Tonight begins the 41st Day of the Omer (May 23-24, 2006), which is five weeks and six days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Yesod in Yesod be healed on this day.

 

Scenic Spot Within Three Hours of Hangzhou, China.
1984. Photo by Shai.
 

Half Way from Shanghai to Guangzhou.
1984. Photo by Shai
 

A scenic spot in Chinese culture is a place where humanity and nature are behaving their best and cooperating fully with each other. Notice bridges and the human-made island in the first picture. They are not natural nor were they put there for significant utility. They are there as part of an elegant dance between the natural and human elements. The human artifacts help people to see the beauty in nature. The natural elements contribute to our ability to see beauty in other human beings.

There were two main beaches on an island I stayed at off the eastern coast of China. One beach was empty, no structures. The other beach had a gazebo. In Western culture most people would have thought that the desolate beach would be more desirable. Not so in China. The beach with the gazebo had hundreds of bathers while the beach without had none.

In the second photo, most of the people on the train had been traveling more than ten hours. There were too many people and too few facilities. But it didn't stop anyone from getting clean. They came prepared with their wash cloths and towels. The body odor that develops while traveling in a packed train and was no match for Chinese planning and ingenuity. Everyone knew what to do.

The connection between the two photos is the idea, pervasive in Chinese culture, that human beings have the ability to improve upon things, whether that means improving upon nature at a scenic spot or making do with limited resources.

In contrast with the Chinese approach, Americans tend to prize scenic spots that are in wilderness areas. The tourist hopes to see no other visitors and the best views are ones in which the human artifacts like trails are hidden from view, creating an illusion of no human presence or impact.

I'm quite suspicious, in general, of the human capacity to "improve" upon nature. The U.S. Army Core of Engineers certainly believes in the human capcity to control, if not improve, upon nature. That approach has sometimes led to great environmental and human disasters, including some of the damage from Hurricane Katrina.

I'm an American and I love the wilderness. But I do see there is something quite honest about the Chinese approach. Human impact is a given. Hiding it is a ruse. Can I honor the human/nature relationship even, as an environmentalist, I advocate for more natural habitats?

Yesod is associated with the last prayer of the Amida (a prayer said in all Jewish services). The theme of that last prayer is peace. You always want to take leave from God with longings for peace on your lips. The photos express to me the hope that human creativity and intervention can be cognizant of the beauty and respectful of the limitations of the natural world.

On this day of Yesod in Yesod, may the source of peace help us to know when to take initiative and when to hold back.

Tonight begins the 40th Day of the Omer (May 22-23, 2006), which is five weeks and five days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Hod in Yesod be healed on this day.

 

Natural Shelter in Pinnacles National Monument, CA.
1989. Photo by Shai.

Woman with Backpack in Havasupailand, Grand Canyon.
October, 1988. Photo by Shai.
 

Quiet Vision

The splendor of creation is exposed in all its glory in a desert canyon. There are clear lines in this natural architecture. The canyon structure causes deep shadows and unexpected shelters. The motion of powerful tectonic and hydraulic forces leave clear evidence of their presence, if one would only stop to pay attention.

The Burning Bush also required attention. How would one know that a bush is being burned but not consumed? You would have to stop and look, really look. This is the contemplative aspect of prophesy. The will of God birthed into this world by still, patient seeing.

Tonight begins the 39th Day of the Omer (May 21-22, 2006), which is five weeks and five days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Netzach in Yesod be healed on this day.

 

Pearl Ostrovsky Sewing
Ramat Aviv, Israel. Circa 1982. Photo by Shai.
 

Clarity Nurtured by Endurance

My grandmother was 87 in this photograph. She lived to be 98. Bobi Pearl had a very clear vision of what she wanted. And she had great endurance.

Her clarity and endurance didn't always ingratiate her to others. And it didn't always help in her assessments of people. But her comfort with herself motored a life fully lived and many wonderful accomplishments.

On this day of Netzach in Yesod may we see the path ahead and practice knowing that it may take a long time in getting there. And that's okay!

Tonight begins the 38th Day of the Omer (May 20-21, 2006), which is five weeks and three days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Tiferet in Yesod begin to heal on this day.

 

Shai Gluskin in Pinnacles National Monument in Central California
Circa 1989. Photo by Barry Bergman
 

(Note. The biblical characters of Jacob and Joseph are associated with Tiferet and Yesod respectively.)

Clarity nurtured by perspective.

Jacob had the perspective of history. He knew Joseph had extraordinary powers and he wanted to cultivate him. Joseph was so clear. Waking or sleeping he saw things that others could not.

And yet, this combination of vision and sight didn't produce an easy trajectory for the family of Israel. Jealousy, deception, abuse and loss are key parts of a story that is ultimately about the formation of the people of Israel and its liberation.

Sometimes it is good to get on top of the mountain. It doesn't dispense with the pain. But it puts it in context.

Tonight begins the 37th Day of the Omer (May 19-20, 2006), which is five weeks and two days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Gevurah in Yesod begin to heal on this day.

 

Beryl Elenbogan's Leg and Clog, Arava Desert, Israel
Kibbutz Grofit, November, 1982 by Shai Gluskin
 

On a train in China I make casual conversation with an American women who tells me she's a hospice worker. I say, "How depressing."

She says, "Oh, no. I'm lucky to be with people who choose wisely how they spend their time."

Tonight begins the 36th Day of the Omer (May 18-19, 2006), which is five weeks and one day of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Hesed in Yesod begin to heal on this day.

 

Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona
October, 1988 by Shai
 

The desert, by bearing its rock—its structure, invites us to examine our own internal foundations. With its long vistas and open skies the desert demands the unity of all.

Vulnerability and openess to the divine don't require self-immolation. Water in the desert is evidence of other forms of offering. The desert's wild flowers, its flora and fauna, are reminders that our quest to seek God isn't about leaving this world, but rather living in it.

Tonight begins the 35th Day of the Omer (May 17-18, 2006), which is five complete weeks of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Malkhut in Hod begin to heal on this day.

 

Zita Gluskin and her Three Children Miriam, Sam (aka Shai), and Esther, 1958
 

Malkhut the queen: she mediates between the limitless divine and the touchable and mortal reality of this world. Hod, the reverberating beauty, the echoes of the generations. Malkhut in Hod: Giving birth (literally and figuratively) to the generations.

I count the omer
Refracted through my life's lens
The harvest is soon.

Tonight begins the 34th Day of the Omer (May 16-17, 2006), which is four weeks and six days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Yesod in Hod begin to heal on this day.

 

Tsuei Wei, Oakland, CA June 1981

Passover Seder in Hangzhou China, 1984

Dancing With Indiana University Student, Sylvia at Passover Seder in Hangzhou, China 1984
 

Part of my graduation ritual from UC Berkeley in 1981 was taking my family to the Tai Chi studio where I had studied intensively for two years. Some time into my study I came to realize that Tai Chi was satisfying a spiritual longing that I had.

When Sifu (teacher) Tsuei Wei took us around the studio, he stopped at some potted plants and told me, with my parents and sisters as witnesses, "You need leturn to your loots." (That was the highest level English I had ever heard him speak. He spoke in gestures and one-word sentences that were powerful.)

Two years later I was off to the far east, with no plan. I was fulfilling the injunction of my geography professor at Berkeley, Robert Reed, to avoid the destiny of becoming an "armchair geographer."

My first stop was Taiwan, where I visited the Tai Chi school that Tsuei Wei had come from. After attending only one class there, where I could have trained to become a Tai Chi instructor, the words of Tsuei Wei came back to me.

I had been a committed Jew, Zionist, Hebraist, etc. without ever having given Jewish practice a chance. I decided not to continue at the Tai Chi school. And I began my Jewish practice right then and there, deciding not to photograph or go on significant journeys on Shabbat and to light candles, and make kiddush/motzi no matter where I was.

Though that was in Fall of 1983 it wouldn't be until the Fall of 1990 that I began rabbinical school at RRC. But something was set in motion then that was irreversible.

Yesod, Foundation/Structure in Hod, glory/resonance/echo/reflection invites a turning back to one's core. What parts of me have I hidden away? Can I let go of the artifices I've created and see myself reflected in my life? Do I recognize myself when I look in the mirror?

I had to go all the way to China in order to come home. I feel blessed for having been on the journey.

Tonight begins the 32st Day of the Omer (May 14-15, 2006), which is four weeks and four days of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Netzach in Hod begin to heal on this day.

 

Sifu (Teacher) Tsuei Wei and Shai (Oakland, CA, June 1981)
 

Right Thigh --> Left Thigh (In Kabbalah, Netzach is associated with the right thigh and Hod is associated with the left thigh.)

In Tai Chi class Tsuei Wei started us off with the hardest exercise first. "Feet parallel, shoulder length apart, hands in front, elbow down, shoulder down. Now sit."

But there was no chair. We lowered our bottoms with our backs still vertical as far as we could go and for as long as we could hold the position. Our thighs burned. Tsuei Wei's reassurance was that our thighs were the largest muscle in the body.

The burning in my thighs led to their strengthening and pushed my center of gravity lower and lower.

Who would have thought that being lower was just what I needed to begin to soar?

Powerful inner calm.

Graceful outer strength.