Surrender Your Dogma
The sefirah of Hod (the sefirah of this week’s Omer count) feels misunderstood. Yet she is too humble to make a big deal about it. There are those who translate her as a false face, others as the ecstasy of a ride in a Ferrari and still others as the delight in the variety of […]
Welcome Rodger and Dreamwork to Denver
In the excitement of a day off due to the “storm” I had an extra day to work on the LIST of my procrastinations. Patti Levine suggested that I share an example or two of what I am working on during this year’s counting of the Omer. I have not been procrastinating about it, having […]
The Container Within
This week of the counting of the Omer focuses on the energy of Gevurah—setting limits and establishing firm boundaries. There are a myriad of concepts contained in Gevurah—including that it itself is a container. Today, the 9th day of the count is Gevurah in Gevurah. So what is a container within a container? The image […]
Passover Proaction
This week of Passover is distinguished by what we eat and what we don’t eat. We remove Chametz (all leavened products) and eat the flat bread—Matzah. Kabbalah provides a number of explanations as to the inner meaning of matzah and chametz. The most common explanation, also alluded to in traditional Jewish teaching, is that […]
Who Is Retiring?
Last night I discovered the mythical missing borough of New York. It did not float off from Manhattan as the father suggests to his son in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It is to be found in Evergreen, Colorado. I was invited to be scholar-in-residence at Beth Evergreen Synagogue and over dinner […]
Counting of the Omer: The Week of Malchut
The 7th and final week as we count up to Shavuot: the week of Malchut. The definition of Malchut is sovereignty. It reflects the culmination as in manifestation or expression. It is the stage of coming into physical reality. Our way of looking at the Sefirot flow has been the creation of a plan for […]
Counting of the Omer: The Week of Yesod
It is now the beginning of the 6th week as we count up to Shavuot and this week is Yesod. Over the past two weeks we have moved from looking at obstacles that need to be overcome (Netzach) to surrendering or at least suspending our notions of what the outcome of our plans need to […]
Counting of the Omer: The Week of Hod
Where are we as we enter the week of Hod? Our blueprint is designed (though it may have been altered during the week of Netzach as we looked at obstacles that need to be overcome). Netzach is active trust—trust in one’s own capacities and in working with others to overcome any and every obstacle. Hod […]
Netzach
I was handed a gift last Friday with a simple word on a sticky attached to the wrapping paper. The word was Netzach. I could tell it was a book, but which one? The author is Alfred Lansing and the book is entitled: Endurance: Shackelton’s Incredible Voyage. It tells the story of Sir Ernest Shackelton […]
Help Is On The Way
“Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline. Then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people’s criticisms, carry out your plan.” Paul Meyer This week of Tiferet (the third week of the count) is our time to create a plan for change. There is a […]