Today’s topic is resilience. I think it fits with the day’s quality. Gevurah means Judgment. Malchut is another name for Shechinah, the Divine Mother. So, Gevurah she’b’malchut means: Judgment in the mother. I’m thinking today of judgments I made as a mother. Good judgments, actually. One of my young children, for example, was not very…
Category: Family
Going Home: Omer 35
Malchut, another name for Shechinah, Dweller. Divine Dweller, that is. Thus, a Divine Presence. Hod, Splendour. Shechinah she’b’hod, Divine Presence in Splendour. But Shechinah isn’t just any Divine Presence. It’s like the presence of a loving mother. One who follows you into exile. Physical exile, but also spiritual exile. Emotional exile. She cries for you…
Compromise: Omer 27
Yesod. Foundation. Netzach, Lasting. Yesod she’b’netzach: Foundations of what is lasting. Let’s say, for example, relationship. One of those foundations is compromise. And, in the Torah, Aaron is the master of compromise. Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu die, while approaching the altar. It happens in front of thousands of people, during opening day celebration at…
Love with Beauty: Omer 15
Chesed: Love. Tiferet: Beauty. Chesed she’b’Tiferet: The love in beauty. Love that sees beauty. And love that seeks beauty. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” At the simplest level, this means we all find different things beautiful. When we love someone, for example, they seem beautiful to us. Like my cat Koi. He’s…
Mother Wisdom: Omer 14
Malchut. Also known as Shechinah, Archetype of the Mother. One whose guidance is always present. Gevurah. Judgment. Malchut she’b’Gevurah. Maternal wisdom, a part of good judgment. Today I just want to celebrate wisdom of the Great Mother. Or, as she’s known in ordinary English, a grandmother. Last night I dreamed: I am driving on a…
Forever Love: Omer Day 4
Netzach. Forever. Netzach she’b’chesed. Forever Love. What does that even look like? Like a mother’s love? Maybe? We talked about that today, in my Sacred Texts and Oral Traditions class. So many cultures tell stories about the Mother of all life. Why, we asked, is this archetype so powerful? Because, I said, we believe in…
Unconditional Love: Omer 3
Tiferet. Beauty. Tiferet she’b’chesed, the beauty in love. I want the people I love to find me beautiful. What do I hope they’ll see? I hope my children will see me as wise, calm, and kind. And I hope my spouse will see me as…actually, I’m not sure. Something good? Maybe the details don’t matter.…
Family Love: Omer 1
Love. Kindness. Two good translations of the Hebrew word chesed. If you’re counting the Omer, chesed is the word of the week. If you haven’t counted the Omer before, here’s a quick primer. https://www.sophiastreet.com/sefirat-haomer-counting-the-omer/ There are many different kinds of love. But today I want to focus on family love. It’s quite present to me…
A Dream of Dad
I dreamed about my late mother. Just a simple dream. I am walking with my mother. But I can’t keep up. So, she is half a block ahead, waiting for me. My late mother is so precious to me. But, when I was young, she was full of grief. And I still carry the scars.…
Shema: Something old, something new
Shema. Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It’s featured in this week’s Torah reading, and in the daily liturgy. It was inside a gift I gave my father before he died. And in one I gave my daughter as she left home last week. More about that, below. Moses says, Shema! Listen! God is infinite being. Love God with…