COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 37: Gevurah she b’Yesod
The Blessing (Day 37):
Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sephirat ha’omer.
Blessed are you, G-D, Source of Foundation, You make us holy through your mitzvot, commanding us to count the Omer.
Ha yom shiva v’shloshim yom, shehem chamisha shavuot v’shnai yomim l’Omer.
Today is the thirty-seventh day, which makes five weeks and two days of the Omer.
Week Six- Yesod (Foundation)
Day Thirty-seven: Gevurah she b’Yesod (Strength within Foundation) – LEFT SHOULDER to GENITALS
The longevity and sturdiness of a good foundation requires being built with Strength and Discernment. Carefully picking the right stones, considering their location and placing them with precision makes the difference between a long standing rock wall and a pile of rubble. This is just as true in our lives: making careful decisions, using Discernment of what we do and say, we can build a Foundation for a long-lasting marriage, a robust congregation, or a sturdy organization.
It takes a lot of skill to be able to adeptly choose the right course of action, and without the skills to also make the right action work, we can run into trouble completing the foundation properly. A man can logically “know” what to do to build a rock wall, but if he doesn’t have the skill to properly handle the rocks and place them correctly, just “knowing” what to do intellectually isn’t enough. Skills come in many forms, and all of them are important. A person may want to build a good relationship with a partner, may know what words should be said at what times, but if the skill of emotional connectedness isn’t also a part of it, the words may fall flat, and the choices fail to build the foundation.
We develop skills over time by practice, evaluation, feedback, and more practice. Once well trained, we can ask ourselves how we can apply those skills. How can we use our particular Strengths to repair the world, to make a stronger Foundation for everyone? Consider today what your Strengths are and reflect on how you are using those strengths to make a firm Foundation, one within yourself, your home, your work, your community, and your world.
Yedi'a 