The Omer: Week 5, Hod (KB)

We have entered the fifth of the seven weeks of the Omer, corresponding to the Sefira of Hod (splendor or majesty). The chariot for Hod was Aaron, the brother of Moses, who came from the Levites, the tribe representing the energy of the Left Column (the Desire to Receive). From the Zohar, we learn that Hod is the totality of the manifestation of this Left Column energy in the physical world. In the Bible, Hod is symbolized by the splendor of Aaron’s robes when he became High Priest. But why is Aaron associated with Left Column energy if, as High Priest, he was a pure channel of Divine love and healing? Herein lies a great secret: The brilliance of Aaron’s spirituality was in his ability to transform judgment (Left Column energy) into loving-kindness (Right Column energy). For example, it is said that he would go around to people and tell them good things about each other so as to create peace and love between them. Our work for this week is to transform all of the uncomfortable, difficult moments that we come up against into moments of loving-kindness and realignment with our soul. We can do this through our ability to (a) remain present and aware of the opportunities as they are presented to us, and (b) be open and willing to take responsibility for our experiences and embrace challenges with an open heart. When we learn how to have harmony within ourselves and peace and contentment with life, we can become a greater force of kindness in this world. Hod governs the fifth sentence of the Ana Beko’ach meditation and corresponds to the sign of Taurus, which is also ruled by the Left Column. As we have learned, Taurus is the month of healing during which we can transform judgment into mercy, darkness into Light. In the Tree of Life, Hod lies directly across from Netzach (victory or endurance). Like Netzach, Hod corresponds to the solar plexus chakra, which is related to self-acceptance and identity. Part of our work in balancing this chakra is to love ourselves enough to take full responsibility for our experiences, because, when we do so, we are able to transform our reactivity into proactivity, our judgment into mercy, and our harshness into kindness and true sharing with others. Sometimes, we are so busy beating ourselves up in the darkness that we forget we are a spark of the Divine Light. As Rav Nachman of Breslov said: “The main lesson here is that you must have faith in yourself. Believe that you are dear in the eyes of God.” Remember, the greatest amount of positivity will always come from the Negative Side. In fact, it is when we are in muck up to our chin and feel there is no way out that we can best reveal the splendor of the Light of the Creator in our lives. The Ari, for example, tells us that Rabbi Akiva, one of the purest souls to ever walk the earth, came from the seed of Cain who was known for both envy and murder. Like Rabbi Akiva, whose heritage was imbued with negativity, we, too, can use our darkness to the advantage of the world. The deepest and most profound transformation cannot come from someone who is born of goodness or has done only good things all his life. To become a soul like Rabbi Akiva, we have to work hard for it on the spiritual path, and in order to work for it, we need to be certain that at our very core, our essence is pure Light. Sure, it is not an easy time, but the energy of Hod will guide us in our work of proactively transforming our negativity into at-one-ment with the Creator and true connection with our fellows.