Gevurah. Justice. Tiferet. Beauty. Gevurah she’b’Tiferet. Justice within beauty. How does beauty hold justice in it? Well, there’s Plato’s view, that all ideals converge. The best things are good, beautiful, and just. So when we see something truly beautiful, it’s because we also see justice in action. Injustice is ugly, and we find it jarring.…
Category: Kabbalah
Mantra Strength: Omer 13
Yesod. Foundation. Gevurah. Judgment. Yesod she’b’Gevurah. Foundation of Judgment What are the foundations of judgment? Are they feelings? Beliefs? Can we free ourselves from old foundations? See the world anew? And then learn to make kinder, gentler judgments? Apparently, this is a big question right now. There’s a hot academic debate about “affect theory.” Here’s…
Beautiful Judgment? Omer 10
Tiferet: Beauty. Gevurah: Judgment. Tiferet she’b’gevurah: Beauty in Judgment. At its best, judgment activates our rational minds. So, let’s take a theory break. A little detour into philosophy. Just for a few paragraphs! Plato’s allegory of the cave tells of prisoners chained to a bench. Where they sit, they can only see shadows. They’re experts…
Good Judgment: Omer 9
Gevurah she’b’gevurah. Judgment in Judgment. I’ve been waiting for this one. Why? Well, my memory might be a little fuzzy. But I’m pretty sure I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation about this 30 years ago. So much, I said, goes into making good judgments. You have to listen and read carefully. Understand a social and political…
Love Quiets Judgment: Omer 8
Gevurah. Power. Boundaries. Judgment. Chesed she’b’Gevurah. Judgment tempered by Love. My husband is a cognitive psychologist. So he has thought a lot about how minds work. How people collect information, organize it, and use it to make judgments. So, today I interviewed him. Here’s a bit of what he said. Raw judgment is dangerous. Let…
Presence in Love: Omer 7
Malchut. Another name for Shechinah, the maternal Divine Presence we can feel in everyday life. Malchut she’b’chesed. Presence in Love. When I was a newlywed, I thought a lot about presence in love-making. How to be fully present to your own experience. And also be fully present as part of a team of two. How…
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…
Why Kabbalah? 2nd best post
Kabbalah, of course. My second most popular post is about the Kabbalistic prayer Ana Bekoach. Read by 6,200 (so far). And why not? The post is simple, clear, and deep. In it, I connect the prayer with the deep magic of creation. Then, I note it has 42 words. And I suggest ways to explore…
Hanukah's Hidden Light
Hanukah has a clear spiritual meaning. On one level, it’s simple. And, on another, it’s mystical. Winter is a dark time. Daylight is short. Night is long. With just a few hours of sun, we humans don’t get enough vitamin D. So we get a little depressed. We need a lift. Something to substitute for…
Creation in Kabbalah
Genesis: A non-literal Creation story Creation: the beginning of the Torah. A great time to reflect on how we read. Also, on what we may find when we read thoughtfully! For example, the creation story is supposed to provide a religious foundation. But when we read it carefully, we may question those very foundations. We…