Gevurah sh’b’Malchut – Strength of Majesty
This is part of a series of prayers invoking a prophetic voice, the voice of spiritual challenge, including “Let Truth,” “Let Joy,” “Let Love,” and “Let Torah.” I use this prayer during week seven of counting the OmerFrom the second day of Passover until Shavuot, Jews count seven weeks – seven times seven days – to commemorate the period between the Exodus from Egypt and the Revelation at Sinai. When the Temple stood, a certain measure (omer) of barley was offered on the altar each day; today, we merely count out the days., day 44, gevurah sh’b’malchut.
Let holiness sparkle from your face,
Radiate from your eyes,
Emerge from your lips.
Let holiness enter your heart,
Infuse your lungs,
Expand your chest.
Let holiness fortify your bones,
Fire your nerves,
Enliven your flesh.
For holiness is in the earth and the sky,
The storm and the quiet,
The flow of blessings from G-d’s creation,
Divine wisdom and mercy,
Calling out to you dear sisters and brothers:
“Awake you slumberers!
Awake you who move empty and hollow from sunset to sunset.
Have you become blind to awe and wonder?
Have you rejected the gifts that surround you?
Have you abandoned your hope and your being?”
This, then, is G-d’s command:
Let holiness enter you,
Fortify you,
Shine through you.
Let holiness carry you into marvelous moments
And majestic years.
Learn and teach,
Study and pray,
Lifting your life with zest and zeal.
Let holiness be your journey and your destination.
Blessed are You, G-d of holiness.
© 2011 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.
Image by D’vorah Horn from her set of Omer Practice Cards (2016).
