by Rabbi Benjamin

Friends, I am resurrecting this blog, as a means to share writing with the Havurah community and others who are interested.

For the next several weeks I will be posting reflections on the sefirot — the constellations of qualities and attributes — represented by each week of the Counting of the Omer. Below is the post for this second week, Gevurah.

Into Your hand I entrust my spirit.  —  Psalm 31

Gevurah is strength and discernment, power or judgment. In classical Kabbalah it has the potential for destruction, as an excess of power or judgment do. So for us Gevurah must be loving. The love and kindness we cultivated in the first week of the Omer infuse this week’s power.

One of the Kabbalists’ images for Gevurah is a womb. We attune to the protective and nurturing boundaries that support our health and flourishing. Not to avoid the difficulties, but to cultivate a trust that we are held amidst them. “In You God, I take refuge,” says Psalm 31. Not refuge behind a barrier, but refuge through a power from which we draw and within which we locate ourselves and our world.

We are not the source of this power, and our lives are ultimately not in our own hands. This recognition is Yirah, “awe” or “reverence,” a close kin of Gevurah. It is the wise apprehension of, the coming into relationship with, the size and weight of this life. At times Yirah is “fear,” but it is a fear that awakens us. 

I imagine we are each encountering fear in this time of crisis. It may feel very personal and immediate — your health, or exposure in your work or home environment. Or on behalf of a loved one. Or for this broader reality of the pandemic, or its social and economic and political ramifications. As we meet fear, Ḥesed (lovingkindness), is an essential ingredient. In apprehending life’s magnitude in all the ways we are asked to, we mustn’t be harsh or dismissive. To genuinely encounter life’s power, we must feel supported and accompanied. What helps us to come into relationship with life in this way, to feel and know it, so that ultimately we are able to act for the benefit of others and ourselves? This is work of Gevurah.

In practice, Gevurah is loving interruption of the mental habits that bring us back into the narrow, constricted places of Mitzrayim. It is the wise discernment, boundary-making, and stabilizing strength that keep us true to who we are.

Invitations for reflection and practice in the week of Gevurah:

✵  What nurturing boundaries do I need to establish or reinforce in my life right now?

✵  When I encounter fear, what helps me cultivate a feeling of refuge? What words or images support my calling forth a sense of being accompanied?

✵  Ask yourself: From where does my strength and power emerge? Notice what arises.

May we be held and guided by loving strength and discernment.

Republished from Rabbi Benjamin's blog.