The Growing Through Sefirah feature is written based on the shiurim of Rav Dovid Gevirtzman.
Sefiras hao’mer is a powerful time for personal growth. When a time of year has a special avodah, that means there is a special ohr, a spiritual energy from Hashem that helps us attain that level. Since sefiras hao’mer is a time for working on our middos, that means that even if we have tried and failed at other times of year, we should try again now, and with Hashem’s help we will accomplish and grow!
The avodah of sefiras hao’mer is to build ourselves, step by step, to become wholesome and balanced ovdei Hashem, dedicated servants who know when to do what, and how to direct both our strengths and weaknesses to serve Hashem.
We often think of middos as “good character traits,” and sefiras hao’mer is an excellent time to work on refining our middos and interpersonal relationships. Middos also refers to the middos, or sefiras, which are core systems through which Hashem interacts with the world. Our world and the spiritual worlds are deeply connected, and our actions, and even thoughts, greatly affect the physical and spiritual worlds, for better or for worse.
The topic of the sefiros is vast, but the avodah of sefiras hao’mer that we present in these pages will not focus on the kabbalistic side of sefiros. Here we will take a more simple and avodah-oriented approach: How can I work in a practical and relatable way on growing to become a better person and a more connected Yid this sefiras hao’mer?
But first, a brief introduction to the sefiros: The seforim teach us that the seven weeks of sefiras hao’mer correspond to the following seven middos/sefiros: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferes, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchus. Each one of these corresponds to various inner middos, and each week there is a special heavenly assistance to work on that particular sefirah. Here is a list of some of the middos that these seven sefiros represent:
Chesed: love/good heartedness/giving
Gevurah: strength/discipline/barriers or borders
Tiferes: harmony/pity or mercifulness/empathy
Netzach: victory/insistence or decisiveness/consistency
Hod: humility/temimus/simple or honesty/sincerity
Yesod: connection (hiskashrus)/ attachment/ commitment
Malchus: faithfulness/leadership/authority
You’ll notice in your siddur that besides for each week having its middah, each day within each week has a sub-middah, or more precisely, a middah within a middah. What is this about?
In order to grow in a wholesome and balanced way, we aim to understand how each of our middos interact with one another. As we’ll see, for example, there are times for Chesed Sh’b’chesed, kindness within kindness, which is the ability to give and do acts of kindness in an unrestrained way. But there is also an avodah of Gevurah Sh’b’chesed, which means that sometimes we need to pause and consider whether our giving is harming ourselves, or whether we are giving in the way we want to give rather than the way the recipient needs to receive.
Doing this effectively requires reflection and inner work. Bisiyatta Dishmaya, we aim to present a short message each day explaining the unique avodah of the day, and then some questions you can ask yourself to prompt introspection and growth. The best way to grow from these ideas is to take some time to think about or discuss them, so that you can flush out the areas that resonate with you most and try to work on them in your own way.
“One who comes to purify himself is assisted from Heaven.” With Hashem’s help and some inner work, may we all arrive at Matan Torah on Shavuos as more balanced, refined, and passionate Yidden!
The Growing Through Sefirah series will continue in the Nekuda Tova until Shavuos, and will be posted on our social media channels.
The best way to grow from these ideas is to take some time to think about or discuss them, so that you can flush out the areas that resonate with you most and try to work on them in your own way.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 76 Pesach.