Beit Yichud

Counting the Omer. Day 14. Malchut sheba Gevura. For the sake of the unification of the Holy Blessed One and the Shechina, to unite the Yud Hey and the Vav Hey, the Holy Masculine and the Holy Feminine, to unite the Hidden and the Revealed, the Upper Waters and the Lower Waters, here I am, ready to perform the Mitzvah of Sefirat Ha Omer.

Today is 14 Days of the Omer, Malchut sheba Gevura.

Does my Gevura, my strength, my propensity for discipline, judgement, for creating boundaries contain the element of Malchut… am I grounded? When I am judgmental and critical, am I able to express that with dignity?

Does my Gevura, which stems from my fear and awe and I need to protect my self, my space, does my response contain all of the other sefitot? Is my disciplne open and giving with Chesed, am I transparent with my critique? Does my discipline have strength? Is my judgement balanced and have compassion - Tiferet? Does my judgement see the big picture, can it march thru the desert - Netzach? When I am critical and judgmental, do I have humility and gratitude - Hod? When I create separation and boundaries, am I able to maintain a desire for relationship - Yesod? When I can, I can ground myself with dignity - Malchut / soverighnty.

My meditation is telling me that I need to acknowledge and express my underlying emotions of fear and uncertainty when s**t happens, surprise situations of life, when my credibility is challenged. I need to take a breath and be with the underlying emotion before reacting…… easier said than done ….. which, for me, is the work coming out of the 14th day of the Omer.

https://youtu.be/S8hCiPI1tMQ?si=h9xVZQAHAkviBB6x

CREATING THE CONSCIOUSNESS TO FOSTER PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

I write this, I pray that Hamas will accept the Cease Fire offer that is on the table. Lives will be saved.

I am deeply disturbed, saddened, angry and confused by the current state of war and conflict in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and the Middle East. I am distressed and angry at all of the misinformation and ignorance of the history of this conflict and of the anti-semitism that is cloaked in anti-war sentiment. Too many people are dying, too many lives are being shattered, too many government leaders are hostile to making peace. I support the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state with the right to defend itself from attacks. At the same time, I do not support Bibi Netanayahu, his right wing policies nor the settlers and their actions in the West Bank. I do support the nebulous Two State Solution. Something has to change. Israel has taken the bait and has been ensnared in the trap set by Hamas.

To say this is a vicious cycle may be true, but when can it end? Governments are stuck in their policies, people are stuck in their fears and resentments. How do people and their leaders get to a state of consciousness where they can talk to each other, see each other as human beings and create a path towards peace?

While there are many individuals and NGOs that work to foster cooperation and healthy relationships between Israeli and the Palestinian people, it is not enough. There is such an extreme level of distrust and hatred between Israeli and Palestinian officials, many Israeli people, Hamas, the PA and many Palestinians, that something dramatic and cathartic needs to happen to change the consciousness of the people on the ground.

On the surface level, what we see happening on a day to day basis is tragic. Palestinians believe that they are the victims of long term Israeli policies, IDF bombings in Gaza, Settler policies and rampages in the West Bank and more. Israelis believe that they are the victims of Hamas terrorism, rockets from Gaza and Lebanon, Arab and Iranian support for terrorism, and years of Intifada and of terrorist bombings inside Israel. The feelings are real. These things are happening and each experiences the pain. Both Israelis and Palestinians feel justified in their responses and the pain continues.

From my perspective, this is a surface level understanding. As long as the world, the Israelis and the Palestinians continue to consider this a conflict between Israel and Palestine, a lasting solution is increasingly difficult to achieve. Years of misinformation and propaganda have fueled this conflict as binary.

In my opinion, a deeper reality is that BOTH the Palestinian and Israeli people are victims of the larger group of Arab nations and the policies that they have implemented for the past 75+ years. Yes, both the Palestinians and Israelis are victims of the Arab nations.

In 1948, when the United Nations created the state of Israel and an Arab State out of the “Palestinian Territories”, the Arab nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia , Qatar, UAR and Yemen attacked Israel and encouraged the Palestinian people to vacate their homes with the promise that they would return after Israel was destroyed. Israel was not defeated. The Arab nations rejected the creation of an Arab / Palestinian State along side Israel. The Nakba was the catastrophic choice the Arabs made to vacate their homes. Those who stayed are now citizens, members of Knesset, the supreme court and are doctors, lawyers and professors. The Arab nations tried again in 1967 and 1973, continuing to promise the Palestinian refugees that they would be able to return to vacated homes in Israel. These people are still in those refugee camps 75 years later, with no effort to resettle these refugees like most other refugees in the world get resettled. This unfulfilled promise is still kept alive today in the consciousness of the Arab and Palestinian people. Past Peace Plans have been rejected because they would require recognizing the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, resulting in Intifadas, bombings and terrorism. At the same time Israeli policies have become harsher and more restrictive with Settler policies creating many serious problems for West Bank Palestinians.

The past and present Arab nation policies have created the consciousness of Victimization and is a primary cause of status of the Palestine refugees. And then there is Iran, which is not an Arab state, competing with the other Arab states to determine which sect of Islam will control the region. They too are using and victimizing the Palestine people.

I say this not to justify any actions by Israel, Hamas or the Palestine Authority. They are each stuck in the consciousness of being victims of each other.

In order to escape Victim Consciousness to a path of Peace Consciousness, in my opinion, the Arab nations will have to acknowledge their complicity in victimizing both the Israeli and the Palestinian Peoples. They need to acknowledge that the 1948 War Against Israel was a mistake; the call for the Palestine Arabs to vacate their homes with the promise of returning was a mistake; keeping the promise alive for 75 years was a mistake. This will be very difficult for current day Arab leaders to say.

And they must repair the damage by being financially and politically responsible and fund the repair and rebuilding of Gaza and the West Bank.

Egypt and Jordan have come part way by recognizing Israel, but the entire group of Arab nations needs to own the fact that they are responsible for the present fate of the Palestinians. And the Abraham Accords by itself would not be enough; only by the Arab Nations taking full responsibility for the current state of affairs, communicating this to the Palestinians and the world, and committing to rebuilding Gaza could there possibly be a true peace.

May it be so and may we see peace in our time.