Serendipity occurred on the second to last day of the Omer count. That day is Hod in Malchut—we can plan and plan and then the opportunity emerges—simply, easy and without fuss. Hod as you may recall means to acknowledge or surrender. The professional photographer is still scheduled in June. When Read more…
Tis the season for graduations and tis the week for graduating into our new selves. We have “arrived” at the week prior to the holiday of Shavuot (the week of Malchut) which commences on Saturday night—our commencement address at Mount Sinai was the Ten Commandments. Many a commencement speaker this Read more…
The 7th and final week as we count up to Shavuot: the week of Malchut. The definition of Malchut is sovereignty. It reflects the culmination as in manifestation or expression. It is the stage of coming into physical reality. Our way of looking at the Sefirot flow has been the Read more…
It is now the beginning of the 6th week as we count up to Shavuot and this week is Yesod. Over the past two weeks we have moved from looking at obstacles that need to be overcome (Netzach) to surrendering or at least suspending our notions of what the outcome Read more…
The week of Hod in our continuing count of the Omer is characterized by confronting limits, acknowledging them and surrendering. This week is seen as a balance to the prior week when we looked at how we could and would overcome obstacles in our process of change. An element of Read more…
Where are we as we enter the week of Hod? Our blueprint is designed (though it may have been altered during the week of Netzach as we looked at obstacles that need to be overcome). Netzach is active trust—trust in one’s own capacities and in working with others to overcome Read more…
I was handed a gift last Friday with a simple word on a sticky attached to the wrapping paper. The word was Netzach. I could tell it was a book, but which one? The author is Alfred Lansing and the book is entitled: Endurance: Shackelton’s Incredible Voyage. It tells the Read more…
“Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline. Then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people’s criticisms, carry out your plan.” Paul Meyer This week of Tiferet (the third week of the count) is our time to create a plan Read more…
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Genius will not. Education will not. Persistence and determination alone will solve the problems of the human race.” Calvin Coolidge
This second week of the counting of the Omer (taking us from Day 8-Day 14) is connected to the Sefirah of Gevurah. Gevurah literally means strength although in Kabbalah it is usually seen as the strength of setting limits or boundaries. As Gevurah sits opposite Chesed (the Sefirah of unbounded love) Gevurah is often interpreted as love through saying, “No.” In other words, setting limits can also be a way to express love.
As we are using the counting of the Omer this year to change ourselves—a behavior, attitude, or identity, our learning about Gevurah reflects the intention of this Sefirah as “determination” to change. Next week, the Sefirah of Tiferet will present the opportunity for making a plan for change.
Our preparation for change during the first week of the count focused on the love we have for ourselves. We looked at how love is an important (starting) aspect of change—love for self is requisite for change to have a lasting impact. If love is one “wing” for change then determination is the other “wing.” (more…)
The Basics:
1. We will be counting 50 days (7weeks plus an additional day—the 50th –which is the holiday of Shavuot—the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai).
2. This count is a recount and a new count. It recounts the process of the Jews leaving Egyptian slavery and journeying 49 days in the desert—their moving from slavery to freedom. It is a new count for each of us every year to expose, examine and express our own freedom from that which limits or enslaves us.
3. The count starts this Saturday night (the ‘day’ starts at nightfall and ends at nightfall).
4. One says a blessing “…on the counting of the Omer” (it is called the Omer count as that was a grain that was brought to the Temple to start this period of counting—Omer means a measurement of grain) and then each day you count that day (today is…the eleventh day).
5. Each week of the count has a theme. This idea is an innovation of the Kabbalists but has been widely accepted into Jewish tradition as it appears in most prayer books. The theme of each week corresponds to different aspects of the Tree of Life (the seven ‘lower’ sefirot). (more…)
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