Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Persevering through the count, Halfway there...

היום חמשה ועשרים יום לעומר שהם שלשה שבועות וארבעה ימים לעומר
Today is twenty-five days, which is three weeks and four days of the omer
נצח שבנצח
A day of perseverance in a week of perseverance

Earlier in the count I noted that it never occurred to me until this year that Yom HaZikaron - the memorial day for all those who died defending Israel's right to exist in peace - always falls on the 18th day of the omer-- a day of הי – of life. Today I noticed that today, the 25th day of the omer, the day we cross into the second half of the omer period, is a day of double perseverance.

That does seem significant, for it's about this time that keeping the count gets harder, the writing practice begins to feel a bit tedious--do I really need to keep this up every day. But yes, I do. Even as I feel the writing is not so compelling, that I have little to say, that I'm just writing for the sake of writing. But that's what practice is about -- any practice. And keeping the count and the posts reminds me of that.

I remember talking to Rabbi Lew about my meditation practice--it just wasn't working for me, and felt flat. He said that's the most important time to keep going, for when the meaning returns, it will be deeper.

And so, I continue.....

And in the vein of community being the theme of this perseverance week, I share two quotes that I have been sharing with my students these days.

A Jew cannot be a Jew on his(her) own.
A Jew needs to be part of a community
   -- Elie Wiesel 
If I am not for myself who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
    --Rabbi Hillel, Pirkei Avot 1:14


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