Beauty of Balance

Today is the last day of Sefiras Tiferes in Sefiras HaOmer. Tiferes is the Sefirah of beauty and harmony. What we can learn from Tiferes is that true beauty is attained through balance, seeing as it is in the perfect center between Chesed and Gevurah, Netzach and Hod, and just under Keser, leading to Yesod and Malchus. Today is the 21st day of the Omer, being Malchus Sh’b’Tiferes. What we should consider today is how we manifest the power of Tiferes in our own lives, in terms of avodas Hashem, and our relations with ourselves and others. The key manifestation of this Sefirah in these areas is through expressions of beauty. Per example, you should consider if you place enough emphasis in avodas Hashem on the beauty of your specific avodah: if you’re singing davening as best you can; if you use beautiful things for mitzvah-related purposes like a nice goblet for Kiddush or special clothes for Shabbos, etc. When it comes to our avodah on the whole, the focus of Tiferes is to keep everything in a state of harmony, no aspect stressed in such a way as to lead to imbalance. In our interpersonal interactions, we must consider if we treat others properly, according to our station and theirs, how pleasant we are with our family members, if we greet people with a pleasant expression like it says in Pirkei Avos, etc. When everything is balanced, then beauty can reign and we can experience true simcha in our avodas Hashem.