Eternal Divine Presence, 46 Days Omer 4782

May 31

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Today is forty-six days, which is six weeks and four days of the Omer in the year 5782. נצח שבשכינה, Netzach ShebeShekhinah. Eternal Divine Presence. This day represents the essence of my acceptance of the yoke of the Divine. If God is the name for the Essence Beyond Description, The Cause of Being, the Oneness of Ideals -- are we called to be aligned with that Oneness? Or can we ignore it and live a life of hedonism? What binds you to Love, Justice, & Truth?

The Sovereignty of Divine Presence

Traditionally, the final sefira is known as Malchut, which means kingship / sovereignty. Shekhinah is a somewhat secondary name, which connects to the Divine Presence. Shekhinah is feminine and the feminine energy of God has been mangled, distorted, and hidden for most of Jewish history. Merging these two concepts is a tikkun, a rectificaiton, in itself. I am called to be a servant of HaShem because I am aware of Her presence. Since She is here, I align myself with Her.

What Binds You? What Do You Obligate Yourself Toward?

One of the things that can leave us lost is the freedom of time. Neither my children nor I have definite plans this summer. I know what I need to accomplish and a rough timeline of how long I have to accomplish it. Since most of those tasks are not time-bound, it is up to me to balance the load.

Similarly, we can choose whether to follow The Way (Halakhah) set out by the Jewish tradition, in order to make our time count. We can choose an expansive approach to The Jewish Way and create a personally meaningful life. We can also choose Netflix and Chill as our forever ideal. Leisure time should be applauded. It's just when our leisure time binds us to our phones and our tablets and our digital wallets, then we are not choosing to relax -- we have entered a different dynamic.

Binding With Gratitude

I created a simple formula for my family's English blessing over eating. Thank the person who made the food and thank God for creating the food. My mom made me a chocolate graduation cake. So, when eating a piece today, my son chose to say: "Thank you Bubbe for baking this cake, and thank you Mama for cutting this cake, and thank you God for bringing us this food." I love his precision and expansiveness. We should all find a way to bind ourselves with gratitude.