Rosh HaShanah this week, thinking all the time.

27 Elul

Daily we should take account and ask: what have I done today to alleviate the anguish, to mitigate the evil, to prevent humiliation? Let there be a grain of profit in every human being! Our concern must be expressed not symbolically, but literally; not only publicly, but privately; not only occasionally, but regularly. What we need is the involvement of every one of us as individuals. What we need is restlessness, a constant awareness of the monstrosity of injustice.

Written by Abraham Joshua Heschel,
included in Rosh Hashanah Readings edited by Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins
Posted today by Rabbi Karyn Kedar

Yom Kippur is Coming

From Michael Strassfeld's A Book of Life (pp. 269-270):

The Likutim Yekarim (an eighteenth-century Hasidic work) asks, if there are sparks of holiness in all things as the mystics teach, then what are the sparks of holiness in sin? It answers that the sparks are in teshuvah  ["repentance"]. In the moment we realize that we have done wrong, we gain the opportunity to redeem ourselves by returning to the holy.

Let us enter Shabbat

In order to enter Shabbat, Abraham Joshual Heschel recommends: 

We who want to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. We must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling our own lives. We must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without our help. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self.

Time and Loss

Loss turns us all into time travelers. We must enter our memories to encounter our loved ones, bring them back from the past, and let our lives be their passage to the future.  

Day 49 of the Omer - time to do

Malchut in Malchut - the fullness of well-considered meaningful presence and realization in itself.

This is it. Plans have been laid, preparations have been made, we stand in front of our next big motion.

For the Israelites in our story, the mountain and revelation and eventually the holy land lay before them.

What is imminently in front of us? How can we bring all that we have learned and reflected on into the next moment?

Breathe, think, feel, balance, act.

May we all create and find and celebrate as we go forward.

Happy Shavuot tomorrow night everyone!

Day 48 of the Omer - leap from solid ground

Yesod in Malchut - the solid balancing point in the wholeness that rules useful doings.

Our best steps start from solid ground. Bringing all the ingredients together to create that stable starting off spot requires all the principles that we have reflected on up until now.

Find that spot, build it even, and then take the next step trusting in our preparations, hoping for the best, and maintain openness to all the unpredictability that may ensue!

Prepare, plan, set our feet solidly, and then go and do!

Almost through the Omer now - we look towards Shavuot on Tuesday night.

Day 47 of the Omer - humble actions

Hod in Malchut - the awe of absolute irrelevance in the presence that makes reality happen.

We need ego, a sense of agency, to summon the will to act. We need perspective on just how meaningless we are in the scope of the universe to act with proportionality and to not take ourselves too seriously.

While every action counts, importance loses weight as the scale leans towards the universal.

Let us be humble agents.

Each day of the Omer is just a small step - eventually we reach seven weeks!

Day 46 of the Omer - power in each moment

Netzach in Malchut - the persistent particle of self in the manifest presence of meaning.

At every encounter we can connect to and influence each other. When we really listen we can change in response to each other and so the littlest of remarks can alter a person's perspective and thus the world.

Respect our words and attitudes. We have power to influence and be influenced.

Shabbat Shalom and happy counting!

Day 45 of the Omer - inspire the moment

Tiferet in Malchut - balanced beauty in the implementation of divine presence into reality.​

Ever been perched on one of those moments when all is ready and we have done everything possible to be prepared and our anticipation is a thrill of perfect beginning?​

This could be a physical preparation - about to start a race, or look down the perfect ski slope. An intellectual, social, or emotional endeavor - sitting down to write when we've done the right mental preparation, or sitting across from a person we've been eagerly waiting to talk to for a long time. It could be a spiritual moment - finally getting the chance to sit and reflect or meditate on something important.​

All of these reflect some of the great balance and beauty of injecting Tiferet into the next moment of doing. Let us balance our expectations with preparations, and infuse the next minute with some inspired excitement.​

Happy Friday, Shabbat Shalom, and more great counting everyone!​

Day 44 of the Omer - wise strength

Gevurah in Malchut - rigor and strength in the imminent and sovereign presence.

The application of strength with all of our values behind it requires force and restraint, power and a fine sense of where to apply it and how much.

As we look at a task that requires firmness let us always see it as needing appropriate levels of rigor, tempered and informed by all our other faculties too.

Be strong, and use our strength wisely.

Shavuot is coming!

Day 43 of the Omer - kind actions

Chesed in Malchut - kindness and mercy in the dwelling presence of the universe.

We want to act, to make a difference. Let us find compassion for our acting - when we act not as well as we would like we can opt to forgive. When we do not act at all let us avoid blame and doubt.

Be kind and then do with kindness.

The last week of the Omer has begun!

Day 41 of the Omer - inner and outer righteousness

Yesod in Yesod - a solid foundation in Tzedek, in righteousness, in itself.

Yesod gets identified with the image of the Tzadik since Yesod serves as the balanced lens through which all the other sefirot, the mystical spheres, get projected into action in the world.

Being a Tzadik requires deliberation and self-evaluation prior to acting. So we pause to breathe and see our righteousness in the light of external standards - we must create righteousness through communal action and personal conviction.

Tikkun, repair, starts within and gets implemented with others.

May our counting bring us inner growth that leads to global repair.

Day 39 of the Omer - aim for the future

Netzach in Yesod - the persistent victory of the self in a balanced foundation.​

Eternity gets crafted out of well thought out actions that form a solid base.

As we get ready to act, to put our thoughts into reality, we keep in mind the long term even as we focus on forming something simple, balanced, and basic.​

In every part of the foundation we place our hopes and plans for the distant future.

Let us build for the long term - why waste the effort on anything else?​

The counting is nearing its conclusion!​

Day 38 of the Omer - higher and lower balance

Tiferet in Yesod - lofty balance of principles in the grounded balance of applications.

Keeping high minded ideas of balance and beauty as guides while in the thick of crafting the basics almost requires some cognitive dissonance.

Still, the two notions - a balance between intellectual concepts of beauty and a sturdy balance grounded in connecting to actually creating - fortify each other.

We aim to dig trenches that eventually lead to beautiful structures. All of this in the hope of fulfilling ideals balanced between other important values.

Including everything takes patience and attention - include some counting too!

Day 37 of the Omer - Rigor towards balance

Gevurah in Yesod - rigor and strength in solid balanced foundations.

While a foundation stands as a symbol of strength the idea of Gevurah as the application of discipline may inform us when we aim for creating foundations the fulfill their purposes.

To use rigor to help create balance requires care.

Still catching up - this applied to the Omer for Wednesday through Thursday.

Day 36 of the Omer - See kindly then build

Chesed in Yesod - loving kindness in foundation.

Before undertaking something from the bottom up, building solidly, we must see it through compassionate eyes.

A foundation stands well when started with the needs of others and the world in mind.

This is from Tuesday-Wednesday's Omer Count, catching up!

Day 35 of the Omer - Grow from smallness

Malchut in Hod - the manifestation of reality in humble smallness.

Gaining perspective must be put to some use. We engage in contemplating how insignificant we are so that we can act effectively. So we must put that acquired wisdom into action and not get lost in our insignificance.

The seed must germinate and grow or not fulfill its purpose.

May our counting lead us to better agency!

Day 34 of the Omer - Details Build Foundations

Yesod in Hod - a balanced foundation in smallness and humility.​

Building solidly requires taking into account all the details, even the smallest of them.​

Each fastener, each two by four, each decision in design, reminds us of their value when we look upon something well constructed. ​

Happy counting, building something out of small details noticed each day.​