YESOD<\/p>\n
The process of Yesoding is\u00a0emptying and\u00a0filling that part of our soul that connects Nefesh (our physical part of the soul) to Ruah<\/span> (people-interactive part of the soul) and Neshamah (the part of our soul\u00a0that is our private G link).<\/p>\n Eastern religion and philosophy speak of emptying ourselves.\u00a0 They speak of no-mind.\u00a0 The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, goes the Zen proverb.\u00a0\u00a0 Since we Jews are a Middle Eastern religion and philosophy, we too speak of the meaning of emptying.\u00a0 And yet\u00a0for us, the usefulness of a cup is\u00a0also in\u00a0the filling.\u00a0 Yesod is that Yin and Yang of empty\/fullness and the flow between.<\/p>\n Memory is a powerful tool for the soulful process of emptying and filling.\u00a0 When an event happens in our lives it is imprinted on our mindful hard drive.\u00a0 We do not always access it.\u00a0 Sometimes we don\u2019t pull the memory of the event into our RAM for years.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When we do pull it up into the RAM from the hard drive of our life, our mind interacts with the memory.\u00a0 When we resave, we do so with all the changes that our RAM has made even without a conscious keystroke.\u00a0 Our Yesod overwrites and returns the memory to our hidden hard drive.\u00a0 Each time we access the memory, we change our memory of the event. That which was is mingled with what might have been, what we wished would have been or what we wished would not have been.\u00a0 Our unconscious mind and our soul become secret editors.\u00a0 Therefore, reflecting on our past, changes our past in ways that never enter our consciousness until retrieved and viewed as the original memory.<\/p>\n It is not just the facts; it is how we remember, how we unconsciously edit our life stories that then becomes our Yesod of empty fullness or full emptiness.<\/p>\n Memories are our teachers.\u00a0\u00a0 They are not the history teachers or fact checkers; they are the soul council of our Yesod.\u00a0 By climbing down the Seforitic tree in a mindful way, our memories\u00a0are refreshed and returned, emptying and refilling our Yesod center.<\/p>\n H<\/span><\/strong>esed of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n What loving memories inform your being?\u00a0 Sharing Shabbat dinners with my parents as a child morph into sharing Shabbat dinners with my wife\/partner\/friend, my children and my grandson.\u00a0 I remember, as a child, vying with my brother to see who got to cut the Hallah or say the Kiddush (singing was not an option for my family).\u00a0 Then, sitting at the table with my own kids, I would flash back on my childhood and, more than once, I would become a little misty as I watched the traditions flow in front of my eyes.\u00a0 I watch my wife and daughter chant the blessing after lighting the candles and my son chanting the Kiddush.\u00a0 I smile to think how my father would have been so proud of their commitment and amazed by their voices.\u00a0 It is just a sweet loving memory that warms my soul.\u00a0 It is the Hesed ladle that fills my empty Yesod.<\/p>\n Gevurah of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n Gevurah of Yesod is\u00a0that area of discipline that guards our being.\u00a0 It is the judgment that seems natural to us. Gevurah encourages us to the self-discipline which is necessary to empty our cup and make it useful in the filling.\u00a0 Gevurah empties the Yetzer HaRah, spirit robbing cholesterol and mindless calories from our Yesod cup. \u00a0In my memoryscape for Yesod, my daughter comes to mind.\u00a0 She is the one that keeps coaxing and cajoling me to finish this little work on the Sefirot counting of the Omer.\u00a0 If I could internalize her gentle nudging it would reside in my Yesod hard drive in the folder marked Yesod Ram cleaner: Gevurah.<\/p>\n Tiferet of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n Balance is such a wonderful thing, especially if that balance comes from within.\u00a0 That is the Tiferet beauty of Yesod.\u00a0 What memories bring you to balance?\u00a0 I think back to growing up with a set of parents who, in their own very different approaches to compassion taught me a sense of balance.\u00a0 We talk of the feminine and masculine aspects of life but that usually refers to stereotypes and I prefer not to fall into that trap.\u00a0 Growing up, if I wanted a hug or a logical answer to life\u2019s challenges, I would turn to my father.\u00a0 I still remember those great comforting hugs. \u00a0And there was always a rather one-sided discussion laying out the best possible course of action.\u00a0\u00a0 Arguing with my father was fruitless, he could always logic me to his point of view and he was usually right.\u00a0 Sometimes it was frustrating but most of the time there was a comfort in the straightforward path that he offered.\u00a0 My mother, on the other hand, was the kitchen council.\u00a0 I would sit with her for hours telling her my whims and woes.\u00a0 She would listen and ask some good questions and I would come away with a feeling that I had been heard in a non-judgmental manner and that I had what it takes to handle life\u2019s vicissitudes.\u00a0 I think of them when I wish to regain the Balance which is Tiferet of Yesod.<\/p>\n Netzah<\/span> of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>I love the line that I heard so long ago; \u201cDoing it makes it happen!\u201d\u00a0 It could be found in Gevurah but then it would be waiting in potential.\u00a0 Netzah<\/span> is the actualizing of Gevurah.\u00a0 What memories jump to the fore when you think of Netzah<\/span> action?\u00a0 Close your eyes and, to quote the great philosopher, Bruce Lee:\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t think!\u00a0 Feel!\u201d\u00a0 What bubbles up?\u00a0 I feel an experience some 45 years ago.\u00a0 My family spent some time on a ranch one vacation.\u00a0 We rode horses daily there.\u00a0 My brother was thrown from his horse, a rather terrifying experience for one so young.\u00a0 He could have given up or cried or pouted.\u00a0 But he did not.\u00a0 He climbed right back on the horse. Metaphors and similies have their origins in important teachings sometimes.\u00a0 The rest of the time we were on that ranch, the call rang out for Michael (now Rabbi Michael Davis) to remain in charge of his mount:\u00a0 \u201cKick him Mikey!\u201d\u00a0 Two things about the story:\u00a0 Number one; climbing back on the horse when you are about 10 years old is an act of courage beyond description.\u00a0 Number two; we never call him Mikey anymore.\u00a0 I look at my children who are taking risks and creating new realities with their lives and I am moved by the power and lessons of their Netzah<\/span> and I take those lessons into my soul, as Ronin heads off to Columbia University to study Social Work and Talia heads to Israel to study in a woman\u2019s Yeshiva.\u00a0 I am impressed with the active Netzah<\/span> that fills their Yesod.<\/p>\n Hod of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n How many times have we heard the clich\u00e9; \u201cStop to smell the roses!\u201d\u00a0 That is the Hod ladle of our Yesod.\u00a0 Do you have memories of sitting in a field watching the wildflowers bending gently around a breeze?\u00a0 Or is your Hod of Yesod moment a time in Davenin or meditating when, just for a moment, we are lost in the moment.\u00a0 I have found those sacred points when doing gives way to being and becoming.\u00a0 I have found them in the desert and in a diner, in a sweat lodge and in a shul, leaning back against a tree filled with the smells and sounds and sights of nature or in Temple filled with the smells and sounds and sights of my tribe chanting and yearning.\u00a0 I have found them in the embrace of my belovedest and in the embrace of the gathered waters of a Mikvah.\u00a0 As I am held in the arms of my partner or in the arms of the flowing waters or drifting breeze, my Hod ladle empties the stale brew from my Yesod cup.<\/p>\n Yesod of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Nu, and once my Yesod it is empty what do I do?\u00a0 What if, just for a moment we do nothing?\u00a0 Try breathing out all of the air from your lungs. Empty the lungs as much as you can.\u00a0 Then simply wait.\u00a0 We can\u2019t do it for long of course and in the beginning there is a strong pull to panic.\u00a0 But with practice we can reach a moment of quiet like no other.\u00a0 The meditative usefulness of Yesod is in its emptiness.\u00a0 For a quiet moment there is nothing there.\u00a0 Maybe we reach a point of such oneness that there is no difference between being and not being.\u00a0 It is as close as we can get in this life to Yeh<\/span>idah, the oneness that is beyond inclusive and exclusive, beyond here and there, you and me, oneness and otherness.\u00a0 There is no I or thou, there is no we to become one.\u00a0 There is only\u2026 is.<\/p>\n Malch<\/span>ut of Yesod<\/strong><\/p>\n We must return from the totality of one which is Yesod of Yesod.\u00a0 It is not a place where we can reside.\u00a0 We must refill the Yesod cup, and a dose of reality is just what the Rabbi ordered.\u00a0 Malch<\/span>ut is the reality that brings us back, that fills our Yesod.\u00a0 The reality of memory which is our internal, unique and individualized reality can be a warm drink on a cold night for the Yesod.\u00a0 The reality of the world and its challenges can be a cold shower for our Yesod, to wake us up and get us going.\u00a0 Maybe we need to balance our Yesod with the warm memories and cold reality.\u00a0 And in finding that balance we are ready to hear our sacred council remember our dreams and seek our visions as we enter the world renewed.<\/p>\n Click here to see Encountering the Omer, week 5 \u2013 Hod<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to see Encountering the Omer, week 4 \u2013 Netzach<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to see Encountering the Omer, week 3 \u2013 Tiferet<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to see Encountering the Omer, week 2 \u2013 Gevurah<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to see Encountering the Omer, week 1 \u2013 Hesed<\/a><\/p>\n