei chessed (i.e. to make it easier for them to give, to remove obstacles from their attempts to give)
To use one's right hand to engage in the chessed – serve food to a guest with the right hand, give tzedakah with the right hand,
To do chessed expansively, to give a loving touch with the right hand,
To do chessed in the morning, specifically
To have extra kavana in the chassadim within tefillah, such as in ahavah rabba, but in general to focus on the davening of chessed, which is shacharis as a whole.