Tonight begins the 28th Day of the Omer (May 10-11, 2006), which is four complete weeks of the omer. May that part of me that is broken in Malkhut in Netzach begin to heal on this day.
[2]Malkhut is the sefira that connects the "upper world" with the "lower world." The role of Malkhut in the sefirot shares some attributes with the the winged sphinxes (Fox translation of keruvim, cherubs) and the flaming, ever-turning sword that guard the way back to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). The comparison is limited, though. Malkhut is more of a mediator and translator between the two worlds while the keruvim and the sword are about keeping the two places separate.
But what the examples share is marking a transition between worlds where death exists and where it doesn't. This combination of Malkhut in Netzach would seem to be a joining of opposites, with Malkhut representing the "lower" world of life and death and Netzach, Forever, representing the "upper" worlds where death has no meaning.
Our task in this world is to see the connection of life and death clearly. In the photo, I imagine a funeral scene where the young trees are attending to the fallen dead older tree lying before them. The biology of it is that the dead tree is tending to the living ones. It has made some room in the crowded forest canopy from some light to reach the younger trees. And soon the decomposing tree will nourish its comrades with minerals as well.
My kids are 11 and 8—which is a time ripe with seeing them out-do me in a host of physical as well as even some intellectual arenas (my daughter is better than me at Sudoku and Boggle).
In Bava Metzia 59b, after a vigorous legal debate in which human beings perform miracles and reject heavenly evidence as having no standing, God says, "Nitzchuni banai, Nitzchuni banai." The litteral meaning there is "My children have defeated me." Most commentators have God proclaiming this with joy.
Nitzchuni, they have defeated me, comes from the same root as today's sefira, Netzach. So one might translate God's line as "They have endured beyond me." This might teach something about God's distance. But I think it also teaches us about the meaning of "forever." It is not about eternal life. It is not about the absence of death.
In witnessing my children "defeating," me, I begin to prepare for my own death in a way that is joyful, full of nachus, pride.
The cycle of life is a cycle of life and death. It can't be any other way.
Comments
3 comments postedI just studied that passage of Bava Metzia this spring, but didn't realize the connection between "nitzchuni" and "netzach" -- how obvious it seems now that you point it out!
This is powerful stuff. I really like what you're saying about the meaning of forever.
That must be a pretty famous passage; this is at least the fourth time I've heard it recounted. But as Rachel says, your spin is unique. I love arguments from etymology!
"The biology of it is that the dead tree is tending to the living ones." Well put.
A very crotchedy biologist I know of, who is always challenging the management of the Allegheny National Forest, utterly rejects the notion that a fallen tree (or standing snag) is dead in any sense. It has simply become host to a different and more diverse kind of life.
Of course, biology cannot provide any definitive definition for the thing it studies, "life." That's where priests, rabbis and poets come in. Unfortunately, the influence of reductionism has spread from science to religion to the point where many good people are consumed with "pro-life" passions to the virtual exclusion of any concern for the biosphere. Even churches and synagogues that claim to cherish humanity and non-human creation equally still give all their time and money to purely humanitatian concerns...
Dave, yes, it is a famous passage, most known for taking the line from Deuteronomy 30, "lo ba'shamayim hi" "It is not in heaven" out of context to use it for a new purpose. In Deut. 30 the purpose to explain to folk that living a life according to Torah is doable, you don't have to go to the heavens or traverse the ocean to live it. In the Talmud, it's used to argue that the authority for creating our legal system lies with human beings and not with God. Very evocative stuff and it's all told as a tale of disagreeing rabbis. Do you remember any of the other places you saw it sited?
I appreciate your suggestion that we need to take our appreciation for the biosphere and translate it into taking actions that show our concern.
Rachel—I only noticed the netach/nitzchuni connection after I had put it in to connect to the story about how I feel about my kids. It felt like a real bonus and I too felt, "I can't believe I didn't notice that before."