Day 28: Malchut b’Netzach

MALCHUT and NETZACH

A Kingdom of Lasting Values

Children love to play King and Queen.

They set up their palace under the dining room table,

Bring in the dolls and stuffed animals,

Put on a crown,

And order their subjects around.

Little do they know that

As they grow, they will be building

A real kingdom of their own.

The kingdom is based on pillars of value

They learn from their parents

If they are lucky:

“We do not hurt each other”

“We help out whenever we can”

“We always try to do the right thing”

“If we make a mistake, we correct it”.

If they are lucky

They also learn about G-d,

Who has more to say about right and wrong

And loves their innate capacity for

Compassion.

If their souls are undamaged,

Their growth will be guided

By desire to do the right thing.

Their struggle is to know what that is

And how it fits with independence

And self interest.

Then life will become their teacher.

Through innumerable interactions – people, environment, self

Through innumerable successes and innumerable failures

Through innumerable difficulties and mistakes

Through realizations and learning and adjusting and starting over

Maybe through praying,

A kingdom of values is built

Which strengthens with time and experience

and confers authority on a life.

That kingdom, that authority, is Malchut.

Netzach is the lasting quality of those values

That reflect the goodness of G-d.

Malchut and Netzach

What more could we want for our children?

By: Lois Rosenthal