Day 13: Yesod she’b’Gevurah, Foundation of Judgment

TEXT STUDY:

שמע ישראל ה׳ אלוהינו ה׳ אחד

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.

Listen, you who wrestle with God! Our God is the Ineffable Breath of Life, our God is One.

(Deut. 6:4, translation adapted from Arthur Waskow)

COMMENT: Why am I bringing forward this most well-known of texts? Precisely because it is so well known. Thus, it can be a helpful tool for meditation.

You may know that Rabbi Isaac Luria introduced our modern way of counting the Omer. He taught his students to meditate on one sefirah each week. And, each day during that week, on the intersection of the sefirah with another one. We still travel through the sefirot in just that way.

But not exactly. Luria assumed that his students and companions knew their prayers by heart. So well that they could recite them without paying attention. So he told them to set their bodies to recite the liturgy. But to point their minds elsewhere. To focus on a specific kavannah, or direction. During sefirat ha’omer, the kavannah was the sefirah intersection of the day.

Now, I am not assuming you know all the Shacharit morning prayers by heart. But perhaps you can speak the Shema from memory. Perhaps you have a favourite tune for it. Maybe you only know Solomon Sulzer’s famous melody, sung in every Ashkenazi synagogue.

Try chanting the Shema today with a specific kavannah. First, take a a few breaths to center yourself. Then, think about the sefirah of the week. It’s gevurah: skilled judgment, clarity, discernment. Remember what it feels like when your judgment is clear. Feel into it!

Next, chant the Shema. Do it slowly, giving each word a full breath. And do it three times.

Next, think about the sefirah intersection of the day. It’s yesod she’b’gevurah, the grounding of judgment. On what foundation does your good judgment rest? Maybe it’s a calm attitude, or thoughtful fact-finding, or strong intuition. Feel into it!

Then, chant the Shema slowly three times.

Questions

THINKING. No, don’t think yet! This one’s not about cognitive learning!

PRACTICES. Try doing this once or twice a day. Maybe for a few days (or weeks), using the sefirah of the day as your kavannah.

FEELINGS. What does it feel like to dwell in a particular feeling as you chant the Shema?

SPIRITUALITY. Does this practice help you discover something about your own spirituality? About the way you pray? Or the way you feel into the presence of the divine?

A Special Note on Today’s Questions

Today’s chapter in the book Shechinah, Bring Me Home: Kabbalah and the Omer in Real Life is about “mantra.” So, today’s entry goes deeper into that practice. But it also takes off from the text above!

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