Ani Kinor - Summer Institute Hebrew College - July 2019

Using Jewish texts for cultivating equanimity and resilience

A fundamental difference between human and divine, between physical and ineffable is that we embodied beings run out of steam regularly. I run out of energy, patience, and all kinds of capacity. I need to rest, restore, refuel, and refresh on a regular basis and not always at my own convenience. Those that encounter me when I am “under resourced” may find me distracted, less helpful, short tempered. For me, it’s a relief to understand that there is a force in the universe that never runs out...and that somehow wishes me deeply well.

Do you ever experience the sense of divinity that keeps going, even when you run out? A sense of bitachon, of trust in which you can rest?

How does it feel emotionally? Physically?

גמל

The meaning here is to recompense, to remunerate. It is the same root as Birkat Gomel, the blessing made upon deliverance from danger. But there is also the hyper literal interpretation of this phrase as “I sing to Adonai because there is a camel on me.”

Do you ever experience difficulty as a physical weight on you? (A camel, perhaps?)

What happens to your attention/awareness in those circumstances? Your ability to function, to problem solve, to relate to others?

What could make it possible to sing then?

Known as the threefold Priestly benediction, the verbs from these verses from Parshat Naso offer a Jewishly grounded practice to cultivate loving kindness. You can use the Hebrew verbs themselves, or any English translation that evokes the felt sense of being cared for, of blessing. Try this interpretation, or feel free to substitute words that are evocative for you.