Day 14: Malchut she’b’Gevurah, Shechinah in Judgment

TEXT STUDY:

It is Wisdom calling; understanding raising her voice.

She takes her stand at the topmost heights; by the wayside, at the crossroads.

Near the gates at the city entrance, at the entryways, she shouts.

O people, I call to you; my cry is to all humankind.

O simple ones, learn shrewdness; O dullards, instruct your minds.

Listen, for I speak noble things; uprightness comes from my lips.

My mouth utters truth; wickedness is abhorrent to my lips.

All my words are just; none of them perverse or crooked.

All are straightforward to the intelligent one; and right to those who have knowledge.

Accept my discipline rather than silver; knowledge rather than choice gold.

For wisdom is better than rubies; no goods can equal her.

(Proverbs 8: 1-11)

COMMENT: Yes, in the book of Mishlei – Proverbs, wisdom is a woman. Unequivocally! Chapter 8 talks about her intellectual wisdom, and her cosmic wisdom, too. Chapter 31 praises her practical wisdom. You may know this chapter as Eshet Chayil, the hymn to the amazing woman.

Questions

THINKING. Do you think of wisdom as a gendered quality? If so, in what ways?

PRACTICES. Observe the wisdom of people you interact with today. Invite yourself to appreciate it. What different dimensions of wisdom do you observe?

FEELINGS. Allow yourself to feel that you are a wise person. How does it feel in your body? How does it affect your mood?

GOD. Do you imagine God as wise? As having qualities you associate with femininity? Or masculinity? With (ideal) mothers? Or (ideal) fathers?

About the Questions

These questions take off from the text above. And they also go deeper into the day’s 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.

Image: Ephraim Moses Lilien, Torah Queen