<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>According to the Kabbalists, the 49-day Omer Count is a 49-step process </div><div>of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the "rectification" and perfection </div><div>of one the forty-nine "sefirot." </div><div>Here's what is very interesting. We begin that count with the total spirituality</div><div>of ridding ourselves, our houses and our minds of chametz, which is a metaphor</div><div>for corruption, impurity, arrogance, etc. We then start counting upward with the</div><div>goal of spiritually ascending the ladder. It would seem that the purity process of</div><div>no chametz would be a the conclusion of the counting -- not the start. So here is</div><div>one answer to that. </div><div>We must learn to live in spiritual purity, always ascending the ladder of morality,</div><div>self-refinement and improvement, even surrounded by chametz. Hence, we must</div><div>always keep in mind and reflect on a life devoid of chametz even while living with</div><div>this cognitive dissonance.</div><div><br></div><div>ri</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">"<font face="Verdana"><i>Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity. When I give, I give myself</i></font>." Walt Whitman</div></div></div></div>
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