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| Civilization is a Spiritual Practice By Rabbi Goldie Milgram Moses is often seen climbing a mountain in his life; seeking inspiration and guidance and finding it! He had his share of troubles while trying to be an effective C.E.O. for the Jewish people, after all, his training was in the pharaoh model. It proved to be no small matter to move from vision statement (getting to the Promised Land) to developing a functioning board of directors, a.k.a., Council of Seventy Leaders and a corporate philosophy and policies, a.k.a. Torah. Our people’s story teaches that being free is not the same thing as becoming civilized. We often discover that the skills on our life’s resume are not the ones that seem most applicable to our new circumstances. Those who have become married, parents, divorced, or changed jobs or countries often discover this. The period of time from the end of Passover leading up to Shavuot is interpreted by the Jewish mystics as a personal and collective wilderness time. During Temple times each of the 49 days, had an associated offering, a measure of refined grain known as an "omer." Our sages emphasize that we must keep faith with the need for on-going refinement, by each of us doing our best to become centered and clear to be able to listen again at Sinai. They then take and transform the nature of the omer offering for this purpose: Instead of offering refined grain, after the destruction of the temple, these mystics, the authentic Kabbalists, evolved a practice of the offering being the refining of yourself. This is reflected In the image of G*D given at the burning bush: "I am becoming what I am becoming." So, too, are we capable of evolving and helping ourselves, our relationships, our people and humanity to uncover new skills for new levels of inspired living. The kabbalists created a seven by seven matrix of qualities, so that each of the 49 days has a pair of qualities you can work on in yourself. One example example would be asking yourself how is my "gevurah sheh b'hessed" capability doing in my life. I.e., "How am I doing with holding good boundaries within a context of lovingkindness?" These qualities are also termed, sephirot, from the Hebrew term
for sapphire. (Also the root of the name "shapiro." You might
say this is a well to polish your facets of self. These facets are part of
the kabbalists' model for creation called The Tree of Life, named for the
tree in the Garden of Eden. Each sephirah is often drawn as a branch of
that tree, which holographically can be said to describe your inner
spiritual system, as well as that of all of Creation.
*These seven qualities can also be contemplated while doing the seven arm windings of tefillin. Omerica - a Thought: |
