The mystics of our tradition saw great meaning in the counting of the Omer. In its cycle of 7 days, counted 7 times, they saw a parallel to the sefirot, Divine attributes of Kabbalistic understanding. Each week, then, was dedicated to a particular attribute, and each day of that week focusing on the intersection of 2 Divine attributes. This week, we focus on yesod: rootedness and foundation.

Today is the 40th day of the Omer.

Hod she’b’yesod: Splendor in foundation

Glory and majesty are before God; strength and splendor are in God’s temple.

— Psalm 96:6

Psalm 96, one of the Psalms of Kabbalat Shabbat, opens: Sing to God a new song—sing to God, all the earth. It is not alone in this suggestion; many of the Psalms of Kabbalat Shabbat—the words and song with which we welcome Shabbat—open with the invitation to sing, and specifically to sing a new song.

I take these words, and these invitations, as a reminder that each week—Shabbat is going to come. Whether or not I am ready, the week is going to end, and with it—all that happened, good and bad. The invitation to sing a new song goes, to me, hand in hand with the reminder of God’s glory and majesty. A new week is beginning, the Psalms remind me, and it is a new chance. It is a chance to see the glory and the majesty in the world and in my life. Rather than dwell on disappointment (which is so, so easy to do), these words challenge me to make hod—glory and splendor, part of my yesod, part of the way I root myself in this word and in relationship with the Divine.

Zionist writer and thinker Ahad Ha’Am famously wrote: More than the Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews. Rooting ourselves, week after week, in the glory and splendor of Shabbat—celebrating creation and Divine partnership—seems to be a secret to foundational strength, endurance, hope, and kindness.

Shabbat Shalom!

— Rabbi Sari Laufer