Friday Iyar 2, 5703 17th day of the Omer **
Torah Lessons (5703)	Chumash: K'doshim, Shishi with Rashi. Tehillim: 10-17. Tanya: Nonetheless a person (p. 237)...and as is known. (p. 237).

My grandfather (the Rebbe Maharash) was born on this day in 5593 (1833).

When he was seven years old he was once tested in his studies by his father, the Tzemach Tzedek. My grandfather did so well in the test that his teacher was enormously impressed. Unable to restrain himself he said to the Tzemach Tzedek, "Well, what do you say? Hasn't he done marvelously?" The Tzemach Tzedek responded: "What is there to be surprised about when Tiferet-within-Tiferet does well?" [1]

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) There are seven Midot or Divine attributes, the first (and major) three being Chessed (kindness), Gevura (severity) and Tiferet (beauty). Each attribute contains elements of the others, Chessed-within-Chessed, Gevura-within-Chessed, etc. 49 combinations in all, corresponding to the 49 days of the Omer. The Rebbe Maharash was born on Iyar 2, the day of Tiferet-within-Tiferet, an extraordinarily high spiritual level.

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Day three of week 3

Tiferet of tiferet

Examine the compassion of compassion. The expression of compassion and its intensity. True compassion is limitless. It is not an extension of your needs and defined by your limited perspective. Compassion for another is achieved by having a selfless attitude, rising above yourself and placing yourself in the other person's situation and experience. Am I prepared and able to do that? If not, why? Do I express and actualize the compassion and empathy in my heart? What blocks me from expressing it? Am I locked in any way? Is my compassion compassionate or self-serving? Is it compassion that comes out of guilt rather than genuine empathy? How does that affect and distort my compassion? Test yourself by seeing if you express compassion even when you don't feel guilty. Does my compassion come from a sense of duty or is it frivolous? On the other hand: Is my compassion alive; does it resound with vitality, or is it expressed only out of obligation? Is my compassion only a result of being a creature of habit who feels badly when another suffers, or do I actually apply myself to examine and refine my compassion, observing it's limitations and forms of expression? How do I express compassion? Is my compassion beautiful? Is it well rounded? Does it contain the other six elements of tiferet, without which my full compassion remains unrealized.

Exercise for the day: Express your compassion in a new way that goes beyond your previous limitations: express it towards someone to whom you have been callous.

From:

A Spiritual Guide to the counting of the Omer

Forty-Nine Steps to Personal Refinement

The Forty-Nine Days of Sefirah

by Simon Jacobson

$7.95 Soft Cover

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