Sefiras HaOmer Should Not Be Light in Your Eyes
We are currently in the days in which we count the Omer, and the Midrash (Vayikra 28:6) tells us “לעולם אל תהי מצוות העומר קלה בעיניך,” the mitzvah of the Omer should not be light in your eyes,” for in its merit Avraham Avinu was zocheh to inherit the land of Kena’an. Thus, it says in the pasuk, (Bereishis 17:8) ונתתי לך ולזרעך אחריך, and I will give [the land] to you and your children after you—on the condition that ואתה את בריתי תשמור, that you will guard our covenant.” And to which bris does this refer? The mitzvah of Omer. Many tzaddikim seek to answer the question, where do we see any indication that the bris refers to the mitzvah of Omer when the pesukim clearly refer to the mitzvah of bris milah? Many of them elaborate on the correlation between these two mitzvos, Omer and bris milah.
Whose Handiworks Are More Beautiful?
Let us begin with the words of Rebbe Yisroel of Chortkov in the sefer Ginzei Yisroel (Lech Lecha), in which the Rebbe explains these yesodos in depth, elaborating on our special avodah during the exalted days of Sefiras HaOmer. The Rebbe quotes a well-known Midrash Tanchuma (Tazria 5):
Tornus-Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva, “Whose creations are more beautiful? Those of HaKadosh Baruch Hu or those of mortal humans?” Rabbi Akiva answered, “Surely, those of humans are more beautiful.” Tornus-Rufus—who did not expect this answer from the great tzaddik—responded, “But could a human being create the heaven and the earth?!” To this, Rabbi Akiva clarified, “I was not referring to things are that are not in the human domain. But the things that humans create are made more beautifully by humans than by Hashem.”
The next question of Turnus-Rufus was, “Why do you perform a bris milah [that is, why do you remove something that was put in place by Hashem?]” Rabbi Akiva answered, “I immediately understood that this—the question of the bris milah—is where you were headed with your questions all along, and that is why I answered that the actions of people make things more beautiful.” And Rabbi Akiva continued to explain. “Bring me wheat stalks and bread rolls,” he said. Pointing to both, Rabbi Akiva said, “Here we have something created by Hashem and something created by people. Aren’t the breads more beautiful? Bring me flax stems and flax garments from Beit Sha’an,” Rabbi Akiva further instructed. Comparing the two, he said, “Wouldn’t you concede that the garments—made by people—are more beautiful?”
Having lost this round of the argument (i.e. that clearly human actions enhance the raw materials created by HaKadosh Baruch Hu), Turnus-Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva: “If Hashem prefers a person who is circumcised, why doesn’t He create them in such a way initially?” And Rabbi Akiva answered, “Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us the mitzvos solely to refine us, as David HaMelech said, ‘אמרת ה' צרופה, the commands of Hashem refine.’”
Concludes the Chortkover Rebbe: We learn from the explanation of Rabbi Akiva that it is much more beautiful when we perform the work of purifying and elevating ourselves from the way we were created; to spend our lives in the toil of self-improvement, working towards sheleimus, completeness. This will refine us, complete us, and lead us to earn the reward that we will justly deserve (rather than receiving the reward as a gift, which is referred to as נהמא דכיסופא, bread of embarrassment).
Acquiring Our Gifts
When a person receives something at no cost, he does not connect with it and it does not become part of him—because he doesn’t appreciate the gift. As we have related in the past, the greatest gift that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives us is the clean air that we breathe into our lungs. But because it is free, we don’t pay attention to the gift, and we aren’t moved by it. However, when people acquire prestige or wealth, then they become filled with gratitude, and they thank Hashem for these gifts. Why? Because they toiled to acquire it, and Hashem rewarded their efforts.
So too, if a person were born complete—without having to work to perfect his character—he wouldn’t receive any pleasure or reward or joy from that perfection. Therefore, Hashem ordained that we should be born imperfect and constantly need to strive towards perfection. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is very patient with us as we go through this process, and He waits patiently for us to reach ultimate perfection through our toil.
Hand-Crafted
This was Rabbi Akiva’s response to Turnus-Rufus: The handiwork of humans is more beautiful. When we refine ourselves through hard toil, our efforts are so much more beautiful, taking our imperfect character and refining and elevating it.
When we see a person who appears to have gone through life’s travails, and his middos have been perfected along the journey called life, we appreciate this person so much more when we become aware that he was not always this way... that he worked and worked to reach this level, that it came to him through sweat and toil. Such a person also reveals Hashem’s glory—for no one can accomplish this refinement on his own; it can be done only with the help of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Everyone wants to be close to a person who has nullified himself to his Creator, and his success brings them to praise Hashem.
Rebbe Yankele of Pshevorsk (Yud Gimmel Oros) would say that the Divrei Chaim of Sanz testified about himself that he was by a nature a miser. And yet, we know that the Sanzer Rov would distribute every last zloty that he owned to the poor and the needy. How did this transformation happen? Through tremendous toil, and because he cried out to Hashem out of the recognition that only He could help him change. Thus, isn’t the “handiwork of people” so much more beautiful?
And this was the dialogue between Rabbi Akiva and Turnus-Rufus. “You’re asking me why Hashem created people with imperfections, with lusts and desires that are contrary to His Will. It is because this is precisely the desire of Hashem: for us to work on ourselves to guard this holy bris. It is precisely His Will for a person to battle his innate ta’avos and thus become ‘so much more beautiful.’”
The Yesod of Sefiras HaOmer
This idea of human toil beautifying the handiwork of Hashem is precisely the same idea as Sefirah, and this is why the Midrash says that the “bris” refers to Sefirah. We all know that the point of Sefiras HaOmer is for us to perfect our middos. People are born with certain natures, and they must channel those middos for good. For example, if a person is born with a fiery nature, the teva of aish, he must utilize that nature to learn and daven with his lahavus, with fire and warmth toward doing mitzvos and attending to the needs of others. But such a person can also easily fall into the trap of anger or become overexcited when things don’t go his way, etc. The work we must do is to know when and when not to employ certain aspects of our nature, and to channel them only for good uses.
It is unappealing to witness people engage in behaviors that are the result of unperfected middos. And this was Turnus-Rufus’ challenge: It is not beautiful to see imperfection. It is unpleasant to watch a child snatch a toy or a candy from another child, or to see one person insult another, just as it is pleasant to behold a person who has a refined nature. HaKadosh Baruch Hu created such a beautiful world, why did He leave our middos in a raw state? But Rabbi Akiva saw it differently: True beauty is when we take those imperfections and refine them through our own toil.
Beholding Transformation
Rabbi Akiva himself was the greatest example of the beauty of transformation. He was an am ha’aretz who abhorred talmidei chachomim, even going as far as to say, “When I see a talmid chacham, I will bite him like a donkey!” In the end, he became the great Tanna Rabbi Akiva, the rebbi of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Such a person is the greatest testament to the greatness of a Yid and to the greatness of the Ribbono Shel Olam—thus, he is truly more beautiful than if he were to have been created perfect.
Turnus-Rufus could not understand the power and the beauty of transformation. To him, a person was born with either a good character or an unpleasant nature. This brought forth the question of why Hashem would create such imperfection.
Rabbi Akiva understood—and explained—that there is nothing more beautiful than a person who is created with a set of challenges and overcomes them through toil and tefillah, tearing himself to pieces as he goes through his journey of transformation. There is nothing more beautiful than such a transformation!
Acquisition Through Toil
To this, the rasha had no answer. As a person toils for these good middos, they became his own. After all, he paid for them with blood, sweat, and tears—and for this he will receive his justly earned reward.
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 19a) refers to a seeming contradiction between the following pessukim. One pasuk says בתורת ה' חפצו, implying that the Torah belongs to Hashem, and the second pasuk says ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילה, suggesting that the Torah belongs to the person who is learning it! And the Gemara resolves this apparent paradox by saying, here [when it refers to Toras Hashem, Hashem’s Torah] the pasuk refers to the time before the person learned the Torah, and here [when it is referred to as Toraso, his Torah], it refers to the time after he toiled in the Torah. Proper toil causes the Torah to become one’s own.
Had HaKadosh Baruch Hu created a person with a perfect character, the positive middos would never become his, truly a part of him. It is only when a person has transformed his middos by laboring to improve them that they are truly a beautiful wonder to behold!
דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה
This is the avodah of Sefiras HaOmer, and this is what the Midrash refers to when it says. “Let not Sefiras HaOmer be light in your eyes.” When a person counts Sefiras HaOmer, he goes on the path of rectifying his middos. On Pesach, we are all born anew, but we are not yet worthy of accepting the Torah until we elevate our middos. The Chidushei HaRim of Gur states that the days of Sefirah are meant for tikkun hamiddos, rectifying one’s middos, and this is what is meant by דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה: In these weeks, we must work on our derech eretz in order to be able to receive the Torah. In this vein writes the Apta Rav (Rosh Chodesh Iyar):
The reason for learning Pirkei Avos during the weeks of Sefirah is that a person must purify himself during the days of Sefirah, just as Am Yisrael purified themselves from the tumah of Mitzrayim during these interim weeks between Pesach and Shavuos; as the Zohar HaKadosh teaches us, these seven weeks are likened to the seven days of niddah. And therefore, we study Pirkei Avos, so we can see and understand the middos tovos that are written there and so that we will pine and yearn for the time that we too will merit to acquire these middos and do proper teshuvah before HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
In Sha’ar HaKedushah (1:2), Rav Chaim Vital writes, “The middos are not considered part of the mitzvos of the Torah, but they are the primary preparation for keeping the taryag mitzvos, and therefore, one must be vigilant with the middos even more than with the mitzvos asei and lo taaseh—for when a person has good middos, he will easily be able to carry out all the mitzvos.”
This is because when a person has good middos, his heart is soft, he loves to do chessed for others, and he is able to give up his own pleasure for the sake of Hashem’s will. Therefore, “Let not the mitzvah of the Omer be light in your eyes,” for this is the key to being worthy of receiving the Torah—and only through this will the Torah one accepts on Shavuos impact him in the proper way.
Coming Under Hashem’s Direct Hashgachah
In the above essay, the Chortkover Rebbe brings an incredible insight into the two styles of Hashem’s Hashgachah of this world that are found in the name שדי. The first is, as we find in the Gemara in Chagigah and as is brought by Rashi (Bereishis 43:14), “שאמר לעולמו די, Hashem said to His world ‘enough’ when the heavens were expanding.” This implies that HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs this world according to teva, the natural way. The second way, also contained in the name שדי, is an expression of “שידוד מערכות, distorting the order of nature,” which indicates that Hashem operates in contrast to and above nature (Ibn Ezra, Shemos 3:6).
Explains the Chortkover Rebbe: Hashem told Avraham Avinu at the bris milah, “אני אל שדי התהלך לפני והיה תמים. Before your bris milah, the world will operate according to the first way, that of nature. But afterward, when you have fulfilled the mitzvah of bris milah, you will be under My direct oversight, above the laws of nature.” This was the promise to Avraham Avinu: When you have fulfilled the mitzvah of bris milah, you will be above the laws of nature.
Refining Our Middos
When we contemplate these words, we find an incredible insight. A person is created in a way that he is drawn to follow his pleasures (milah) and we can extend this—as the Midrash teaches us—to undesirable middos (Omer)—for every middah has undesirable aspects, whether the middah of Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferes, etc. For example, the positive side of the middah of Tiferes/Beauty: We have the beauty of kedushah; when a person is balanced—as the Rambam teaches us to go in the דרך הממוצע, the middle path—and knows how and when to use each middah, when to be flexible and when to be firm. And then there is the undesirable Tiferes/Beauty; when a person beautifies his appearance for the outside world (usually due to insecurity and lack of inner satisfaction) and feels the need to satisfy everyone at all times.
The same applies to the middah of Netzach/Victory. Victory of kedushah is seen when people are victorious over the evil within them, but at the same time, the need for victory can be used in an undesirable way: to always need to be right, to always need to win at all costs. The same applies to all the middos: We must use the positive aspects of each middah and leave behind the negative ones. This is the definition of התהלך לפני והיה תמים, walk in My ways and be whole.
“This Is My Program for the World”
Says HaKadosh Baruch Hu to Avraham Avinu: Look at the world. See that I created it in an imperfect way. The clearest way you can see this is from the mitzvah of bris milah—and you can extend this to the entire Creation. This is how the world is designed. Rabbi Akiva illustrated this point using the wheat stalks and the breads that are made from them. This is the שדי according to the first way: teva. But when a person removes the klipah, the husk that surrounds the grain, he merits the second way, שידוד המערכות, going above nature to miracles. The world was specifically created in such a way that when one removes the negative aspects of middos, the miracles are right there, waiting to happen.
Accessing the Sophisticated Functions
This is likened to a person who purchased a sophisticated appliance that is said to have all sorts of state-of-the-art functions. He tries the appliance, but all he gets is the simple mode. He calls the company and says, “Your machine doesn’t work as advertised.” And the company explains that, of course, all the functions exist. But one must know how to operate the machine properly. Press this button and then the other button, and you will access all the features of the machine. “We know,” says the customer service department, “because we built the machine!”
HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells Avraham Avinu, “I created this world, and everyone has the possibility of accessing even שידוד המערכות, to rise above nature—but they must press the proper controls within themselves. By ‘pressing themselves’ and refining their middos, they can access a whole new world, and in order to properly receive the Torah, they must operate the ‘sophisticated modes’ within themselves (i.e., to refine and elevate themselves through tikkun hamiddos). People can walk the earth for 70-80 years and not even be aware of the possibilities within them. They are perpetually in the ‘simple mode,’ never having accessed the incredible functions of which they are capable. They know that they can speak, they can move tables and chairs, they can do business well... but this is such a waste. They never ‘pressed the buttons’ in the proper way.... They purchased such an expensive machine, with so many fancy functions, but never bothered to use it to the extent of its possibilities.”
This is what Hashem commanded Avraham Avinu: התהלך לפני והיה תמים. Ensure that you utilize your true capabilities, and you will merit שידוד המערכות. And this is why a tzaddik is able to perform miracles, because a tzaddik has refined his מידת היסוד, and he is able to employ the שדי (which is the ש of bris milah) according to the second understanding, conducting the world above the laws of nature.
A Vessel for קבלת התורה and דביקות בה'
This is precisely the same idea of Omer. A person must refine his middos because this will make him a vessel to properly accept the Torah and to become דבוק בה'. Tikkun hamiddos is not the goal itself, but it is the vessel with which to arrive at the goal of becoming elevated. Some may think that the benefits of good middos are for the short term, to live a happy and content life. But it is so much more... tikkun hamiddos enables a person to attain lofty levels in ruchniyus and to become close to Hashem.
Let us take, for example, the lav of לא תהיה לו כנושה, you shall not badger a borrower for money that is owed. This is a very difficult nisayon. The person needs the money to be returned, and here he sees the borrower taking his family on vacations! “To me, he says he has no money, and for himself, he finds the money!” he says to himself. One needs refined middos in order to overcome the nisayon and fulfill this mitzvah—thereby accessing the tremendous ohr, light, contained within the mitzvah, and thus becoming close to Hashem. The same applies to myriads of mitzvos (many of them mentioned in Parashas Kedoshim); for example, ואהבת לרעך כמוך. A person can ask himself, “How can I love this person... he is rotten through and through, and he has even harmed me in the past.” It requires refined middos to see the person in the proper light—as the Rebbe Reb Elimelech teaches us, לראות מעלת חברנו ולא חסרונם, to see the good in people and not their lacks—and to appreciate that everything is from Hashem, and when it seems that he brought harm to a person, it is only for the purpose of refining the person further.
The same applies to every area of life: When people properly refine their middos, it directly opens them up to becoming a vessel for greater closeness to Hashem.
Born Imperfect
As noted, the avodah of tikkun hamiddos is the most important preparation for קבלת התורה on Shavuos. There is an incredible Maharsha (Rosh Hashanah 16a) in which he explains why the Omer on Pesach is brought from barley, food eaten by animals, while the שתי הלחם on Shavuos are brought from wheat, human food. “Because when we left Mitzrayim, we were likened to donkeys and thus worthy of animal food, and only after counting the Omer for seven weeks did we become worthy of wheat, which is a food that brings da’as to a person.”
Many sefarim point to this Maharsha to underscore the point that the time of Sefirah is a time of transformation from the imperfections with which we are born. A person is born with an imperfect character—and this is what Rabbi Akiva referred to as “beautiful,” for he now has the potential and the purpose to perfect himself.
When people came to complain to the Chazon Ish about a wild child, he said, “A wild child is a good sign.” The Chazon Ish saw beauty in what was possible for this child—based on his future. These very difficult middos are the key to making him great in the future. He will cry out to Hashem to help him change, and he will eventually become great through this very transformation. This is truly beautiful, and this is how Rabbi Akiva viewed the world.
In order to grasp Torah, one cannot have the character of a beheimah with which he is born—for if this were possible, HaKadosh Baruch Hu would have gathered the animals and given them the Torah. In order to attain Torah and closeness to Hashem, one must first refine his character, and this is the gateway to all the great things.
A Covenant with Mankind
This brings us to the final and most important point: Tikkun hamiddos is referred to by the Torah as a bris. A bris is a bond, a covenant that binds two entities together. This is because when a person gives up his difficult natures and negative traits to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, they forge a bond, a kesher with Hashem. And this is why the Midrash calls Sefiras HaOmer a bris. When a person refines his middos over these days of Sefiras HaOmer, he becomes one with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and one who is close to HaKadosh Baruch Hu merits to receive the Torah. When a person restrains himself and refrains from answering those who insult him, for example, he is working on growing closer to Hashem.
The Midrash further says that Eretz Yisrael is given to the Yidden in the merit of the bris, because Eretz Yisrael is for those who are close to Hashem. Eretz Yisrael is led in a way of שידוד המערכות, for it is said, “עיני ה' אלוקיך בה מראשית השנה עד אחרית שנה, the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu are always set upon the land, and He leads it above nature. The first understanding of שדי is for chutz l’Aretz and the second understanding is for Eretz Yisrael—but this is conditioned on התהלך לפני והיה תמים, perfecting one’s middos. When people perfect their middos, they merit Torah and they merit Eretz Yisrael, and we know that “there is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael,” because they are really one and the same—both necessitate refinement of middos in order to attain them.
