LOVE

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well and enjoying Pesach.

Mazal Tov again to Ariel on his Barmitzvah. We all had the opportunity to zoom in to his event where he davened the whole of shacharis and Hallel and did all the layening so beautifully and with such ease. We are all so proud of you Ariel! Wishing you to go from strength to strength and with much happiness and success. And Mazal Tov Baty on bringing him up so beautifully and putting in so much effort into the upbringing of your children.

We have now moved into the 49 days between Pesach and the giving of Torah on Shavuos, called Sefira

Rabbi Moshe Kordevero, the famous Kabbalist, in his monumental work the Pardes, writes that sefira has 3 meanings:

• Number (mispar)
• Telling a story (sipur)
• Sapphire stone (sapir) - which is a transluscent crystal that shines brightly

Ie counting the sefira illuminates the different aspects of our emotional lives.

The days of sefirah tell us the story of our souls.

There are 7 emotional qualities, and each of these 7 subdivide further into 7, making a total of 49

So practically, the whole of this week will be the emotion of LOVING-KINDNESS (Chesed), and today specifically is the aspect of HUMILITY IN LOVING-KINDNESS (Hod shebechesed)

As explained by Rabbi Simon Jacobson in his book 'The Counting of the Omer':

LOVE is the single and most powerful and necessary component in life

It is the foundation of all human interactions.

It 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 - G-d.

HUMILITY IN LOVE (today's sefirah)

This is the ability to rise above oneself and forgive, or give in to the one you love, just for the sake of love, even if you are convinced that you are right.

Each of the 49 days of Sefirah illuminates one of the 49 emotions and allows us to examine and refine these emotions.

After 49 days we should therefore be purified and ready, to Receive the Torah anew on Shavuos!

Gut Shabbos and Gut Yomtov to all