Counting the Omer: the Shape and Form of Freedom

1. Chesed- loving kindness

Translation: Love, Lovingkindness, Compassion, Greatness, Grace.
Description: Chesed represents being in the flow, in a time of ease, love and comfort
Human Imagery: Right arm,, shoulder, lung.
Biblical Person: Miriam dancing through the parted waters. Abraham inviting you into his abundant orchard.
Color: White.
Other Symbols and Images: Upper waters, Water. Lion. Silver. South.

-based on David Seidenberg- Neo-Hasid- http://www.neohasid.org/kabbalah/symbols/

Psalm 1:1 Chesed

אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃

Happy is the person who has not walked in the counsel (trees) of the bad, or stood in the path of those who do misdeeds, or sat in the place of the jokers/ scorners;

2- Gevurah

Translation: Strength, Loyalty, Returning, Judgment, Power, Surrender
Description: This Sefirah represents the strength and courage needed to return again and again, to do T'shuvah, to yearn day and night for the Beloved. Focus, structure, boundaries, internal discipline and schedule.

Human Imagery : Left arm and hand
Biblical Figures: Leah's yearning for love, and Isaac's courage and surrender on the Mountain of Vision

Color: Red.
Other Symbols and Images: The Loyal Friend, The Heavenly Court. North. Awe. Great fire, Consuming fire. Gold. Bread, Salt, Wine, Meat. Serpent. Darkness, Night, Cloud, Mist. The Bronze Altar. Mars. Monday.

-based on Rebbe Nachman and David Seidenberg- Neo-Hasid- http://www.neohasid.org/kabbalah/symbols/

Psalm 1:2

כִּ֤י אִ֥ם בְּתוֹרַ֥ת יְהוָ֗ה חֶ֫פְצ֥וֹ וּֽבְתוֹרָת֥וֹ יֶהְגֶּ֗ה יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה׃

Rather, the teaching (Torah) of the Beloved is this one's delight, and they meditate on that teaching (Torah) day and night.

3- TIFERET, -Beauty and (Rachamim)- Compassion

Translation: Beauty, Compassion.

Description: Tiferet represents the ideal balance of Justice and Compassion needed for proper running of the universe. This Sefirah unites all the upper nine powers. Tif'eret is the offspring of Chokhmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding.)
Human Imagery: Spine, Torso, Heart.
Biblical Figures: Eve, Hanah, Jacob/Israel. Moses. Adam.
Colors: Green. Purple.
Other Symbols and Images: Truth. Judgment (Mishpat, like the scales or balance of Justice). Humility. Heaven. The Sun, Day. Harmony. The Tree of Life. The Written Torah, Torah scroll. Milk and honey. The Menorah. The Golden Altar. Beloved who strives to be united with the Shekhinah. Their union produces the human soul. "Thou" (atah); "Anokhi" (a poetic form of "I").

-based on David Seidenberg- Neo-Hasid- http://www.neohasid.org/kabbalah/symbols/

Psalm 1:3a

וְֽהָיָ֗ה כְּעֵץ֮ שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר פִּרְי֨וֹ ׀

This one is like a tree planted beside streams of water

4. NETZACH

Translation: Success, Eternity, Endurance, Victory, Persistence.
Human Imagery: Right leg, hip, kidney/adrenal glands regulating cortisol and fight or flight responses
Biblical Figure: Rebecca, Moses.
Other Symbols and Images: The right pillar "Yachin" in the Temple (1 Kings 7:21)

Description: Netzach has the qualities of the teacher, the leader, the achiever, the giver. Diagonally across from Gevurah/ Strength/ Left Shoulder, Netzach uses this Gevurah energy to push through obstacles and make things happen. To get from Gevurah to Netzach, the path passes through Tiferet/Beauty & Compassion/Heart Center, and Netzach uses the Tiferet to guide its goals. Both Netzach on the right leg and Hod on the left are connected to "prophesy," the ability to receive guidance in the meditative realms. As we descend the Tree of Life, things get more practical. The ethereal experiences of Chesed/ Love and Gevurah/ Strength become a bit more grounded when we get to Netzach, and we may begin to get tastes of the revelation of this coming year's new practical torah/guidance that is revealed in all its glory on Shavuot.

5. HOD- gratitude, empathy, learning

Parts of Body: Left hip, leg and kidney

Biblical Figures: Sarah (who receives angels when she is inside her tent- receives guidance from sitting quietly and going within), Aaron (the first High Priest who is the keeper of the treasures of the Mishkan, the Holy of Holies, including the breastplate with the 12 powerful stones- one for each tribe.)

Meaning: Hod, the left leg, is often seen as the counterpart of Netzach, the right leg. While Netzach teaches, Hod learns. Netzach pushes forward and Hod takes a step back. Netzach leads, Hod follows. They are both related to receiving guidance from meditation and dreams. As we get closer to Shavuot, the day of receiving new Torah, this year's guidance, we need both the persistence of Netzach and the humble receptivity of Hod.

6. YESOD- passionate creativity and connection/ foundation

body part- genitals/ womb

biblical figures- Joseph, Esther, Tamar, Ruth

As we near the roots of our counting down the s'phirot of the Tree of Life, we come to Yesod, the seat of passion. There is no denying the force of the sexual drive, and as we know too well, when it comes from violence and control, that passion can be very destructive and damaging. How do we instead use that passion to connect us to the spiritual path? The center path through the Tree connects Tiferet, the heart center, with Shechinah- our mindful actions in the world. Between them is Yesod, the embodied passionate creativity that gives birth to the way we show up in our lives. When our passion(Yesod) is connected to the center of love and compassion (Tiferet), then our embodied passion for connection and creativity naturally flows into our actions (Shechinah or Malchut). Yesod means "foundation", for like the foundation of a building, the rest of the Tree of Life is supported by the compassionate passion of Yesod.

a Shtikele Kabbalah- Climbing the Ladder of the Sephirot

Although prayer was the primary vehicle for spiritual ascent, the Hasidic masters often discussed the concept in more general terms. One could climb the spiritual ladder, from one chamber to the next, from one World to the one above it. One would thus go through the four worlds, Asiyah, Yetzirah, Beriyah and finally to Atzilut, the World of the Sefirot.

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov said, "When you are attached to one of the Four Worlds with no extraneous thoughts, you can then receive a thought very much like prophecy... Sometimes you hear a voice speaking and it can reveal future events."

"If you wish to ascend on high, you must go from one step to the next. First, you should have in mind that you are ascending only to the first Firmament (Sephirah) which is a journey of 500 years...Once you stand there, you must strengthen your mind to go higher, and then still higher. You must go step by step, however since you cannot ascend through all Seven Firmaments (Sephirot) at once. "

-R. Aryeh Kaplan, Meditation and Kabbalah, pg 294

7. Shechinah (Presence that dwells within)/ Malchut (Great One of the World) - cultivating the habit of asking your heart, or Shechinah for support, healing and guidance.

body part- feet/ earth below our feet/ base of spine

biblical person- King David, Rachel, Moshiach (Messiah), Master of Prayer

other symbols- Shabbes, the Sacred Orchard /Pardess, Blue, World Intelligence (Gaia), Monarch, Beloved

Shechinah/ Malchut is the final step when counting down the Tree of Life. On a personal level, it means integrating spiritual insights, bringing them down to earth, walking them into our lives. It's connected to the day of Shabbes and especially Friday night when kabbalisticaly we are said to enter the Orchard/ Pardess- eating and drinking in loving community. On a global level, it means a societal turning toward inter-connection and inter-being. The Kabbalists imagined the Shechinah as a compassionate fem presence that chooses to live in exile (galut) with us, to comfort and guide us as we stumble and suffer from not living with more wholeness, love and awareness.

Psalm 1

1:1 Chesed

Happy is the person who has not walked in the counsel (trees) of the bad, or stood in the path of those who do misdeeds, or sat in the place of the jokers/ scorners;

1:2 Gevurah

כִּ֤י אִ֥ם בְּתוֹרַ֥ת יְהוָ֗ה חֶ֫פְצ֥וֹ וּֽבְתוֹרָת֥וֹ יֶהְגֶּ֗ה יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה׃

Rather, the teaching (Torah) of the Beloved is their delight, and they meditate on that teaching (Torah) day and night.

1:3a Tiferet

וְֽהָיָ֗ה כְּעֵץ֮ שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר פִּרְי֨וֹ ׀

יִתֵּ֬ן בְּעִתּ֗וֹ וְעָלֵ֥הוּ לֹֽא־יִבּ֑וֹל וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה יַצְלִֽיחַ׃

whose leaves never fade, and whatever it produces thrives.

1:4 Hod

לֹא־כֵ֥ן הָרְשָׁעִ֑ים כִּ֥י אִם־כַּ֝מֹּ֗ץ אֲ‍ֽשֶׁר־תִּדְּפֶ֥נּוּ רֽוּחַ׃

Not so are the malicious ones; rather, they are like chaff that wind blows away.

1:5 Yesod

עַל־כֵּ֤ן ׀ לֹא־יָקֻ֣מוּ רְ֭שָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט וְ֝חַטָּאִ֗ים בַּעֲדַ֥ת צַדִּיקִֽים׃

Therefore destructive qualities will not rise up when there is justice, and neither will mistakes when the Tzadikim gather to bear witness.

1:6 Shechinah

כִּֽי־יוֹדֵ֣עַ יְ֭הוָה דֶּ֣רֶךְ צַדִּיקִ֑ים וְדֶ֖רֶךְ רְשָׁעִ֣ים תֹּאבֵֽד׃

For the Beloved watches over the path of the Tzadikim, but the path of the spiteful is doomed.

Once upon a time there was an illiterate person. They never went to synagogue because they were ashamed of their ignorance. Yet God answered all their prayers. At the synagogue, the learned rabbis were perplexed: Their prayers weren't being answered. Finally, they decided to visit the person. "How do you do it? they asked. The illiterate person was embarrassed. "I am but a humble person and cannot read. So I throw all the holy letters of the alphabet up into the heavens and pray, Shechinah in Your infinite mercy, arrange the letters in the configuration which is most pleasing to You!"

Prayer is your most creative act, an act in which you need do nothing but gaze into the Ein Sof, the void, waiting until nothingness takes form and rises.. like the great beast of the deep, Leviathan, leaving in its"wake...a luminous path."

- Catherine Shainberg, the Kabbalah of Light pg 298.