Malchut SheBeYesod. Majesty, Dignity within Foundation, Connection, Bonding.
Ever since I realized a few weeks ago that my recovery convention would coincide with Malchut SheBeYesod, I've been looking forward to writing for this day. It's just so poignantly apt. Here are hundreds of people who had lost so much due to addicition. The losses vary from obvious material losses - jobs, relationships, financial welfare - to more hidden aspects. Most, if not all of us had lost any sense of Dignity. It is hard to have Dignity when you are hiding, running, at the grips of an adversary that attacks body, mind, and spirit.
Each year we gather, an array of people from all over, representing many walks of life, and at many stages of life in recovery. Some are just at the beginning of their jounrney, some have been "trudging the road of happy destiny" (from the Big Book of AA) for decades. We are Bonded through this journey. The other thing we share, no matter how many days, months, or years of sobriety we have, is a renewed sense of Dignity. We are people who can finally feel at ease in the world, knowing that we stand upon a firm Foundation, knowing that we are Bonded with others who have been the places we have, and who have emerged newly Majestic into a restored life.
It has been the case again and again over these weeks that on these days of Malchut there has been some special event that sums the day up in a way that mere words could never really do. I am grateful for the happy "coincidence" (yeah, I've pretty much given up on the idea of coincidence...) of this day with this event, so Foundational to my life. It has been through the finding of these types of connections that the Omer and the Sefirot have really begun to come alive for me, and I feel like this was a sweet gift from my Foundation.
Today, let us experience the Dignity afforded us through Foundation. May our Grounding place help us find a sense of home, a sense of ease in ourselves as we move through the world.
For the abbreviated version, visit me on Twitter.
For a couple of different Omer counting guides try mishkan.org or chabad.org.