COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 3: Tiferet she b’Chesed
The Blessing (Day 3):
Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sephirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, G-D, Source of Lovingkindness, You make us holy through your mitzvot, commanding us to count the Omer.
Hayom shlisha yomim l’Omer.
Today is the third day of the Omer.
Week One – Chesed (Lovingkindness, Compassion, Grace)
Day Three- Tiferet she b’Chesed (Harmony within Lovingkindness) – HEART to RIGHT SHOULDER
As we seek Tiferet she b’Chesed, Harmony within Lovingkindness, we search our deep, centered inner compassion to find the decent, caring and honorable person we are within. There is a Jewish law called pikuach nefesh which teaches that “saving a life” is above all other Jewish laws and that even our sacred laws of Shabbat, and others, may be broken to accomplish this. This idea can be extended to honoring our own life worth by having compassion on ourselves and forgiving ourselves for anything that is causing us to feel unbalanced or unworthy. Harmony and Balance (Tiferet) within us is affected by our need to approach it with Lovingkindness (Chesed.)
Life as an adult is a balancing act. We feel stressed and pulled in multiple directions at all times. We need to exercise loving compassion on ourselves, and to accept that it is okay not to have everything possible done at all times. That it’s more important to be balanced than to be “perfect.” In out American society, we are constantly looking to be productive and to excel at all things. This is a recipe for undue stress and feelings of inferiority that can create unnecessary problems in our daily lives. Tiferet she b’Chesed reminds us that self-compassion is a necessary ingredient to keeping everything in balance in our lives, which brings harmony to all we touch.
As a meditative practice, take a few deep breaths and say a silent prayer of gratitude to G-d for the compassion to know that you have a space of balance within you, if you can forgive yourself for anything you feel you didn’t do as well as you’d like, for any errors you have made. Allow lovingkindness to help bring you to a space of balance and harmony. By doing this, you are fulfilling a great act, and potentially fulfilling the law of pikuach nefesh, saving a life, saving yourself.
* For more information on this subject, I recommend “Counting the Omer: A Kabbalistic Meditation Guide” by Rabbi Min Kantrowitz.
Yedi'a 