Holidays

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

The eighth practice is with one’s mouth, as Cordovoro writes:

“Express good words of Torah. Do not speak ugliness, curses, anger, or frivolous talk. Speak well, expressing benevolence and blessing.”

And so we approach the New Year. Hours from now, the sun will set, and we will stand remembering the miracle and wonder of creation. The eighth practice of humility is with our mouth. God created the world with a word – Let there be light. God gave us the Ten Commandments with ten utterances. What we say creates worlds. What we say can also destroy. We all know that child who is now an adult and grew up with criticism, constant utterances that diminished the light of who he was and still is. And then there is the person who grew up with words of wild unfettered praise—what a gloriously positive and joyful person she is.

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.