![]() ![]() The second day, known as gevurah, she-be-chesed or restraint with kindness, refers to a kindness that is restricted by boundaries. It is going against what justice dictates should be done.” Each day of the first week of the Omer is a different type of kindness. In the opening paragraph about the first week of counting he explains, “Chesed is not going beyond the letter of the law. The book opens with the first week of the Omer, which is characterized by chesed or kindness. This daily teaching is accompanied by three short, practical exercises for interaction with God, others and oneself. Each day includes a teaching of the particular sefira or “the Kabbalistic energy of the day,” which Haber explains are spheres that represent different aspects of God’s interaction with creation. A book for those seeking spiritual growth, “Sefiros” examines the period of counting the omer through a kabbalistic lens, as well as the metaphysical meaning behind each of the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. His message of unity appeals to a broad audience, as do his works on Torah and Jewish thought.Įarlier this year, Mosaica Press released a brand-new edition of Haber’s popular work “Sefiros,” which was first published in 2008. ![]() For the past 20 years, Haber has lived in Ramat Beit Shemesh in Israel, presiding over a community he founded of mostly English-speaking oleh that include full-time yeshiva students and IDF soldiers. He moved to Melbourne, where he served as the rabbi of a kollel, before returning to New York to work with the Orthodox Union and to head the Bais Torah congregation in Monsey. He served as a rabbi in the same city in which he grew up and worked to bring Jewish life to mostly non-affiliated Jews. ISBN-13: 978-1607630104.īuffalo native Rabbi Yaacov Haber has dedicated his life to spreading Torah to Jewish people of all levels of observance and belief. He or she comes to realize that the exit from Slavery was only to become again a Servant, but this time not to any human so-called “master,” but rather to be a Servant of G-d, the true Master of the Universe.Reviewing: “Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement Through Counting the Omer” by Yaacov Haber. It enables him to realize that the conscience within him was planted there by G-d, and that he has the ability to be in touch with, and to model his behavior, to a limited extent, after that of his Creator. The Torah prescribes a way of life which lifts the human being above his purely physical nature to the level of a moral and spiritual and physical being. As Rabbi Chanina, the Assistant to the High Priest says in Pirkei Avot (Chapter 3, Mishnah 2) ” ‘Pray for the welfare of the government,’ any form of government, because if people did not fear it, one person would eat his neighbor alive.” The best that the human can do on his own, is establish rules that prevent society from descending into chaos. The only source of Morality is G-d the human being is very inventive, but he or she is incapable of inventing a moral code. Without the Spiritual, the Physical would have no meaning. The purpose of Physical Redemption is Spiritual Redemption. Sinai, we celebrate our going from Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Freedom. On Shavuot, which commemorates G-d’s giving His precious gift, the Torah, to the Jewish People at Mt. On Pesach, the Jewish People were redeemed from a terrible period of physical slavery in the “House of Bondage” of Egypt. In the Jewish Tradition, the term “Sefirah” also has a specific meaning, and refers to a count of the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot: between the Festival of “Physical Redemption” and the Festival of “Spiritual Redemption.” In Judaism, “time” has great value it is forbidden to waste it, or to “kill time.” One counts units of time till a desired goal for a child, it might be, “How many days till vacation?” For an adult, “How many weeks or months till I get my degree?” or “How many years till I’ll be eligible for a promotion?”įrequently, as in the example above, the items which are counted are units of time. The word “Sefirah” basically means “counting” or “the count.” ![]()
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