"Week Three: The Week of Tiferes"

30 Nisan 5776

Rosh Chodesh Aleph
15 Days of the Omer
(2 weeks and 1 day)

When we count the Omer, each day we work on perfecting a different character trait. These traits correspond to the seven sefirot: chesed, gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod, yesod and malchut - one for each of the seven weeks of counting up to Shavuot. Each of these sefirot also contains these seven sefirot - one for each day of the week. Last week was chesed. Today is the beginning of the third week - representing tiferet, and it's the first day of the week or chesed that is in tiferet.

Excerpt from Sefiros by Rabbi Yaacov Haber...

Tiferes is the harmony and beauty of symmetry. It is the perfect balance of elements of creation. When elements come together they become bigger than the sum of their parts. To listen to a symphony is not merely to listen to many different instruments at one time but rather to listen to a new sound. This is the sound of tiferes.

God's finished product is tiferes. Similarly, the completion of something in our lives is a moment of tiferes. 

Truth is tiferes. Truth is clarity that comes when disparate facts come together in resolution.

The Mishna says that the best path in life is that which is tiferes to the person and tiferes to others. It is the coming together of chesed and gevurah to create a beautiful new whole.

A poet once wrote "Nature, like a loving mother, is ever trying to keep land and sea, mountain and valley, each in its place, to hush the angry wind and waves, balance the extremes of heat and cold, of rain and drought; that peace, harmony and beauty may reign supreme."

Tiferes is personified by Yaakov Avinu. He represented the perfection of the Avos, combining the behaviors of Avraham (chesed) and Yitzchak (gevurah) to create his own unique relationship with God and the world.

Tiferes is represented by the torso, which unifies the body.

Tiferes is connected to the third day of creation, the day when the plants and vegetation were made. A plant is a combination of chesed and gevurah. It is rooted to one spot, having very limited movement, which is gevurah. Yet, it grows out of the soil to create a delightful fruit and a brand new reality.

~ Chodesh Tov! ~