Today is the 27th day of the Omer “Yesod Shebe Netzach” (bonding in endurance).
“Today is about embedding spirituality into the physical.”
When we bake Challah we take raw materials, given to us by G-d. Water, yeast, sugar, eggs, salt, oil and flour (seven in total-like the seven sefirots). The recipe of Challah was given to Adam directly by H”S. Every ingredient has its root in the tree of life (The seven emotional plus we include in our avoda( work) of making Challah also the three intellectual ones:Chochma (wisdom), Bina (understanding) and Da’at (Knowledge).
Specifically the oil corresponds to Yesod (Bonding) because the oil is the one that allows the other six ingredients to mix together and form a dough. When I add the oil to the mixture I always pray to G-d “Please let me be someone that brings unity in this world and not a person that brings discord or strife”. The root of all our problems is baseless hatred, divisiveness. When we strive to work for the unity of this world with G-d that is holiness!!!! The problem is that we see everything as if it is separate, when in reality everything is ONE; everything is part of a whole which is G-d. The foundation of a healthy world is “Love your fellow as yourself”as Rabbi Akiva taught us.This is the purpose of our refinement by working on the Omer, to realize that we are all one.
Shabbat Shalom
