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Publisher's Foreword To The First Edition

Rosh HaShanah: The Significance of Being Alone

Rosh HaShanah: A Rebbe's Fear

The Sixth of Tishrei: Yahrzeit of Rebbitzin Chanah

Erev Yom Kippur: The Inside Story of Kreplach and Lekach

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Noach: Looking at Yourself Through Others

Lech Lecha: Bringing and Being Brought Closer

7th of Cheshvan: Brave New World

Chayei Sarah, 19th of Kislev, Chanukah: Three Flashes of Light

The Ninth of Kislev: On Interconnectedness

The Nineteenth of Kislev: How the End is Wedged in the Beginning

Yud-Tes Kislev: Chassidus

Chanukah: Light a Lamp for a Friend in the Dark

Chanukah: Is it a Mitzvah to eat Latkes?

Chanukah: Light, not Might

Vayigash: Don't Just Sit There. Do Something!

The Tenth of Teves: Bearing Up, and Giving Birth

Vayechi: A Priest in G-d's Sanctuary

Shmos: Egyptian Heads and Jewish Heads

24th of Teves: The Passing of the Alter Rebbe

Va'eira: Blood and Frogs

Beshalach: Approaches to Life

At the Shluchos Convention 5749 (1989): The Women's Convention of Emissaries

Parshas Shekalim: Fire Insurance

Tetzaveh: The Essence of Moshe Rabbeinu

Purim: The Future of Purim

Purim: The Malady and its Cure

Purim: Living and Loving

Purim: The Dynamics of Revelation

Pesach: The Importance of Little Things

Sefiras HaOmer: Counting [on] the Omer

Sivan: As One Man

Shavuos: The Philosophy of Sleep

Shavuos: Receiving the Torah? No, Giving it!

Tidbits on Torah: A Treasure Beyond Compare

Behaalos'cha: The Lamplighters

Shlach / 28th of Sivan: The Rebbe's Arrival in the U.S.

Chukas: The Value of Life

The Twelfth of Tammuz: Neshamah Resolutions

The 17th of Tammuz: The Good Within

The Three Weeks: From Galus to Mashiach

Matos-Masei: Life's Journeys

The Nine Days: Curtailing, Joyfully

Vaes'chanan: Know Him in All Your Ways

Tu BeAv: On the Way Up

Eikev: Bread from Heaven

Eikev: The Reward for Keeping Mitzvos

Re'eh: Seeing Is Believing

Re'eh: The Laws of Kosher Animals

Re'eh: Living in Eretz Yisrael

Elul: Your Fellow Jew's Gashmiyus

Shoftim: A Spiritual Refuge

Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Taking a Stand on Moving Forward

Brief Themes: Random Thoughts Extracted from Shiurim

From HaYom Yom: Sample Readings from the Rebbe's Calendar

Through the Eyes of a Woman
A Chassidic Perspective on Living Torah

Sefiras HaOmer: Counting [on] the Omer

by Nechoma Greisman, Edited by Rabbi Moshe Miller

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  Pesach: The Importance of Little ThingsSivan: As One Man  

Every mitzvah has two aspects -- the actual performance of the mitzvah, and its spiritual content. Today, when we do not have the Beis HaMikdash, many of the mitzvos can be fulfilled only in a spiritual sense. However, even those mitzvos which can be fulfilled practically still have an important spiritual dimension which should be examined. Let us take, as an example, the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer -- counting the Omer. What is the idea of Sefiras HaOmer in a spiritual sense, and specifically in chassidic terms?

Each day of Sefiras HaOmer you make a blessing and then count the day: "Today is three days of the Omer," "Today is five days of the Omer," etc. As everyone knows, in Yiddishkeit we don't take saying HaShem's Name lightly; that's serious business. So every single day, you make a blessing with G-d's Name, and then you count the day. What is the big accomplishment? When you count time it doesn't change anything. You can count the seconds from today until tomorrow, but it will not make an hour longer than 60 minutes, nor a day longer than 24 hours. Furthermore, it would be another day even had you not made a blessing nor counted it.

Those of us who come from the United States, or other westernized countries, where leisure is an important commodity, know that people have plenty of time. They are always relaxing and just letting the time pass. Even worse, I'm sure everyone has heard of "killing time" -- helping the time to pass because you have nothing worthwhile to do. That concept is as foreign to Yiddishkeit and to Torah as treif meat. Torah adheres to the concept that HaShem has given every Jew a predetermined number of minutes, days and hours in which to live. You get the exact amount of time you need to complete your mission. There is not one day extra. The Zohar states, "Each and every day does its work." What does this mean? That each day, which is a gift from HaShem, must show some accomplishment. Furthermore, this is true not only for each day, but for each hour. Each day and each hour has a multitude of opportunities for the sanctification of G-d's Name.

The intention of Sefirah -- of counting the days, and making a blessing before counting them -- is to make us aware of what we do with our time, and how precious time is. Before counting we should think for one minute, "What are we about to count?" What did I do during the last 24 hours that's important, that was worth living for?

Regarding Avraham Avinu, a verse states, "Avraham was old, coming on in days." What does this mean? Chassidus explains that it means that each and every one of Avraham Avinu's days was accounted for. He was able to point out for each day he lived what he accomplished on that day. It's as if he had his days in his pocket. On that day, 37 years ago, a Tuesday, I did x, y, z. On this day, 94 years ago, on Wednesday, I did this and that. Every day was special, every day was full, and every day was something to remember. Furthermore, as he grew older, each and every day showed progress and development, building on top of the previous day's accomplishments. This is the message of Sefiras HaOmer according to Chassidus. Believe me, it is something you can count on.


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