Rabbi Kedar's blog

There are eight ways to practice the attribute of humility and each corresponds to a place on the body. (Moshe Cordovoro, Tamar Devorah)

The seventh practice is with one’s Face, as Cordovoro writes:

“A person’s face should shine and he should receive all people with a cheerful countenance. All who look at such a face will find joy.”

“I can see it in your face,” she said as she looked with concern at her young daughter. This could be the beginning of a short story, or these words may trigger a childhood memory, or it may be something that you heard just the other day. Our face tells tales of trouble, of sadness, of fear, of joy, of love, of gladness. Our face reflects our spiritual statement, our mental attitude, our physical well being. We say so much even without uttering a word.

In one of our most precious blessings known as the priestly benediction, we say three short lines. These lines are said when we hold the baby in our arms to give him a name during the naming ceremony, we say this blessing at the B’nai Mitzvah ceremony and at a wedding ceremony and many times in between.

There are eight ways to practice the attribute of humility and each corresponds to a place on the body. (Moshe Cordovoro, Tamar Devorah)

The sixth practice is with one’s nose, as Cordovoro writes:

“Nary a breath of anger should ever be found in it. Rather it should contain the breath of life and good will and patience, even to those who are unworthy. Exhale forgiveness and pardon.”

In the Bible sometimes the wrath of God is described as fiery breath through the nose, like a dragon. People breathe this way too. I’ve see the breath of a dragon as a man yells sharply at his wife and I saw the breath of a dragon when a mother looked angrily into the eyes of her small child. The child felt the heat, I know.

Then once, I watched my granddaughter sleep when she was days old. Her breaths were soft, deep little puffs of spirit like an angel.

In Hebrew, the word for breath, n’shima, corresponds to the word for spirit, n’shama. In English too. When we breathe our last breath we expire. When we live, we have the potential to take in the spirit of the universe with each breath, we inspire. When we yearn for something greater, we aspire.

There are eight ways to practice the attribute of humility and each corresponds to a place on the body. (Moshe Cordovoro, Tamar Devorah

The fifth practice is with one’s eyes, as Cordovoro writes:

“Do not close your eyes to the suffering of the poor. Think as much as possible of their predicament. Look for the good.”

There are eight ways to practice the attribute of humility and each corresponds to a place on the body. (Moshe Cordovoro, Tamar Devorah)

The fourth practice focuses on our ears, as he writes:

Turn your attention to hearing good and positive things. Shut out falseness, evil gossip, judgment.

Once I went to visit my friends at Primrose Valley Farm located amidst the rolling hills of Wisconsin. They are CSA farmers (community supported agriculture) planting high quality produce, free of chemicals, using methods that sustain the earth, and uphold ethical standards as prescribed in Judaism. We go to the farm as often as we can. It is peaceful, filled with sacred intention, good company and wonderful food.

There are eight ways to practice the attribute of humility and each corresponds to a place on the body.

The third practice is with one’s forehead, as he writes:

A person’s forehead should display no harshness. Your face should reflect willingness, acceptance, pleasantry.

When I was a child a girl’s forehead was the place where you debated with your friends and mom, bangs or a center part. Then as my own daughters became teens, they spoke a lot about eyebrows. Unruly, uni-brow, bushy, plucked, waxed, thin line, severely arched, slightly curved, or groomed like Brooke Shields. Then, as the years passed, I somehow stopped looking at eyebrows started looking at hairlines. Receded or simply disappearing hairlines seem to have less judgment than comb-overs. And then there is always the question, is the thinness from illness or age.

But now, right now, I understand that the space above my eyes tells a story to the world. In the lines of your forehead is an expression of your spirit. Worried, concerned, deep in thought, content, angry.