Today we count the 31st day of the Omer with “Tiferet Shebe Hod” (Compassion within Humility).
In this weeks Parasha “Emor” we find the Mitzvah of burying a person who died outside a city. If a person is traveling and finds a dead person in the middle of the road and there is no one in calling distance, it is his obligation to properly burry the person right away. Even if it is a Kohen, who can’t be in contact with the dead, unless it’s someone from his immediate family, he is obliged to take care of this Mitzvah. Why is Judaism so careful to bury our dead as soon as posible and in such a dignified way in which outmost care is taken to prepare the body?
We give respect to the body because it once housed a soul, it was the vehicle that allowed that person to perform Mitzvahs in this world. This gives us humility, to realize that one day we ourselves will also leave our bodies. It will make us appreciate them even more and give them the proper respect and dignity they deserve hopefully in life too. Also the diseased will never have the opportunity to thank the person or people who prepared him for his final rest. In reality the Mitzvah of taking care of the dead is a very big one. We are not only compassionate for a body but also humble to be able to do this one last favor to someone that we might of not even had known.
The Torah gives us this lesson to teach us that it doesn’t matter how elevated you are in spiritual or material aspects,like a Kohen, you nevertheless need to step down and help someone in need, it applies both in life or death. For some people are spiritually dead and left alone, these people too need compassion from a humble place that will allow the giver to help in the best way.
#countingoftheomer
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