Omer 2019 Day 16: Leopards

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Omer 2019 Day 16: Gevurah in Tiferet, Strength in Beauty
Leopards

Image by Michael Siebert from Pixabay

Leopards (regardless of species) are regarded for their beautiful and mysterious appearances. But in addition to being beautiful, they are also incredibly strong. Considered one of the "stockier" species of large cat, their build allows them to hunt prey that is several times larger than the cat itself. If that wasn't enough of a feat of strength, the leopard is unique in that it will often haul its meals high into trees to prevent them from being stolen by other predators.

This year's animal Omer is a collaboration between myself and my friend Halli, a PhD in animal science. Thank you for counting the Omer with us!

Omer 2019 Day 15: Chickens

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Omer 2019 Day 15: Chesed in Tiferet, Loving-Kindness in Compassion

Chickens

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh from Pexels

Happy International Respect for Chickens Day! Rather than equating today's sephirot to the animal itself, this is a good opportunity to look at how we treat these animals that are often in our care.

As omnivores (animals that eat plants and animals), people are often faced with conflicting views on what the best way is to responsibly eat other living beings. While there are many ways to approach this topic (kashrut, vegetarian/veganism, eating organic, etc), and many different rationales behind a person's decisions surrounding food choices, possibly one of the most common threads behind a person's decision to eat more consciously is the desire to exhibit loving-kindness. Doing so by exhibiting compassion for an animal's natural tendencies and behaviors, and giving domesticated animals (or any animal with which humans interact) the opportunity to live their lives in the most natural and least stressful or painful way possible, is a great place to start thinking about the kinds of agencies/principles/organizations that we support in our food-purchasing decisions.

This year's animal Omer is a collaboration between myself and my friend Halli, a PhD in animal science. Thank you for counting the Omer with us!

Omer 2019 Day 14: Koalas

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Omer 2019 Day 14: Malchut in Gevurah, Leadership in Strength/Justice

Koalas

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

It's hard to equate "leadership" with an animal that spends most of its time sleeping and stoned, but it's International Wild Koala Day!

Good leaders make decisions based not on what others feel is right, but on their own judgement about what needs to be done at any given time. Many of the world's greatest leaders have made decisions that weren't popular at the time, but ended up being the best way to tackle a difficult situation.

Koalas spend most of their time eating eucalyptus leaves and sleeping the day away, but when they're not sleeping they are excellent and doting parents to their offspring, and defend their personal space with a grumpy feistiness. Maybe the most fair (or just) way to look at koalas is to acknowledge that sometimes the best way to handle a difficult situation (and let's face it - parenting and protecting your personal space can be extremely difficult in such a crowded and busy world) is to just lean back and take a nap.

Shabbat Shalom!

This year's animal Omer is a collaboration between myself and my friend Halli, a PhD in animal science. Thank you for counting the Omer with us!