Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  John 14:23

I wish we'd had this verse yesterday when we were talking about Bet. We will make our home with them.

I don't think many people realize that just before God was gave instructions for the tabernacle she said that they would build her a temple and that she would dwell in them.  In them, not in it. It's not just one of those cases of a singular word having a plural ending, like Eloheim... the pagans make so much of that plural God, but it's not a plural God at all. The word just ends like that. Context, people... context. Anyway, it's plain even to me that God is saying that she will dwell in each of the Hebrews. She wants that tabernacle built a certain way, that's for sure. But the place she intends to live is in each one of us. As we spread across the globe, the kingdom of God spreads too.

It also occurs to me that a house of prayer for all people can be a place where all people can come to pray. Maybe it's that. But it is more likely to be a place where God can pray and that, of course, benefits everyone. It is FOR everyone. I was talking to a guy at work and I think he believes it is just a place where all kinds of people can go. He might be right. I don't know. I think it is a place where God can go. It's God's dwelling place, the place where God can go to pray.

Today we have the third letter of the Aleph Bet, the gimmel. That little hook on the end is actually a yud. The letter itself looks like a man running and the sages say that it's a rich man running to give all his money to a poor man. It can also symbolize how the soul runs between heaven and earth.

 

The Gimmel's number is three:  Three fathers, and three mothers, three primary elements, three parts of Torah, three divisions of Jewish souls, a cord of three is not quickly torn apart, the trinity, the three synoptic gospels, three denials, three men on a cross, three dimensions, three tenses, Hookers three-legged stool... it could go on and on with the threes.

Three is also the number of stability and that reminds me that today we have Chessed of Tiferet. The first day of the Omer was Chessed of Chessed (loving kindness of loving kindness). Yesterday we had Chessed of Gevurah. And today we have Chessed of Tiferet. Tiferet balances the Chessed and Gevurah. Some people just want to have Chessed. I sometimes hear about Chessed from Christians who have learned this one Hebrew word and they like it because it is about love. But Chessed can't manifest unless it is in balance with Gevurah (strength) and so it needs both Gevurah and Tiferet.

 

The English word for camel comes from Gimmel. I don't remember exactly how, but I remember this image of a camel lumbering through the desert of life, perfectly equipped to carry the burdens of life and to survive in harsh climates. I surely need a gimmel to make it through this earth plane. While it symbolizes survival it is also a kabbalistic symbol of the angel of death which comes out of the desert (probably from the north. Remember the vulnerable north entrance of the Bet.)  There is a story that Rebecca fell off her camel when she first saw Isaac.

Of course, everybody's favorite Gimmel is the one of the dreidel. Gimmel means GIVE me all your gold. 

That's about all I thought about today.

It was cold and rainy. I've already taken the lining out of my coat! I do think it's going to get warmer by the end of the week, though.

I have a new song to learn on my ukulele and it's a good one! I forget the name of it but I like it. It really is impossible to feel bad when you are playing ukulele so I've used it as a little escape sometimes. It's good medicine. At least for me.

I came directly home tonight and made a sandwich. After last night's escapades on the subway I just wanted to be under my warm blanket. I've decided that I could use a new pillow too. The one that I have is just not right.

That's the news. Tomorrow, Dalet!