Day 8: Chesed she’b’Gevurah, Love within Judgment

TEXT STUDY: I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me through righteousness, through judgment, through love, and through compassion. (Hosea 2:21).

IDEAS. What roles do righteousness, judgment, love, and compassion play in sustaining a long-term relationship?

FEELINGS. How do you feel when someone you love judges you without compassion? How do you respond?

PRACTICES. What spiritual qualities (or sefirot) do you use to temper your own harsh judgments?

GOD. Do you feel that God judges you? If so, do you feel God judges you generously? Does God judge from inside you, as a conscience or superego? Or from outside of you, as a manager of the world?

These questions go deeper into the daily reflections in the book Shechinah, Bring Me Home: Kabbalah and the Omer in Real Life.

There are many ways to explore these questions. You can: Tell a story from your own life. Give an example from a book or a movie. Write a poem. Analyze a concept. Offer a definition. Draw a picture. Sing a song.

New to the Omer? Here’s a guide to the theory and practice.