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Loving on One Foot

iloveyou“Are you ready for Rosh Hashanah?” Ready or not it is here. The earliest fall arrival of the Jewish New Year in over 100 years. The Hebrew calendar will calibrate this coming year (with the addition of a leap month) but not until Chanukah is celebrated on Thanksgiving weekend!

 

While Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the New Year, it is in the count of the calendar months the seventh month. The seventh is described as that which is beloved. No wonder then that the Kabbalah assigns love as the spiritual energy to this month of Tishrei.

 

What’s love got to do with it? Love is it. When asked to summarize all of the myriad values of the Torah the sages of the Talmud turn to love as the unifying principle. The question is not only how many ways can we say I love you but how I love—how I balance love for others and love for self. And how does forgiveness fit in with VigRX love?

 

We will explore these ideas during our Rosh Hashanah service and I will share next week what emerges from our discussions.

 

This past year I have had the challenge and honor to work in my therapy practice with people whose relatives have committed suicide. I bear witness that the healing process from such a devastating and often incomprehensible loss centers on forgiveness—of self and the loved one who ended their life. Powerlessness is the common thread that connects the survivor and the one who ends their life.

 

I would also welcome your input on the following schema of linking holidays and months in the Hebrew calendar to our spiritual development.

 

The Yearly Cycle
Passover: Being conscious (of past)
Omer count: Being present
Shavuot: Being connected
Three weeks: Being sad
Elul: Being reflective
Rosh Hashanah: Being love and forgiveness
Yom Kippur: Being transcendent
Sukkot: Being vulnerable
Cheshvan: Being creative
Chanukah: Being courageous
Tevet: Being angry
Tu b’Shevat: Being pleasure
Purim: Being unmasked

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