Day Nine: Gevurah B’Gevurah, Be disciplined. Be strong. Not easy

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Today was the ninth day of the counting of the omer. It is getting harder to do these blogs each day. Gevurah means strength. It also means disciplined. We should be disciplined in our discipline.

NOT EASY to do.

Anita Diamant, author of the Red Tent and countless books on Jewish lifecycle events as well as the founder of Mayyim Hayyim once told me to be a good writer you need to sit down and write every single day. That’s discipline.

NOT EASY to do.

Later this week we will read about keeping kosher.

NOT EASY to do.

For me, kashrut provides a discipline, a structure, a framework. It helps me remember G-d and become closer to G-d. It reminds me that the world is a bigger place than just my immediate home, block, community. There is an old Girl Scout grace, “Back of the bread is the flour and back of the flour is the mill and back of the mill is the wind and the rain and the Father’s will.” It seems somehow appropriate just having spoken about water yesterday and now talking about kashrut. Kashrut is a daily reminder and a discipline calling us to be holy because the Lord our G-d is holy. However, it takes being strong and not giving into our own will. How we show strength in strength or discipline in discipline? It is not just about kashrut but that can be my own personal weakness. It is also about treating our bodies in healthy ways: getting enough sleep, getting enough exercise, being disciplined enough to take care of ourselves, take our medications, visit the physicians, nourish our bodies, our spirits, our souls. All of that takes discipline–which I don’t always have. But I have a source of that strength if I can tap into it. The Amidah says, “Ata Gibor L’olam Adonai, You are Strong forever, Adonai. Sometimes when we talk about G-d as Tzur Yisrael, the Rock of Israel, G-d seems especially strong, a solid, everlasting Rock.

In the meantime, in similar but different language, Chazak, chazak v’nitchazek. Be strong, be strong and be strengthened. It is not so hard to do, if we remember that G-d is strong enough for the both of us.