Yesod: Connection
Yesod is the sefira/aspect that is associated with the qualities of bonding, connection, and foundation. It is traditionally associated with the generativity of human beings. Yesod brings together all the sefirot that came before. It specifically takes the pair of netzah and hod (creativity and planning coupled with determination and patience), and combines them to create the foundation for what will be. As we enter the final stretch of the Omer period, we weave together the insights that we have had about our inner qualities. We want to approach Sinai/revelation reflecting the oneness of the One. We do that by recognizing that we too are one in our being even with all our aspects and qualities and even contradictions.
Yesod also adds to netzah and hod the element of connection. Connecting to others is essential for human beings. At creation we are told lo tov lehiyot adam levado, “it is not good for a human being to be alone.” Amidst our creativity and planning, our connections to one another should not be lost. The sefira of Yesod is about building relationships based on hesed/love, gevurah/limitations, and tiferet, beauty. By urging the connection to others, yesod moves us closer to unity, which is the energy underlying the system of qualities that comprise the sefirot.
Each year, the Torah of Sinai is renewed for this moment. This year’s Torah challenges us to feel connected to the divine sparks that are within every human being. We seem very far from that notion as our society is divided into camps who view the other not just as misguided but as the enemy. It is hard to see how this could change. In Leviticus, Chapter 19, the Torah commands us not to stand idly by in the face of injustice. What does that mean? We are told to reprove the wrongdoer (hokhiah tokhiah). The rabbinic tradition says that reproof should be done in an effective way, where the wrongdoer will actually hear the critique. The wrongdoer isn’t to be shamed. While there is no magic formula for effective reproof, it certainly requires a sense of connection between the people involved in this process. Otherwise, it becomes a hopeless exercise in convincing the other person that you are right and that s/he is wrong.
The poet Yehuda Amichai wrote that “from the place where we are right, flowers will never grow in the spring (translation of the Hebrew).”
How do we create moments of spring, so that the generativity of yesod will lead to flowers growing?
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