COUNTING THE OMER – This prayer is traditionally recited between sundown and sunrise of each day.
Day 36: Yesod she b’Hod
The Blessing (Day 36):
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 shloshim v’shisha yom, shehem chamisha shavuot v’yom echad l’Omer.
Today is the thirty-sixth day, which makes five weeks and one day of the Omer.
Week Six- Yesod (Foundation)
Day Thirty-six: Chesed she b’Yesod (Lovingkindness within Foundation) – RIGHT SHOULDER to GENITALS
In our contemporary American language, there are at least three different meanings for the word “foundation.” 1. Structural Foundation – part of a building, usually below the ground, that transfers and distributes the weight of the edifice to the ground. 2. Legal Foundation – a legal entity, an institution formally set up by an endowment or trust, which distributes money or other resources to support specific projects or organizations. 3. Cosmetic Foundation – a type of cosmetic that is applied as the base layer for face makeup.
Each refers to the basis of something, a necessary aspect without which the rest of the system would not stand. Yesod is the sephira of spiritual Foundation. It provides a stable platform which functions as a focus point that gathers, contains, and concentrates the Divine energy from the sephirot above it. Standing firmly on this foundation, it is easier to hold onto our visions of a righteous society, of world peace, of communities filled with successful people caring about each other.
Chesed she b’Yesod reminds us to use our compassion to help one another. As we prop each other up, the foundation of the world is strengthened. The structural framework of a righteous life is supported by Love. This can be seen in social action and civic involvement. When we “take a stand” on an ethical, moral or political issue, Chesed she b’Yesod is at work. We are reminded today that the stands we take on important issues are informed by the constant Lovingkindness flowing from G-d and our own spiritual Foundation.
Yedi'a 