Sefirah: The Secret of the 310 Worlds - Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

The Torah commands us to count the days from Pesach to Shavuot, and that's called Sefirat HaOmer. The name is puzzling. The Omer was a one-time barley offering brought in the temple on the second day of Pesach. Why define the entire period of counting by a one-time korban? Wouldn't it be more precise to call it the count to Shavuot or something like that? Sefirah commonly means counting, but it also means clarification or illumination. The Torah itself describes Even Sapir, a sapphire-like clarity beneath the divine presence. Sapir and Sefirah have the same root. But what are we clarifying in the Omer? The gematria, the numerical equivalent of Omer, is 310. Ayin is 70, Mem is 40, Resh is 200. When you add them together, 70 and 40 and 200, you get 310. 310 is also the gematria of Yesh. Yud 10, [music] Shin 300. Yesh means there is. Yesh means existence itself. [music] The Mishna in Uksin explains that in the world to come, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Hashem, will grant each tzaddik 310 worlds. As it says, "L'hanchilo av Yesh, v'otzrotam amalei." To bequeath Yesh to those who love me, and I will fill their treasures. These 310 worlds are the perception of existence itself, Yesh. Thus, Sefirat HaOmer becomes Sefirat HaYesh, the clarification of what is, what is to be, existence itself. The same idea is reflected in Moshe Rabbeinu's request to Hashem, "Harei'ni na kavodcha." Show me, please, your glory. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to see the way that Hashem runs the world. And Hashem says, "Lo suchal lirot et panai, va'ere'isi et achorai." You cannot see my face, but you shall see my back. Rashi explains that Hashem showed Moshe the knot on the back of the tefillin of his head. How do we understand this? The tefillin incorporates three Hebrew letters, Shin, Dalet, and Yud. Which spells one of the divine names, Sha and Dai. The Shin is on the head, on the side of the tefillin shel rosh. The Yud is on the arm, formed by the knot. And the Dalet is the knot on the back of the tefillin shel rosh. Now, two of these letters are on the front, on the side of the face. The knot of the Yud, and the Shin on the head of the tefillin. Together, they spell Yesh. In this world, you cannot see Yesh. You cannot see as it really is, [music] the face of Hashem. The face. Moshe was only shown the Dalet, Hashem's back. The number Dalet, four, hints to this world of four compass points. In this world, you cannot see Yesh, but you can see that knot on the back of the head, the Dalet that has stripes, and those stripes lead from the back of the head to the front, to the face. In this world, you cannot perceive the face of Hashem, the Yesh, but you can see what leads to it. When we use this world correctly, that takes us beyond, beyond the Dalet of this world. Each day of the Omer refines us, aligns us with those 310 worlds of Yesh that await revelation. And by the time we arrive at Shavuot, the giving of the Torah, something profound has happened to us. Even though we're not consciously aware of it, we've prepared ourselves internally. We've clarified something deep within us. And in that clarified space, the light of Sinai, once more, can descend.