Inner Journeys With the Omer - Gevurah

How many degrees of good did the Place [of all bestow] upon us!

If He had taken us out of Egypt and not made judgements on them; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had made judgments on them and had not made [them] on their gods; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had made [them] on their gods and had not killed their firstborn; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had killed their firstborn and had not given us their money; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had given us their money and had not split the Sea for us; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had split the Sea for us and had not taken us through it on dry land; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had taken us through it on dry land and had not pushed down our enemies in [the Sea]; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had pushed down our enemies in [the Sea] and had not supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years and had not fed us the manna; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had fed us the manna and had not given us the Shabbat; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had given us the Shabbat and had not brought us close to Mount Sinai; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had brought us close to Mount Sinai and had not given us the Torah; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had given us the Torah and had not brought us into the land of Israel; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the 'Chosen House' [the Temple; it would have been] enough for us.

How much more so is the good that is doubled and quadrupled that the Place [of all bestowed] upon us [enough for us]; since he took us out of Egypt, and made judgments with them, and made [them] with their gods, and killed their firstborn, and gave us their money, and split the Sea for us, and brought us through it on dry land, and pushed down our enemies in [the Sea], and supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, and fed us the manna, and gave us the Shabbat, and brought us close to Mount Sinai, and gave us the Torah, and brought us into the land of Israel and built us the 'Chosen House' [the Temple] to atone upon all of our sins.

And Rav Yehuda said that Rav said, with regard to the same matter: When the Holy One of Blessing, created the world, it continued to expand like two balls of a warp, whose cord lengthens as they unravel, until the Holy One of Blessing rebuked it and made it stand still, ... And this is the same as that which Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “I am the Almighty God [El Shaddai]” (Genesis 17:1)? It means: I am She Who said to the world “enough [dai],” instructing it to stop expanding.

Ben Zoma said... Who is mighty? She who subdues her evil inclination/creativity, as it is said: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

And just as it is impossible for any creature’s mind to apprehend Her attribute of Gedulah [Chesed], which is the ability to create a being out of nothing and give it life, as it written, “The world is built by Chesed,” (Ps. 89:3) so is it likewise impossible for her to apprehend the Divine attribute of Gevurah, which is the quality of Tzimtzum (condensation, contraction, concentration) and restraint of the spreading forth of the life-force from Her Gedulah. [Gevurah] prevents [the spreading forth] from descending upon and manifesting itself to the creatures, to give them life and existence in a revealed manner, but rather with Her Face concealed.

Just as the creation of the world was intentionally by means of Chesed and Gevurah, so too are the Creator’s actions in the world. Before any hesed comes to the world, whether in general or in particular — even to one person — there first needs to be a contraction, which comes from the side of gevurah, in order to limit the emanation of the hesed so people can receive it....

This is the mystery of the binding of Isaac by Avraham. Avraham brought the quality of Chesed from above to the people of his generation. As scripture says, “Avraham my beloved,” (Isaiah 41:18) for through him the quality of chesed and love were drawn into the world. But because of the greatness of the manifestation of the light of Chesed, it would have been an essentially self- defeating action [because it would have overwhelmed people]. There was therefore a drawing down of Gevurah, which is “The fear of Isaac,” the fear/awe that manifested in the world through Isaac.

(trans R'Matt Ponak)

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said... In the future that will surely come, the Holy Blessed One, will say to Abraham: Your children have sinned against Me. Abraham will say before Her: Master of the Universe, if so, let them be eradicated to sanctify Your name.

God said: I will say it to Jacob. Since he experienced the pain of raising children, perhaps he will ask for mercy on their behalf. She said to Jacob: Your children have sinned. Jacob said before Her: Master of the Universe, if so, let them be eradicated to sanctify Your name. The Holy Blessed One, said: There is no reason in elders and no wisdom in youth. Neither Abraham nor Jacob knew how to respond properly. She said to Isaac: Your children have sinned against Me. Isaac said before Her: Master of the Universe, are they my children and not Your children? At Sinai, when they accorded precedence to “We will do” over “We will listen” before You, didn’t You call them, “My son, My firstborn son Israel” (Exodus 4:22)? Now that they have sinned, are they my children and not Your children?

(3) I am prepared and ready to perform the affirmative command to count the Omer, as is written in the Torah: “And you shall count for yourselves, from the day after the day of rest, from the day you bring the omer as the wave-offering, seven complete weeks shall there be; until the day following the seventh week shall you count fifty days; and you shall bring a new meal-offering unto Adonoy.” Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.

(4) May the pleasantness of my Master our God be upon us, and the work of our hands established for us, and the work of our hands—establish it.

(5) Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.

Today is the eleventh day of the Omer which is one week and four days of the Omer

Netzach Sh'b'Gevurah