Reasonable, spiritual, authentic Judaism
Exploring a reasonable and relevant Judaism - authentic and current, inclusive and welcoming - Rabbi Jonathan opens and develops discussions delving into Jewish life, learning, and meaning. “Jewish and...” means Judaism enhanced because today's Judaism is: multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, pluralist, pro-LGBTQ+, feminist, and multi-generational. “Jewish and…” starts with Jewish sources: Torah, Midrash, Talmud, Commentaries, Israel, Yiddish, Hebrew, Food, Klezmer, and anything else that connects us to our Jewish selves.
Gevurah in Netzach - power and rigor in the creation of the long term.
We can easily imagine how creating something that lasts will require strength. The question is how to best apply that strength?
Strength in the long view needs to be consistent and flexible - when we plan past the five-year plan we need to tap into a different understanding of rigor, since we must be able to sustain it.
Find the strength that feels like a sequoia when thinking about eternity.
Netzach in Chesed - victory of the self in compassion and kindness.
Netzach is often associated with a powerful sense of self, even to the exclusion of others so perhaps a challenging fit into to world of compassion and loving kindness.
Kindness towards others begins with understanding that we have something worth giving. We need to believe in or own self-worth in order to offer kindness, even to our selves.
So on this day let us remember to care for our selves as a start to offering each other compassion.
Shabbat Shalom, Happy Counting, and Happy Passover!
Tonight is Chesed in Chesed - Compassion and loving-kindness in itself.
Each of the 49 days between tonight and Shavuot, the next big Jewish holiday represents an Omer, a sheaf of barley brought in for the spring harvest. Since we were dependent on that harvest for food in the summer, this became a time of reflection and renew - a spiritual assessment and directing.
The Kabbalists, Jewish mystics, associated each of the seven easier to grasp sefirot, or Divine spheres of values, with each of the seven weeks, and each day within the week, Hence compassion, the 1st day, in compassion, the 1st week.
For my thought on compassion, I am going to aim to be compassionate to myself when I have not met the mark in being compassionate. In other words, a little self-forgiveness may enable me to better use my compassion energy in the future.
Happy Omer Counting everyone, and Happy Passover!