From Where I Sit\u2026.<\/p>\n
OK, Pesah has passed and Shavuot is a few weeks away.\u00a0 The 49 days in between are called the Omer and it is an ancient Jewish custom to count the Omer, the days until Shavuot.\u00a0 Originally it was an agricultural activity.\u00a0 Later it became a time of mystic wonder.<\/p>\n
Even within the deepest mystic moment there are simple yet deep lessons to be learned and shared and passed on.\u00a0 Each day of the 49 has stories and lessons to share.\u00a0 You have lessons and stories to share.<\/p>\n
Here is an example of the process.\u00a0 It is fun and fulfilling.\u00a0 So, here is a hope that you will be counted among the counters who count with their encounters the deep counting of the Omer.<\/p>\n
In our counting of the Omer we climb within the seven lower Sefirot, counting all of the seven within each of the seven Sefirot.\u00a0 I know this sounds confusing.\u00a0 It might become more clear if I share an example as we look at the first week of the Omer, that began on the second night of Pesah.<\/p>\n
This week comes under the heading of Hesed.\u00a0\u00a0 For me Hesed means unconditional love, compassion. Therefore every counting for the week must be enveloped in love.<\/p>\n
For each day of this week of H<\/span>esed we match one of the Seven Sefirot with H<\/span>esed.<\/p>\n I was sitting with Joan, a friend of mine, and we were playing with the Sefirot for this first week and I began telling stories.\u00a0 Joan reacted and remarked on the stories and slowly they began to become signal markers for the combo-Sefirot of each day. I want to thank her for her encouragement and good cheer in putting up with my process.<\/p>\n I start with the memory of my grandparents. Their very being describes the first day, H<\/span>esed of\u00a0 H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 Their door and their hearts were always open to any in need.\u00a0 They embodied H<\/span>esed of H<\/span>esed in their total devotion to others.\u00a0 Their quiet love in which tempers never flared and compassion was the quiet byword is the essence of H<\/span>esed of H<\/span>esed.<\/p>\n And so for H<\/span>esed of H<\/span>esed I offer my sweet memories of my grandparents.<\/p>\n The second day of counting is Gevurah of H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 Gevurah is all about judgment, power, discipline.\u00a0 How does that gibe with H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ll tell you.\u00a0 When my son was younger and living with us, he had chores to do. \u00a0Now, I love my son very much.\u00a0 I love him unconditionally and that is H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 But there was a time when he forgot to take out the garbage.\u00a0 He forgot several weeks in a row.\u00a0 He was in need of some Gevurah. He was in need of some Gevurah loving.\u00a0 So one day when he forgot to take the garbage cans to the curb, I went down and took the garbage cans and put them in his room.\u00a0 We all had a good laugh but it was a good memory peg for him and the garbage got taken out.<\/p>\n For Gevurah of H<\/span>esed I give you garbage pails.<\/p>\n The third night is a night of balance, Tiferet of Hesed.\u00a0 Tiferet is the balance between Gevurah and H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 But if we look at the scales as perfectly balanced in Tiferet, then putting that inside of H<\/span>esed will tip the scales a little in the direction of compassion and unconditional love.\u00a0 This is the spirit work that is done by my belovedest.\u00a0 She works with people who have physical and spiritual challenges and longings.\u00a0 I watch her lovingly guide old friends and new to open channels of love and spiritual awareness.\u00a0 Her guidance comes from the balanced space of Tiferet with a distinct leaning toward H<\/span>esed.<\/p>\n For Tiferet of H<\/span>esed I look to my belovedest.<\/p>\n Netzah<\/span> of H<\/span>esed is the fourth night.\u00a0 Traditionally Netzah<\/span> is translated as \u2018Victory.\u2019\u00a0 But, for me has to do with action, loving action.\u00a0 I think back to my grandparents again.\u00a0 During the depression, when some homeless traveled the rails, they were called Hobos.\u00a0 When a hobo would come to a city and ask for Tzedakah he would mark a house that fulfilled that Mitzvah.\u00a0 He would put a little unnoticed symbol on the doorpost of the house or gate.\u00a0 Whenever they came to my grandparents home, my grandparents were generous.\u00a0 But when they would leave, my grandmother would find and erase the mark.\u00a0 Then, when she was not looking, my grandfather would sneak out and put it back on the doorpost of his house.<\/p>\n For Netzah<\/span> of H<\/span>esed I offer you my grandfather\u2019s replaced easy mark.<\/p>\n On the fifth night we speak of Hod of H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 Traditionally translated as \u2018Glory,\u2019 I am more comfortable with Hod referring to \u2018being\u2019 as opposed to \u2018doing.\u2019\u00a0 What comes to mind is a simple moment that means much to me.\u00a0 I call it a \u2018Cuggle.\u2019\u00a0 It is sort of a mixture of a hug and a cuddle.\u00a0 It is a hugging cuddle or a cuddling hug.\u00a0 As I grow older, this simple gesture means a great deal to me.\u00a0 I am not a hugger by nature.\u00a0 I prefer shaking hands, tipping my hat, or even a formal bow.\u00a0 Yet with my wife and children a \u2018Cuggle\u2019 means so much to me.\u00a0 It reminds me of \u2018cuggles\u2019 long missed from my father (zt\u2019l).\u00a0 When I have a chance to visit my mom I look forward to her cuggles.\u00a0 Even though there is some action involved, for me, the cuggle symbolizes the \u2018being\u2019 of love.<\/p>\n And so for Hod of H<\/span>esed, I proffer to you the \u2018cuggle.\u2019<\/p>\n Next, on the sixth night is Yesod of H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 Yesod is that balance between doing and being.\u00a0 Yesod of H<\/span>esed is a perfect balance between doing and being in love.\u00a0 Think about it, doing the being in love.\u00a0 Sometimes my belovedest goes on a trip to see our grandson or to help where and when she is called.\u00a0 I take her to the airport and watch her head into the terminal.\u00a0 There is that one last moment before she disappears from sight.\u00a0 In that moment she turns her head and we smile and I feel a melancholy moment.\u00a0 What she is doing is what she is meant to do, but I will miss her for those few days and we smile in silence.<\/p>\n And in that moment I feel the Yesod of H<\/span>esed<\/p>\n On the seventh day we count Malch<\/span>ut of H<\/span>esed.\u00a0 Malch<\/span>ut is the entryway to the real world of Assiyah, the world of our daily active lives.\u00a0 Bringing H<\/span>esed into our daily life is something very powerful in this world looking for love in all the wrong places.\u00a0 My best friend, my mentor, my Rebbe and I spend time together every week.\u00a0 Sometimes we take road trips, sometimes we study together and sometimes we just chat.\u00a0 One time when we were in Denver we saw a couple who had clearly fallen on hard times.\u00a0 They had dirty back packs overflowing with all the treasures of their world and they walked and limped along the sidewalk and we were driving near them.\u00a0 My Rebbe turned the wheel and we came to a halt a few feet in front of them.\u00a0 He gave me some money and nodded in their direction.\u00a0 I surreptitiously added a little of my own money and handed it to them.\u00a0 They had not been asking for Tzedakah and they never knew the great man from whom the Tzedakah stemmed but it came from him and it came to them and it came through the realm of Malch<\/span>ut\u00a0 B\u2019 H<\/span>esed.<\/p>\n For the last day of the first week of the counting of the Omer I commend to you the unrequested Tzedakah of my Rebbe.<\/p>\n<\/ul>\n
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