Dear Friends,   

For our morning study session, we will continue our discussion on the Sefirot. This week we are discussing the Sefirah of “Hod” – which means “beauty” or “splendor” in Hebrew. “Hod” is the fifth of the seven mystical emanations that we study between Passover and the holiday of Shavu’ot, when we celebrate the giving of the Torah.

As a preface to that study, I would like to review briefly a step by step analysis of the Sefirot, and introduce how the three Sefirot that make up the unit of “Netzach – Hod – Yesod” (referred to in Kabbalistic literature by their initials, “NeHiY.” ) create an integrated spiritual-psychological concept. .

If “Netzach” refers to the spiritual qualities of endurance, mission, steadfastness, achievement, and so forth, then “Hod” is its complementary Sefirah, and according to the system that I teach, stands for harmony, form, aesthetics, etc.
In other words, the devotion to work, missions, values, and visions that we have for ourselves and the world must be modulated by the form in which we conduct that work. On the other hand, too much attention to form and process can vitiate the very essence of an endeavor. The struggle between Netzach and Hod has far reaching implications for spiritual work, psychological theory and even political theory. We will try to touch a bit on all three areas for our morning study session. .

This week’s Torah portion, Emor, has a long section on the Jewish holidays. I would like to use our study time to delve into the holiday of Shavu’ot, the holiday of the giving of the Torah, celebrated on May 26-28 this year.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mordecai Finley