Dear Friends,
I hope you had an uplifting and joyous Pesach.
Judaism considers personal growth a lifelong task for each of us, 365 days a year. Nevertheless, each year a period of time is set aside when these efforts become the focus of our attention. This reflects the spiritual significance of Sefirat HaOmer, the forty-nine-day period between Passover and Shavuos.
The Hebrew word Sefirah means "counting". Every night we count one of these forty-nine days. But Sefirah also means "shining". During these forty-nine days, we should endeavor to make our personalities shine.
According to the Kabbalah, we have seven fundamental emotional qualities. These qualities then interrelate, to create a total of forty-nine emotions. The cultivation of our spiritual personalities during the Counting of the Omer involves the refinement of our "emotions", refining our character, eliminating their coarseness and directing them towards goodness and G-dliness.
As we work to upgrade our emotional potential, we prepare ourselves to relive the experience of the giving of the Torah on the upcoming holiday of Shavuot.
Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos