Day 49: Malchut in Malchut, Leadership in Leadership
Wanna Be That Song by Brett Eldridge
Wanna be those words that fill you up Pull your windows down and keeps you young Makes you believe you're right where you belong I wanna be that song
If you didn't already know, Brett Eldridge is a huge Cubs fan, which only makes me love this song and the video more, but that's not the point today. Today is the final day of the Omer! We made it! It is a good day for reflection, to look back on what we've learned over the past seven weeks. Each of these songs hopefully taught us something about ourselves and how we can make our interactions with the world more positive and fulfilling. Today, as we bring another period of the Omer to a close with leadership in leadership, let's all commit to living out some of those lessons. Be a song that makes someone else's day.
Day 36: Chesed in Yesod, Loving-Kindness in Connection
Go Cubs Go by Steve Goodman
Go Cubs Go Go Cubs Go Hey Chicago, what d'you say? The Cubs are gonna win today
When I was planning out this blog last year, the Cubs had not yet won the World Series and, while I begin every baseball season with sincere belief in my Cubbies, I couldn't bring myself to pre-write a blog post assuming that we would be World Series Champions. It had gone wrong too many times before. Instead, I assigned this song to chesed in netzach, love in victory, on day 22 and dreamed of the day when my undying love for the Cubs would be rewarded with the ultimate W. And then they won! So I scrapped my blog post (well, I posted it early), chose a Frank Sinatra song for day 22 that better embodied love in endurance, and moved on. But tomorrow morning will mark four months since my grandpa passed away and he was the world's biggest Cubs fan, so today, in his memory, I give you Go Cubs Go for the 36th day of the Omer.
To understand how this song relates to loving-kindness in connection, you have to know a few things about my grandpa. First, he was married for 62 years, raised four daughters, and had ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; he built and was surrounded by a loving family. At 92 years old, he had lived through many things: the Depression, WWII, the discovery of Pluto, the invention of the microwave, and 91 straight years of World Series disappointments. But still, he watched every Cubs game without fail his whole life. My other grandpa used to swear that he couldn't die until the Cubs won the World Series, but he missed it by four years. So when my mom called on January 17, 2017, to tell me that my grandpa had died, it was no surprise that she added, "At least he got to see the Cubs win." At the wake, my grandma propped his Cubs hat next to him in the casket and she made sure that he was buried in the Cubs World Series shirt (worn under his suit) that my cousin Richie had bought him just a couple months before. Go Cubs Go represents the love of family, celebrating victories with friends, and the eternal hope for a brighter future.
Before I was done Counting the Omer*last year, I was already planning my blog for next year. Over the past fewyears, I've blogged my counting, including last year when I paired each day of the Omer with a woman from the Tanakh. For 2017, I decided to pair each day with a song and I have been slowly filling up next year's Omer calendar with songs that embody the seven characteristics we examine each year. I add to my spreadsheet whenever a particular lyric or the overall message of a song strikes me and so far I have 29 days accounted for! On May 2, I wrote a blog post for Day 22 of Omer 2017, chesed in netzach or love in victory.
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Day 22: Chesed in Netzach, Love in Victory "Go Cubs Go" by Steve Goodman
Go Cubs Go
Go Cubs Go
Hey Chicago, what d'you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today
Win or lose, I love my Cubs. Someday, the Cubs will win the World Series and generations of faith will be rewarded. You can bandwagon when that day comes, but true fans will get a taste of something incredibly rare and special.
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When I wrote the above blog post, the Cubs were 18-6, just one month into the season. On Opening Day, April 4, as I do every year, I posted this:
Every year for 27 years of my life, I have earnestly believed that it would finally be the Cubs' year. I had faith, despite over 100 years of collective Cubs fans' heartbreak, that it would happen for us. Of course, no matter how promising the seasons seemed at the outset, none had actually ended in a World Series win for the Cubbies for 108 years in a row, so I wrote the post above assuming that this year would end in bitter disappointment, just like 2015, 2007 and 2008, 2003 (damn it, Bartman!), 1998, and so on all the way back to 1908. But no matter how often the Cubs ripped my heart out, I was always ready to say with complete confidence the next Spring: This is the year!
Then, an amazing thing happened: 2016 really was the year.
In what should certainly go down in history as the best Series ever played, the Cubs and Indians poured their hearts into the game. It had everything: curveballs, sliders, and 103-MPH fastballs; stolen bases and grand slams; Bill Murray, LeBron James, Eddie Vedder, and Charlie Sheen, just to name a few super-star fans of each team; tear-jerker interviews with elderly fans on both sides who have been waiting decades for a World Series win (the last time the Cubs won it all was 1908; the last time for the Indians was 1948); and then just in Game 7, a lead-off home run, a wild pitch that allowed two runs, a 17-minute rain delay, extra innings...You can't say both teams didn't give it their all up to the very end.
We won two days ago and I'm still reeling. I'm all smiles and tears of joy. I wish my grandpa could have lived to see it. I wish I could be in Chicago to see the river dyed Cubbie blue and sing "Go Cubs Go" in the street with strangers. I would go through all the gut-wrenching errors, runs given up, and Joe Buck drivel just to relive the feeling of Bryant throwing to Rizzo for that last out. I can't wait to do it all again next year!
*Beginning on the second night of Passover, we count 49 days, ending on the 50th day with Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates our receiving the Torah at Sinai. According to Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), there are seven sephirot or characteristics (loving-kindness, strength, beauty, endurance, splendor, foundation, and leadership) that align with each week and each day of the Omer, so that as we count each day, we can reflect on the intersections of these sephirot within ourselves and hopefully achieve some measure of personal growth.
