COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 32: Gevurah she b’Hod
The Blessing (Day 32):
Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sephirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, G-D, Source of Splendor, You make us holy through your mitzvot, commanding us to count the Omer.
Ha yom shnaim v’shloshim yom, shehem arba’a shavuot v’arba’a yamim l’Omer.
Today is the thirty-second day, which makes four weeks and four days of the Omer.
Week Five- Hod (Splendor, Glory, Reverberation)
Day Thirty-two: Gevurah she b’Hod (Endurance within Splendor) – RIGHT HIP to LEFT HIP
All systems need constant, repetitive infusions of energy to maintain and to grow, allowing them to create glorious splendor. Medical research is based on repeated attempts to address causes and cures of disease, taking into account each of the variables to be considered, persisting until the right combination is found. Dogged efforts that are fraught with many failures are necessary to achieve positive results.
Many of our greatest inventions and achievements have come from this kind of enduring persistence (Netzach), followed by repeating the approaches with slight adjustments in response to the reverberating effects (Hod) that occur. As I am writing this, I am thinking about a movie I watched that told the story of Thomas Edison and his persistence in creating the light bulb. It was Netzach she b’Hod in his “Invention Factory” in Menlo Park, NJ as he tested more than 1600 materials in his search for the right material for the filament. Imagine the Splendid variety of items he considered, from coconut fiber to fishing line to human hair, before his and his workers’ Endurance paid off in finding the perfect material – carbonized bamboo. What a Glorious sight when he was able to light up 25 buildings in New York’s Financial District on September 4, 1882.
In our own lives, repetition and repeated focus play a key role in contributing to our growth. The insistent energy of Netzach makes the continued change and variety of Hod possible. If, for example, your goal is to be physically fit, you will need to apply significant amounts of preparation, learning, and practice to achieve it. You may find that sometimes a change in your approach and strategy is necessary to move toward your desired end. It can be due to an injury that alters what you can do, or from new information about a better technique that causes you to consider the variety of Splendid options available as you Persist and Endure. Netzach she b’Hod reminds us that nurturing continuous optimism through many small careful decisions moves us toward our goals.
Today, look around your home. Consider the amazing things around you, and how they were likely the result of Netzach she b’Hod. Remember that when we allow Perseverance to influence outcomes, we can produce Splendid variety.
Yedi'a 