Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalom (Reb Zalman) wrote:
“People who have worked on their awareness have pointed out that there are 49 days from the end of Tish’ah b-Av / the fast of the 9th of Av, to the day before Rosh HaShannah. In counting S’feerah between Pesach andShavu’ot, we make our way downward from Chesed ofChesed to Malchut of Malchut. During the Elul season, we make our way upward from Malchut of Malchut toChesed of Chesed.” (A Guide for Starting Your New Incarnation, 2001, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, p. 1)
I will use this way of counting up through the days between Tisha b'Av and Rosh HaShannah to cleansing spirit and soul, using the sefirot as a spark for personal daily meditations to map out and reflect on the journey. Below are my kavanot or intentions for climbing up from 5773 to 5774.
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BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 36
There
are four fundamental layers of understanding the Torah. There are four or more
layers of understanding our life. Try to be vulnerable, to open up instead of
closing down. Some rabbis say in Psalm 115 the house God will bless is not just
a house of brick and stone but bone, blood and spirit. Let loving-kindness from
the soul’s foundation wash that inner temple. Mourning for all of us when we
are too stiff necked and defensive to see the world’s many dimensions.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for
building God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh
HaShannah.
Today
there are 36 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 5 weeks and 1 days,
Chesed Sheb’ Yesod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
*******
BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 35
Another
horrible act comes into my consciousness. the deportation of Jews by the French
in 1942. Adults with more than 4,000 young children are forced without food or
water into the Velodome d’Hiver, a sports arena. Most will die in Nazi death
camps. A child berates her father for not taking better care of his family and
saving them. Mourning those without leaderhip qualities unsure when to take a
stand and when to be humble.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for
building God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh
HaShannah.
Today
there are 35 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 5 weeks, Malchut
Sheb’ Hod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
*******
BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 34
One
book, “Sara’s Key” the story of broken bonds and the death of a child, has been
finished but in morning’s early hours a story of a child’s birth begins. The
reality of death and the balancing reality of life. The parents, my cousins,
have been humbled as they waited for this baby girl weeks overdue. Let the bonding,
started in a small dark place, continue in the light outside greeted by family
and community. This day’s 8lbs of consolation is baby Rebekah Hope.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for
building God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh
HaShannah.
Today
there are 34 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 4 weeks, and 6 days,
Yesod Sheb’ Hod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
*******
BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 33
On
this day in 1944, the 25 day of Av, 15yr old Anne Frank was arrested with her
family in the loft where they were hiding in Amsterdam. Anne was deported to
Auschwitz and then killed in Bergen-Belsen less than a year later. It is humbling
to read some of the words she wrote in her diary considering her age and
circumstances. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
before starting to improve the world.”-Anne Frank.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for
building God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh
HaShannah.
Today
there are 33 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 4 weeks, and 5 days,
Hod Sheb’ Hod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
*******
BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 32
The
sky is charged as we almost slip into Shabbat with signs of the beautiful light
of sunset as well as the dark black clouds signaling a storm. Several raindrops
fall on my arm. I know I am humble enough to accept what comes. I am also
disciplined enough to carry a plastic bag for protecting important items. Isn’t
that how life is, maybe going this way and maybe going the other. We have to be
open to possibilities and yet make plans for the direction we want to go.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for
building God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh
HaShannah.
Today
there are 32 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 4 weeks, and 4 days,
Netzach Sheb’ Hod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
*******
BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 31
Is
compassionate humility part of my personality? Yours? I think I am a
compassionate person but is there a test I can take to make sure? In the
dictionary they define humility as “a modest or low view of one’s own
importance; modesty, meekness.” I am not sure anyone would describe me as meek
and the view of myself isn’t high or low. I do what I do very well but I am not
curing cancer. Even so I believe my presence is needed in the world. Yours too.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for
building God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh
HaShannah.
Today
there are 31 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 4 weeks, and 3 days,
Tiferet Sheb’ Hod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
*******
BUILDING
THE REALM-Day 30
I
never cease to be humbled by everything created by God. From the miracle of my
heart beating on its own to my lungs taking air in and pushing it out even when
I am asleep I stand in awe. Each morning when my eyes open and I see a new day
is before me I am amazed. You would think then I would have respect for every
person who comes before me since they are one of those creations. I need to
focus less on actions and more to their core.
RIBBONO
SHEL OLAM: I hereby prepare myself for Sefirat HaBinyan / a counting for building
God’s realm during the time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh HaShannah.
Today
there are 30 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 4 weeks, and 2 days,
Gevurah Sheb’ Hod.
Dear
God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your
will. May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for
peace and for blessing for all of Israel, for all inhabitants of the earth and
let us say Amen.
(Day kavanah
by Menuhah Peters/prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Gabbi Seth
Fishman)
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