 | During our first week of our Omer journey from Passover (liberation) to Shavuot (revelation), the theme was love (hesed) – our capacity to love and be loved, and to do so in balance and harmony. This second week of Omer is dedicated to strength (gevurah). In this journey of character refinement, "strength" doesn't quite mean feats of physical power, but two different kinds of inner qualities. |
By Rabbi David Evan Markus
This seven-week series of posts about the Omer journey maps to our "Soul Stretch" mini-series on Tuesdays 8:00pm - 8:30pm through Shavuot. Each week's post summaries themes covered in the prior Tuesday's session.
During this second week of counting Omer (April 30 - May 6, 2024), we move beyond our core of love (hesed) to strength (gevurah), with a purpose to become more aware of ourselves and how our strength maybe has tipped out of balance.
In English, strength easily conjures up physical strength and stamina. In our Omer journey, we focus on two different kinds of inner strength – courage and boundaries.
Think of "courage" as a French-speaker might: cœur-age, or "heart-ness." Courage is the strength or power of our heart – that is, our inner faculties of emotion – to encounter, confront and transcend difficulty or challenge. "Boundaries," by contrast, connote our power to set healthy limits for ourselves and others.
Our purpose in this season is to balance our inner capacities. Too little courage and we shrink: we become small and we lose our sense of agency. Difficulties become like thick bars of an inner prison: we teach ourselves that we can't, and become stuck. We lose important opportunities in life when we don't summon the cœur-age – the "heart-ness" – to claim them or at least try.
By contrast, too much courage and we might be like a pet chasing down a speeding truck – so taken with our bravery, enthusiasm and sheer rightness that we lose ourselves. (Ever seen what happens if the pet actually catches the truck? It's not pretty.) Excess courage can become egotistical: we lose discernment.
It's much the same for healthy boundaries. Without them, we become doormats, easily used and abused. Without healthy boundaries to cabin even our best intentions like generosity and love, we can overwhelm people unready to receive what we have to give. Boundaries are important to help us discern.
On the other hand, if our boundaries are too strong, we can become rigid and inflexible. We may become stand-offish, or arid. We might become like the strong but lonely person Simon and Garfunkel famously sang about: "I've got my books and my poetry to protect me / I'm shielded in my I am shielded in my armor. Hiding in my room safe within my womb / I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock, I am an island."
Love and strength are very much related. Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to love and let ourselves be loved. And without love (whether for ourselves, another, or a cherished cause), courage can be difficult to summon: it's only something more important than fear that helps us transcend fear. But too much strength can shut us down, too. In the face of challenge, sometimes it takes a great deal of inner strength to stay inwardly soft instead of becoming hard, inflexible or unfeeling. Maybe it's "safer," but it becomes a prison.
Consider how your own character tends to trend – whether too strong or not strong enough – generally, in a particular relationship, or in a specific situation. Take some time this week to consider: you'll know what most pokes at you, looking for attention and gentle redirection.
This week, take a step toward balancing your strength closer to your best possible you.
Next week will be about the very notion of balance (tiferet) itself.
This seven-week series of posts about the Omer journey maps to our "Soul Stretch" mini-series on Tuesdays 8:00pm - 8:30pm through Shavuot. Each week's post summaries themes covered in the prior Tuesday's session.
During this second week of counting Omer (April 30 - May 6, 2024), we move beyond our core of love (hesed) to strength (gevurah), with a purpose to become more aware of ourselves and how our strength maybe has tipped out of balance.
In English, strength easily conjures up physical strength and stamina. In our Omer journey, we focus on two different kinds of inner strength – courage and boundaries.
Think of "courage" as a French-speaker might: cœur-age, or "heart-ness." Courage is the strength or power of our heart – that is, our inner faculties of emotion – to encounter, confront and transcend difficulty or challenge. "Boundaries," by contrast, connote our power to set healthy limits for ourselves and others.
Our purpose in this season is to balance our inner capacities. Too little courage and we shrink: we become small and we lose our sense of agency. Difficulties become like thick bars of an inner prison: we teach ourselves that we can't, and become stuck. We lose important opportunities in life when we don't summon the cœur-age – the "heart-ness" – to claim them or at least try.
By contrast, too much courage and we might be like a pet chasing down a speeding truck – so taken with our bravery, enthusiasm and sheer rightness that we lose ourselves. (Ever seen what happens if the pet actually catches the truck? It's not pretty.) Excess courage can become egotistical: we lose discernment.
It's much the same for healthy boundaries. Without them, we become doormats, easily used and abused. Without healthy boundaries to cabin even our best intentions like generosity and love, we can overwhelm people unready to receive what we have to give. Boundaries are important to help us discern.
On the other hand, if our boundaries are too strong, we can become rigid and inflexible. We may become stand-offish, or arid. We might become like the strong but lonely person Simon and Garfunkel famously sang about: "I've got my books and my poetry to protect me / I'm shielded in my I am shielded in my armor. Hiding in my room safe within my womb / I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock, I am an island."
Love and strength are very much related. Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to love and let ourselves be loved. And without love (whether for ourselves, another, or a cherished cause), courage can be difficult to summon: it's only something more important than fear that helps us transcend fear. But too much strength can shut us down, too. In the face of challenge, sometimes it takes a great deal of inner strength to stay inwardly soft instead of becoming hard, inflexible or unfeeling. Maybe it's "safer," but it becomes a prison.
Consider how your own character tends to trend – whether too strong or not strong enough – generally, in a particular relationship, or in a specific situation. Take some time this week to consider: you'll know what most pokes at you, looking for attention and gentle redirection.
This week, take a step toward balancing your strength closer to your best possible you.
Next week will be about the very notion of balance (tiferet) itself.
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