Yesod is the middah that gathers all the earlier middos and channels them down into the l’maaseh. It serves as the bridge between the higher levels and the lower ones. Because of this, yesod also means connection—the ability to link and bind things together comes from this middah.
DAY 36 חסד שביסוד
A person is full of relationships that are built on connection: family, friends and neighbors, and even a person within himself is full of different relationships, like between his heart and mind, etc.
Chesed within yesod means that when chesed is expressed through connection, our good-heartedness is what shapes those relationships, making them genuine and meaningful rather than just functional or technical.
- Is there a relationship you have that is shallow or technical that you can infuse more meaning into?
DAY 37 גבורה שביסוד
Sometimes a relationship can turn into an unhealthy connection, such as in a relationship where one is overly reliant on another. Gevurah comes to guard the yesod, ensuring that the connection remains healthy, balanced, and with clear boundaries.
Another aspect of gevurah shebiyesod is that strong, positive relationships can serve as a powerful safeguard for one’s Yiddishkeit. When a person is connected to good friends, a kehilla, and a healthy environment, it can greatly help him maintain his level of kedusha.
- Do I have any connections that are unhealthy or unbalanced, and need to be guided or limited?
- Do I have relationships with friends who help me grow spiritually?
DAY 38 תפארת שביסוד
When we feel a sense of responsibility, it can become a burden if it isn’t infused with enthusiasm and excitement. Without tiferes—his’palus within yesod, our responsibilities can feel heavy and draining. At the same time, the opposite is also true: if things remain only exciting ideas without a sense of responsibility, nothing will come to fruition.
- Do I allow myself to find excitement and inspiration even in my everyday responsibilities, or do they remain dry and purely technical?
DAY 39 נצח שביסוד
Netzach is about consistency, ensuring that our relationships are not just fleeting moments of connection, but steady and enduring. Netzach within yesod means strengthening our relationships in a way that builds something deep and lasting, and can weather ups and downs, rather than something that comes and goes.
- How consistent am I in maintaining my relationships?
DAY 40 הוד שביסוד
There are many kinds of relationships. Some are built on love, others on mutual benefit, and so on. But there is also a type of connection where one feels completely dependent on the other. In human relationships, that kind of dependence can be unhealthy, but in our relationship with Hashem, it is something we strive for—k’gamul alei imo, like a child who is completely reliant on his mother.
A person can come to feel this most deeply through a sense of humility and smallness. If one feels weak and dependent, he can use this to access a deeper connection to Hashem. This is hod shebiyesod, a bond that comes specifically through humility and a sense of reliance.
- Try to envision yourself as though you are suspended between Heaven and Earth, with Hashem holding you up.
DAY 41 יסוד שביסוד
If yesod is connection, then yesod shebiyesod is the foundation of that connection. It is the inner point that gives us the very ability to connect. This is our inborn, unconditional bond with Hashem, a connection that exists regardless of anything else. Because of this, every Yid always has the ability to be fully connected to Hashem.
- Am I allowing myself to connect to the intrinsic, unconditional connection I have with Hashem?
DAY 42 מלכות שביסוד
Malchus always means the l’maaseh of everything. One of the strong forms of malchus is speech. When using malchus together with yesod, it means looking how to actually have better relationships, connect on a deeper level, etc., especially through speech; connecting to your spouse and family through positive speech, and connecting to Hashem through talking to him, and especially through beseeching Hashem to have a connection with him!
- What do I have to change in my life to build a more meaningful relationship with my family and with Hashem?
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 80.