Gevurah of Chesed

Gevurah shebechesed- strength in kindness.

The classic Kabbalistic approach to the combination of these two polar opposite energies, revolves around the need to set up gevurah boundaries around our Chesed- love/giving side, to ensure healthy loving and focused giving.

In giving-

A perfect example would be refusing the request of a small child to play with a sharp knife.

The gevurah restrains the Chesed — not all giving is good!

In loving-

Our gevurah side reminds us to respect the boundaries that need to be put in place in order for healthy loving relationships to flourish.

Healthy Love must always be earned- never taken! Healthy love must be mutual, given freely, never taken by force, nor demanded.

A different approach,

We live in an age where hopefully those basic human conventions are self understood- Instead of wasting our gevurah on reminders on how best to MANAGE our love- perhaps we need to up our game and use our gevurah to remind us aggressively to BE more loving, to push us to be generous when we might instinctively opt for stinginess.

To remind ourselves to live softer lives that resonate with benevolence and heartfulness.

Rabbi Yossi