Another week closer to Sinai and receiving the Torah.
What are you doing to get ready?
REMINDER: According to the Torah (Lev. 23:15), we are obligated to count the days from Passover to Shavu'ot. This period is known as the Counting of the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering.
We are now coming to the end of the second week and starting the third. All and all we will count 49 days bringing us to the holiday of Shavuot when we will commemorate the giving and receiving of the Torah. We are commanded - given the privilege and responsibility of seeing ourselves as if we literally received the Torah directly from God.
In an effort to deepen our connection to Shavuat the mystics have taken 7 of God's attributes and layered them into one another providing us with an amazing array of connections between the qualities themselves and the qualities of God and subsequently of human being. Each week we are asked to focus on one of the attributes and it's relationship to the other 6. Each attribute is held by, strengthened by and elevated by the other 6. Each week we are given the mitzvah, the privilege, opportunity and responsibility of taking a journey through our soul.
The 7 attributes are:
- Chesed - loving-kindness
- Gevurah -- might
- Tiferet - beauty
- Netzach - victory
- Hod - splendor
- Yesod - foundation
- Malchut - kingdom
It's customary to recite a blessing before each day is counting. Counting happens in the evening.
BA-RUCH A-TAH ADO-NAI E-LO-HE-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV VETZI-VA-NU AL SEFI-RAT HA-OMER.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.
Today is the ________ day.
The focus of week 2 is GEVURAH - justice and discipline. The focus of week 3 is TIFERET - harmony, compassion, beauty
Friday evening we will count 14. Saturday evening we will count 15 . And Sunday evening we will count 16.
The following teachings come from "COUNTDOWN TO PERFECTION - MEDITATIONS ON THE SEFIROT" Images by Judith Margolis (artist, teacher, editor, writer, mother, partner and my dear friend). Text by Sarah Yehudit Schneider (Bright Idea Books, 2007 - go to www.judithmargolis.com to see different images and to order a copy of this amazing book for yourself.
I apologize that I can only provide you with the text.
Day 14: Malkhut sh'b'Gevurah - Leadership in Justice
Criticism and Severity only work on the "other" after one has applied them to oneself. i.e. after one's own teshuvah (turning inward) and the lowliness that comes from that. If Gevurah/Justice does not come from a place of lowliness then it deteriorates into abuse.
Day 15: Hesed sh'b'Tiferet - Compassion in Mercy
Tiferet (Mercy) resides on the central pillar of the Tree of Life, yet leans toward the right toward the side of Hesed (Compassion). This teaches that when tempering generosity with justice, one should lean toward kindness. The formula is not balanced evenly. MERCY AND COMPASSION are the fruit of LOVE and they should be expressed as much as possible.
Day 16: Gevurah sh'b'Tiferet - Might in Beauty
Beauty/Harmony is the balancing of opposing tendencies; generosity and limitation, light and dark, love and fear etc...and this requires compromise.
Mekor Ha'chayiim, Source of Life, as we move into Shabbat and closer to receiving Torah directly from You (again), may we do the work necessary to be ready for such an awesome gift. May we ask ourselves the difficult questions around our relationship to Justice, Mercy, Beauty, Might and COMPROMISE. Can we put our love for the other first so we can love the other (and ourselves) fully.
See you at Sinai (again) - in just 5 short weeks.
Shabbat shalom u'mevorach,
LP
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