Kesher Talk

Shavuot count-down: Day 26 of counting the Omer. Using Kabbalistic symbology for counting the Omer - the days between the 2nd night of Pesach and the start of Shavuot - tonight begins the Hod of Netzach: Humility in Endurance. Rabbi Simon Jacobson's meditation for this day of the Omer:

Yielding - which is a result of humility - is an essential element of enduring. Standing fast can sometimes be a formula for destruction. The oak, lacking the ability to bend in the hurricane, is uprooted. The reed, which yields to the wind, survives without a problem. Do I know when to yield, out of strength not fear? Why am I often afraid to yield?

Endurance is fueled by inner strength. Hod of Netzach is the humble recognition and acknowledgement that the capacity to endure and prevail comes from the soul that G-d gave each person. This humility does not compromise the drive of endurance; on the contrary, it intensifies it, because human endurance can go only so far and endure only so much, whereas endurance that comes from the Divine soul is limitless. Do I attribute my success solely to my own strength and determination? Am I convinced that I am all-powerful due to my level of endurance? Where do I get the strength at times when everything seems so bleak?

(More on counting the Omer here)

posted by Judith @ 5/12/2003 08:14:51 PM