Today is the eleventh day of the counting of the Omer: Netzach of Gevurah

Once again I turn to the Tarot as a way of exploring the lessons of the day. Gevurah as it turns up in the suit of Pentacles suggests a rigid religious institution that has forgotten its true purpose — that leaves out those we are enjoined to open our doors and hearts to: the poor and broken in body and spirit. But Netzach is about the victory of perseverance. And in the seven of Pentacles we see a man who on his own has persevered in tending his spiritual garden and is about to reap the fruits.

I think about this as the Soulforce Equality Riders are headed to NYC after persevering in their struggle with rigid religious institutions. I think about this as I consider the long hard work of many people in the Conservative movement of Judaism who were rewarded with their patient struggle last month with the decision to ordain gay and lesbian rabbis at JTS. And the struggle of those who know that the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards really punted and that we are nowhere near where we really ought to be.

This kind of perseverance takes gevurah in fact, the gevurah of discipline — otherwise these sacred activists would have given up long ago. And while there are rigid institutions that seek our exile from their community, spiritual exile can only be self-imposed. In the meantime, it is important that we persevere in opening the doors and hearts of these institutions. Certainly not all will change in my lifetime. But as Rabbi Tarfon exhorted us: You are not obliged to finish the task, neither are you free to neglect it.