Monday, April 6, 2015

Count the Omer 2015: Day 2


Day 2: Gevurah within Chesed, Strength or Power within Loving-kindness
I often have trouble thinking of power within loving-kindness as something different from loving-kindness within power, which we will get to next week. The best way I can think of it is that the sephirah (emotion) of the week (this week, it's chesed) should be the main focus and we should think of how each day's sephirot are impacted. With that in mind, how is power impacted by kindness?

Last night, after reciting the blessing for the second day of the Omer, I turned on the TV to find The Ten Commandments playing. As I was lying in bed later thinking about power within loving-kindness and Charleton Heston, I thought of how beloved Moses was in the movie by everyone - Egyptians, Hebrews, Ethiopians, and Midianites. He attained great power by showing kindness to everyone, whether they were royalty or slaves, a nation he was sent to conquer or migratory desert-dwellers. Because of his kindness, Moses was almost named Pharaoh, was welcomed into Midian, and was successful in leading his people to freedom. Ramses, on the other hand, was greedy, jealous, and cruel and, while he received temporary power by these means, these traits ultimately led to his downfall.

Power within loving-kindness - one can attain power through kindness and that will be a greater power than that achieved through greed and deceit.

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