Today is the eighth day (first day of the second week) of the Omer. During the first week, the theme each day had to do with Chesed (lovingkindness); during this week, each day has to do with some aspect of Gevurah (justice, discipline and restraint). The 8th day of the Omer focuses on Chesed (Lovingkindnes) in Gevurah (justice, discipline and restraint). The underlying intention and motive when one person disciplines another person in a personal relationship is love. Why do we measure another persons behavior, establish standards and expect others to live up to them -- only because of love. We do not exert effort personally to guide and discipline those we dont care about. Tolerance of people should never be confused with tolerance of their behavior. A parent continues to love his/her child, although he/she may not love their behavior in a certain instance. Love for people includes wanting them to be the best they can be. Chesed of Gevurah is the love in discipline; it is the recognition that the discipline you expect of others is only an expression of love. It is the understanding that we have no right personally to judge others (after all, each of us is deeply flawed and need to look inward to judge ourselves to make ourselves as close to perfect as we can before we should look outward at others) -- we have the right only to love them and want them to do their best. Before you criticize anyone today, think twice about whether it is out of concern and love. And before rushing to judge someone, think about all the others areas in which you might sin yourself. We are all experts in sinning in our own way, and who are any of us to judge others about the particular way in which they might sin.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 12:45:06 +0000
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