Love. Embodied Kindness. Flow. Unbounded Giving. Generosity within Reality. Shekhina. Sovereignty. Actualization. Revealed Word.
Sunday, June 2
Coming in for a landing, we begin the 7th and final week of our journey - the week of Malchut. I find myself puzzled by Malchut today. We are back to a measure of paradox. Malchut is both interior and external. The Indwelling Presence - that element of Divinity that is within each of us and all things - and that which is Revealed. If I don’t overthink it (no small feat for me!), I see that the point is that G*d Reveals G*dself through the very process of that infusing, Revealing the Reality that all things are of Divine origin. Jay Michaelson refers to the many masks of the Divine. Malchut is how we get to experience that in a very concrete way.
So then, what is the Love that is within that which is both within and Revealed? One of the masks of Malchut is the womb - that magical place of interior growth of that which stays inside until the time for Revelation is just right. Let us say then, that Chesed SheBeMalchut is the Flow of Generosity that enables that formation. It is the Love that fertilizes the seeds so that they can flourish into their most fully Actualized form.
Looking at it through the lens of the days of creation, as I am wont to do, then we also must consider the assertion of Hasidic master the Dibrat Shlomo that the 7th day, the day of Malchut, was the actual completion of Creation. He notes that Creation was not complete until rest was introduced, defining rest as “the presence of infinity within Being.” And what a loving act! We were given the opportunity, the outright command, in fact, to sit back, experience a taste of infinity, and appreciate the fruits of our efforts.
Those who have been reading these all along know how I love a good Divine paradox, and here we are again. The Love that enables growth within and the Love of seeing fully Realized that which we have grown. Not a bad way to start the week!
Shavua tov.