Counting the Omer, Day 3
Tiferet of Chesed
(Holistic) Beauty within Kindness
(compassion within love)

“Jacob kissed Rachel, and he raised his voice and wept” (Gen 29:11)

“The kindnesses of God never cease! Indeed, his mercies never fail” (Lam 3:22).

“I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness and with justice and with loving kindness and with mercy. And I will betroth you to Me with faith, and you shall know God” (Hosea 2:21-22).

Is my love for others driven purely by self-interest, or by deep empathy and a true desire to share and receive?

Are the causes I have chosen to put my energy into mostly driven by self interest or true compassion and a desire to help rectify the world?

Do I make efforts to beautify and enhance those relationships and things I love most through gestures big and small?

Do my feelings of compassion for others remain a vague feeling, or do I make tangible efforts to act and to assist those in need?

Do I have compassion on myself when I make a mistake, fail, or fall short of my potential?

Taken from “Sefirat HaOmer”
By Rabbi Avraham Ariel Trugman