This new cycle is about asking ourselves « Now that I am free (since Passover), what do I do? »
In kabbalistic astrology, the vibration of the letter Vav ו is highlighted during this month: it is a bridge. A bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds, between us and the creator, us and our environment, us and others, us and all the things in between the accomplishment of our dreams. The Vav is a bridge between all the paradoxes, the opposites, what is binary that becomes one again.
And the biggest paradox is the one of how we obtain and experience our freedom: through commitment. We could think being free is about having all the choices in front of us, but it is actually by choosing, committing that we become free. As we commit into something, we are creating the sacred space to express ourselves fully, which is not possible before making a choice. We have an infinite potential of love and creation that needs this space to unfold itself and flourish.
In the story of Passover, one of the steps we became free was to first close ourselves into our homes. Indeed, while the walls of the home we build seem limiting us, they are actually the space in which we can finally express ourselves fully, thing we cannot achieve otherwise.
Through commitment to something or someone, we create the space to fulfill our own unique path and express our true self. And the sacred secret is that the infinite hides in the finite.
On the Mezuzah, the Jewish doorframe attached on the entrance of the home in which there’s a handwritten blessing on a parchment, the name of the creator’s manifestation « Shadday » is written on the external part - you hear “day” די which means “stop”, it brings a limit, separate two spaces. The limited space is sacred, and in that sens its nature is beyond the rules of this world, just like the love, it is an infinite source and it transcends time and space. That is why in the internal part of the Mezuzah instead of Shadday we find the Tetragram which is the manifestion of the infinite: he was he is he will be יהוה. Time is an illusion especially when we conceive it as linear and finite. Just like between the numbers 0 and 1 we actually have an infinite number of numbers. The infinite lies in the finite, our infinite potential lies in limitations, in commitments.
So the question for this month resonates even better “Now that I am free, what do I do?” - Where do I want to commit myself?
As we see with the sign of this month, Taurus, this commitment process is a step by step one. פרה פרה, slowly but surely, we make sure we are going forward. Never forgetting to enjoy the simplest things - especially food and good company! This earth sign invites us to be always in movement, not to fall into non flexibility - even if the movement is small, if there’s movement, there’s life!
Taurus also invites us to slow down and focus on ourselves, our self care and self love. Enjoying the everyday moments, with gratitude. In kabbalistic numerical value calculation called Gematria, the value of Taurus שור is the same as Free Love אהבת חנם. It is common to play with the words and their numeric value in Jewish mysticism, but you can understand it in terms of frequency. This month, the words of freedom, of love and commitment are coming again and again no matter the persepective.
In his book Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who has been through the death camps, explains that when you have nothing left, when you lose everything, you still have the spiritual freedom. And as some who didn’t have the strength to live anymore, who would say “I don’t expect anything anymore from the life”, he would say - it is not about what you expect from life, but what life expects from you. In that extend, he explains that if life has a meaning, so does death and suffering, and we need to be worthy of our suffering, to stand up to the experiences and challenges that life brings to us as opportunities to stand up for our values and live this spiritual freedom.
What are my values, what are my limits? Do I feel that all the things I am doing in my life are my choice?
It reminds me the French philosoph Jean Paul Sartre "I must be without remorse or regrets as I am without excuse; for from the instant of my upsurge into being, I carry the weight of the world by myself alone without help, engaged in a world for which I bear the whole responsibility without being able, whatever I do, to tear myself away from this responsibility for an instant."
[Great explanation about Sartre's philosophy on this website that worth reading: "We are ‘abandoned’ in the universe, we are not ‘the foundation of our own being’. All we can do is choose the meaning of our being. Although we did not choose to be born, once here we must take responsibility for it. We must see everything in the world as an opportunity. The person who realises that they choose the meaning of their own being, even if it is a frightening thought, is absolutely free. They can live without excuses, regrets or remorse, and take absolute responsibility for their actions."]
If being free is a choice, a responsibility, as we passed the month of Nissan becoming free with Passover, and will arrive after Iyar to the month of Sivan receiving the Torah, we need for this month of Iyar to implement this freedom into our daily life. As we said, we do so step by step, or actually day by day, by counting the 49 days of the Omer. Iyar, like the letter Vav, is the bridge between those two key moments, פסח Passover and מתן תורה Receiving the Torah. In this in between time, we make ourselves worthy of receiving. Counting the Omer is about refining our character traits. In the Sefirot Tree you can observe 10 spheres, the 3 on top are not accessible to us in this world, the 7 below are manifestations, character traits. Each sphere called sefira lies in the other spheres sefirot, so as we count them it makes it 7 x 7 = 49 traits, 49 days to count.
So here, it is for us to work of those 7 character traits and their entanglement and aspects:
Hesed: loving kindness
Gevurah: strength / boundaries / what is fair
Tiferet: harmony / balance
Netzach: eternity / perseverance / endurance
Hod: splendor / humility / grateful
Yesod: foundations / roots
Malchut: nobility / sovereignty
(More info about eh Omer can be found here)
All this information and reflection being said, I invite you to take a pen, write your intentions for this month, stand up for your freedom, for expressing who you really are, and take it easy, one step at a time, one day at a time ✨🫶🏼
Choose to enjoy the journey - Yuval Dagan
"תבחרו ליהנות מהדרך" (יובל דגן)
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