Sefiras Haomer- Day 33

Day 33

Hod Shebehod – consistency in consistency

Joke: A traveler in the out-back pulled in for some gas and a cup of coffee. 

While drinking his coffee, he looked out the window and saw two workers out in the fields.
One was digging holes every couple of yards, and the other was immediately filling the holes up.

This puzzled the traveler. Curiosity got the better of him, so he went into the field to ask the workers what they were doing.

"Well", said one of the workers, "Me, my brother Seth and my other brother Jeff are tree-planting contractors working for the County. I dig the holes, Seth puts the trees in the holes and Jeff fills the holes back up. Today, Seth is off sick...

...just because Seth is home sick, doesn't mean me and Jeff also have to take the day off!"


You embarked on a path toward a better and healthier life—one that is more productive, meaningful and moral. You were inspired for a while, but now the motivated has waned.

This is the moment that calls for “consistency in consistency,” your consistency may lack an inspirational engine, but you must plow away. Be consistent in your consistency even when you have no passion to back it up.

When you know something is true and correct, follow through, even when you are internally not motivated and you could not care less about it. This is where inner stubbornness must be elicited.

What is the quality that most secured the endurance of our people? It was the ability to endure and remain steadfast in our commitment to Torah despite enormous resistance from without. Even when we lacked internal light and inspiration, we knew how to be consistent in our consistency.

That is why Lag Baomer, the day of the passing of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochaei, is associated with this day in the omer. Rabbi Shimon, author of the Zohar, gave us the inner ember of endurance.

- Rabbi YY Jacobson
yyjacobson@theyeshiva.net