Posts tagged Tiferet
38 Days of the Omer. That is 5 Weeks and 3 Days.
38 Days of the Omer. That is 5 Weeks and 3 Days.

Tiferet shebe Yesod
Compassion in Foundation (the salt of the earth)
Thursday evening May 30 and Friday May 31

“I wasn’t jealous,” she sounds put off, but also deeply sad.
The ox she leads has no bells on its horns
“Okay,” I say.
“When those men came, how was I to know they were angels?” she asks, but doesn’t. She looks at me expectantly.
“Okay,” I say again.
“If you think I’m going to tell you my story, you are mistaken,” she points at me.
“Okay,” I half-turn to continue on my own.
“Lot never thought he was good enough. He was always comparing himself to Abraham and me to Sarah,” Idit says. I keep walking with her and hold my peace.

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielIdit, Lot's Wife, Omer, Tiferet, Yesod, Tiferet shebe YisodComment
31 Days of the Omer. That is 4 Weeks and 3 Days.
31 Days of the Omer. That is 4 Weeks and 3 Days.

Tiferet shebe Hod
Harmony in Splendor/Gratitude
Thursday evening May 23 and Friday May 24

Boaz is beautiful the way a saguaro cactus is beautiful.
He is beautiful the way Palo Duro canyon is beautiful.
His eyes are dark brown, the desert sand at night . . . but one is brown with a hint of green and the other is brown with a hint of gold . . . if you look closely enough.
Other than brown, I don’t actually know what color his eyes are, but look at him. Shouldn’t that man there have eyes two slightly, but just slightly different colors? 

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielBoaz, Tiferet, Hod, Sinai, ShavuotComment
26 Days of the Omer. That is 3 Weeks and 5 Days.
26 Days of the Omer. That is 3 Weeks and 5 Days.

Hod shebe Netzach
Hidden Splendor within Endurance
Saturday evening May 18 and Sunday May 19
Shavua Tov
Devon Spier is sitting on a big rock and shouting out her poetry into the sky.
It falls around us like rain if rain were fairy dust. . . .
Enjoying the soft butterfly kisses of her words on my skin, I’m watching Joseph and Asnat dance in the light. They are a swirl of blues and reds, greens and yellows, and of course they are wearing bells. When they lean together and their heads touch their curls, hers bouncing on her shoulders and his loose and flowing down his back, intertwine. 

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielJoseph, Josef, Asnat, Osnat, Netzach, Tiferet, Hod, Devon SpierComment
24 Days of the Omer. That is 3 Weeks and 3 Days.
24 Days of the Omer. That is 3 Weeks and 3 Days.




Tiferet shebe Netzach
Compassion within Endurance
Thursday evening May 16 and Friday May 17

Tzivia turns to me and asks, “Did I ever tell you about the vessels?” 
“No,” I say. “Tell me?”
She grins and gestures to the people near us. “They were all part of it,” she says.
“All of them?” I ask.
“Every one,” she nods. “It was like this. My husband, Obadiah, had died. My children and I were really suffering. Of course, we missed their father, but also we were so poor and so hungry. A creditor came to our house and threatened me. ‘Pay your debts, woman!’ He scolded me. ‘Pay them or next time I come I will seize your children as slaves.’”
I sigh, “What did you do?”

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielOmer, Obadiah, Elisha, Tiferet, Netzach, Elijah, Jugs of oilComment
20 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 6 Days.
20 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 6 Days.

Yesod shebe Tiferet
Foundation within Compassion and Harmony
Sunday evening May 12 and Monday May 13

“I think she is one of the young Egyptian women who served Batya,” I say.
“When she went down from her father’s palace to rescue Moses?” Rabbi Leff asks.
“I think so,” I say.
“Who is that with her?” he asks.
“I think it’s one of Miriam’s nieces,” I say. “One of Aaron and Elisheva’s daughters.”
“What makes you say so?” he wants to know. 
I shrug and smile, “Nothing in particular. It’s the story I want today. I want to be walking with Miriam’s niece and Batya’s maiden who just ran into some Jewish and Palestinian kids from the Jerusalem Youth Chorus as we all make our way toward Sinai together.”

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielOmer, Yesod, Tiferet, Sinai, Jerusalem Youth Choir, Jerusalem Youth ChorusComment
19 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 5 Days.
19 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 5 Days.

Hod shebe Tiferet
Gratitude within Beauty
Saturday evening May 11 and Sunday May 12
That is 4,749 days I have counted since my bone marrow transplant on May 12, 2011.
Which was the 8th of Iyar that year.
This year, the 8th of Iyar is May 16th. 
I’m going to go ahead and celebrate both days.

The sun glows extra warmly tonight as it sets and one by one, and group by group, so many people come to walk with me that a Biblical author would tell you we count in the thousands. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. 

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielOmer, AML, Hod, Tiferet, Sefirat haOmer, BMT, Gratitude, BeautyComment
18 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 4 Days.
18 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 4 Days.

Nitzach shebe Tiferet
Endurance within Harmony and Balance
Friday evening May 10 and Saturday May 11
The yahrtzeit of Irena Sender
Sometimes I feel like I’m walking in circles as if it’s a bad thing.
Then I see Choni haMe’agel, Choni the Circle Maker. His linen tunic is blowing about him in the breeze, a belt at his waist. 
Choni isn’t much of a talker. He prefers to walk by himself, even with all of us around.
Seeing him, I remember that circles can also be miracles.

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielChoni, Honi, Choni the Circle Maker, Honi haMe'agel, Netzach, Tiferet, SinaiComment
17 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 3 Days.
17 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 3 Days.

Seventeen Days of the Omer
Tiferet shebe Tiferet
Harmony and Balance within Harmony and Balance
Thursday evening May 9 and Friday May 10

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “The more deeply immersed I became in the thinking of the prophets, the more powerfully it became clear to me what the lives of the Prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielTiferet, Tiferet shebe Tiferet, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Heschel, Omer, SinaiComment
16 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 2 Days.
16 Days of the Omer. That is 2 Weeks and 2 Days.

Gevurah shebe Tiferet
Strength//Boundaries within Harmony
Wednesday evening May 8 and Thursday May 9
The 5th of the Hebrew month of Iyar is Yom Ha’Atzmaut.
This year that’s the evening of Monday May 13th and the day of the 14th.
The Jewish calendar keeps moving forward and we keep moving forward with it.

If you’d like some gentle company, you are welcome to walk with me and my students for as long as you’d like.  

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielOmer, Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Hineini, Gevurah, Tiferet, 16Comment
10 Days of the Omer. That is 1 Week and 3 Days.
10 Days of the Omer. That is 1 Week and 3 Days.




Ten Days of the Omer

Tiferet of Gevurah
Harmony/Integration/Beauty of Discipline/Justice/Boundaries
Wednesday evening and Tuesday
Evening May 2 and Day of May 3

“Well,” I say, “Are we walking toward Sinai to be closer to God? God said come close, but not too close. Are we walking toward Sinai to be closer to each other? I don’t even like all of these people. For that matter, I don’t even always like God. Are we walking toward Sinai to be closer to the Torah? Have you read the Torah? I mean, I love reading the Torah. I love our stories. I love our words. And also . . . have you read the Torah?” I know he has. I know he knows what I’m talking about. Two kids, I mean, they may as well have been kids they were so young, who just want to be closer and closer and closer to this . . . Eternal . . . this Divine . . . this Everything . . . get it in their heads to offer something they came up with themselves. I’m sure they thought it would be extra special. I’m sure they thought they’d feel more and know more and see more and be more. They wanted to soar with eagles and swim with whales and instead they burned with fire.

“I know,” he says quietly.

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielOmer, Tiferet, Gevurah, Nadav, Abibu, Abihu, Alden SolovyComment
Three Days of the Omer
Three Days of the Omer

Tiferet of Chesed
An older woman has joined us. She has joined us only for this day; she is walking beside Sarah. The weight of their story seems to cling like pendants along their spines. There isn’t ease between them, they have history. They have bitterness and insult and jealousy and harshness and enslavement. Their gaits are a little stiff, but most of all not rushed as they walk together. 

I wish I could hear what they are saying.

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Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielOmer, Sarah, Hagar, Day Three, Tiferet, ChesedComment