Never the Twain Shall Part
Day by Day - Kislev 24 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )
The fourth, fifth and sixth days of the week express the qualities Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Netzach means victory or “perseverance into victory” – getting the job done. Hod means ‘acknowledgement’ recognizing another’s importance above your own. Yesod means ‘foundation’ or ‘rock bottom’; complete surrender as in intimacy.
All three qualities are called ‘humble’ because they don’t have the excitement of Kindness, nor the drama of Severity, nor again, the beauty of Compassion- they are modest and humble. The humility comes from their objectivity; Netzach is the feeling that ‘you gotta do what you gotta do’. The objective reality demands certain actions so you surrender to the facts and do what must be done even if it involves personal sacrifice. That’s the positive side of Netzach.
Netzach can also be destructive. Just last week a married woman complained to me about her husband, “I don’t mind sacrificing my pleasures and preferences to keep peace in the home. What bothers me is that my husband doesn’t do the same. Why should I sacrifice if he won’t? This is the negative side of Netzach- “I’m willing to go to war for the cause but everyone must come with me.” If you get to stay home I won’t go either- it’s not fair!”
Hod comes to the rescue; Hod is the feeling that you are more important than me. Hence I will go to war but you must stay safe at home. I not only surrender to the facts ‘gotta do what you gotta do’ I also surrender to you “I will do the dirty work so you won’t have to.”
In holiness, Netzach and Hod are never separated; you don’t have one without the other. (In the body, Netzach and Hod are the right and left legs. The angels described in Yecheskel's -Ezekiel's - vision have “two legs as one”. And when standing in prayer our legs are together as one.)
Hayom Yom says that on Wednesday we surrender to the fact that Shabbos is coming and we need to prepare. For Thursday, Hayom Yom says, we feel humbled before G-d. How appropriate that Thursday is the Hemshech, a continuation, of Wednesday. A rare occurrence in the calendar, but Netzach and Hod must not be separated!
The fourth, fifth and sixth days of the week express the qualities Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Netzach means victory or “perseverance into victory” – getting the job done. Hod means ‘acknowledgement’ recognizing another’s importance above your own. Yesod means ‘foundation’ or ‘rock bottom’; complete surrender as in intimacy.
All three qualities are called ‘humble’ because they don’t have the excitement of Kindness, nor the drama of Severity, nor again, the beauty of Compassion- they are modest and humble. The humility comes from their objectivity; Netzach is the feeling that ‘you gotta do what you gotta do’. The objective reality demands certain actions so you surrender to the facts and do what must be done even if it involves personal sacrifice. That’s the positive side of Netzach.
Netzach can also be destructive. Just last week a married woman complained to me about her husband, “I don’t mind sacrificing my pleasures and preferences to keep peace in the home. What bothers me is that my husband doesn’t do the same. Why should I sacrifice if he won’t? This is the negative side of Netzach- “I’m willing to go to war for the cause but everyone must come with me.” If you get to stay home I won’t go either- it’s not fair!”
Hod comes to the rescue; Hod is the feeling that you are more important than me. Hence I will go to war but you must stay safe at home. I not only surrender to the facts ‘gotta do what you gotta do’ I also surrender to you “I will do the dirty work so you won’t have to.”
In holiness, Netzach and Hod are never separated; you don’t have one without the other. (In the body, Netzach and Hod are the right and left legs. The angels described in Yecheskel's -Ezekiel's - vision have “two legs as one”. And when standing in prayer our legs are together as one.)
Hayom Yom says that on Wednesday we surrender to the fact that Shabbos is coming and we need to prepare. For Thursday, Hayom Yom says, we feel humbled before G-d. How appropriate that Thursday is the Hemshech, a continuation, of Wednesday. A rare occurrence in the calendar, but Netzach and Hod must not be separated!
posted by Scruz | 9:45 PM
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