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Sefirot (Hebrew:סְפִירוֹת,romanized: səp̄īrōṯ, plural ofסְפִירָה)[1] meaningemanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations inKabbalah,[2] through whichEin Sof ("infinite space") reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and theseder hishtalshelut (the chained descent of the metaphysicalFour Worlds). The term is alternatively transliterated into English assephirot/sephiroth, singularsefira/sephirah.
As revelations of the creator's will (רצון,rāṣon),[3] the sefirot should not be understood as ten gods, but rather as ten different channels through which the one God reveals His will. In later Jewish literature, the ten sefirot refer either to the ten manifestations of God; the ten powers or faculties of the soul; or the ten structural forces of nature.[4]
Alternative configurations of the sefirot are interpreted by various schools in the historical evolution of Kabbalah, with each articulating differing spiritual aspects. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in theSefer Yetzirah, "Ten sefirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven".[5] As altogether 11 sefirot are listed across the various schemes, two (Keter andDa'at) are seen as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the same principle, conserving the 10 categories.[4] The sefirot are described as channels of divine creative life force or consciousness through which the unknowable divine essence is revealed to mankind.
InHasidic philosophy, which has sought to internalise the experience ofJewish mysticism into daily inspiration (devekut), this inner life of the sefirot is explored, and the role they play in man's service of God in this world.
The word "Sefirot" is derived from the Hebrew root ס-פ-ר, which forms the basis for the words book (ספר), story (סיפור), number (מספר) and sapphire (ספיר).[6]Gershom Scholem writes that "as early as theSefer ha-Bahir it is related to the Hebrewsappir ("sapphire"), for it is the radiance of God which is like that of the sapphire."[a] Some have suggested that the root could derive from theAkkadian wordšiprum (meaning message or report)[citation needed]; others have argued that the use of term 'sefirah' was influenced by theGreek wordσφαῖρα ("sphere").[7] Both positions are disputed.[8]
Gershom Scholem writes "That many themes are united, or sometimes simply commingled, in this concept is demonstrated by the profusion of terms used to describe it." Scholem states that Kabbalists "employed a wealth of synonyms" and that the Sefirot are "also called ma'amarot and dibburim ("sayings"), shemot ("names"), orot ("lights"), kohot ("powers"), ketarim ("crowns"; since they are "the celestial crowns of the Holy King"), middot in the sense of qualities, madregot ("stages"), levushim ("garments"), marot ("mirrors"), neti'ot ("shoots"), mekorot ("sources"), yamim elyonim or yemei kedem ("supernal or primordial days"), sitrin (i.e., "aspects," found mainly in theZohar), ha-panim ha-penimiyyot ("the inner faces of God")". Scholem adds that "A long list of other designations for the Sefirot can be found inHerrera, Sha'ar ha-Shamayim, 7:4."[9]
TheEin Sof (lit: without end) is an important concept in Jewish Kabbalah. Generally translated as "infinity" and "endless", the Ein Sof represents the formless state of the universe before the self-materialization of God. In other words, the Ein Sof is God before he decided to become God as we now know him.[10]
The sefirot are divine emanations that come from the Ein Sof in a manner often described as a flame. The sefirot emanate from above to below. As the first Sefira is closest to Ein Sof, it is the least comprehensible to the human mind, while in turn the last is the best understood because it is closest to the material world that humanity dwells on.[10]
The singular,sefira (ספירהsəpirā), may have been a loanword fromKoine Greek:σφαῖρα,lit. 'sphere'[11]). However, early Kabbalists presented several other etymological possibilities: a "counting" or "enumeration"; or from the sametriliteral root:sefer "text,"sippur "recounting a story,"sfar ("boundary" - ספר), andsofer, orsafra "scribe"; orsappir "sapphire." This term had complex connotations within Kabbalah.[4]
The original reference to the sefirot is found in the ancientSefer Yetzirah "The Book of Formation," attributed to the first Jewish patriarch,Abraham.[4] However, the names of the sefirot as given in later Kabbalah are not specified there, but rather are only identified by their attributes "forward," "backward," "right," "left," "down," "up," "light," "darkness," "good" and "evil." Further references to the sefirot, now with their later-accepted names, are elaborated on in the medieval Kabbalistic text of theZohar, which is one of the core texts of Kabbalah.
InCordoveran Kabbalah, the forces of creation are considered autonomous forces that evolve independently. By contrast, in Lurean orLurianic Kabbalah (the Kabbalah ofIsaac Luria), the sefirot are perceived as a constellation of forces in active dialogue with one another at every stage of that evolution. Luria described the sefirot as complex and dynamically interacting entities known aspartzufim "faces," each with its own symbolically human-like persona.[4]
Keter, the Crown, is the first sefirah. It is the superconscious intermediary between God and the other, conscious sefirot. Three different levels, or "heads," are identified within Keter. In some contexts, the highest level of Keter is called "The unknowable head,"[12] The second level is "the head of nothingness" (reisha d'ayin), and the third level is "the long head" (reisha d'arich). These three heads correspond to the superconscious levels of faith, pleasure and will in the soul.[4]
The first sefirah,Keter, describes the divinesuperconsciousWill that is beyond consciousintellect. The next three sefirot (Chokmah,Binah andDa'at) describe three levels of conscious divine intellect. In particular,Da'at represents Keter in its knowable form, the concept of knowledge. Will and knowledge are corresponding somewhat dependent opposites. The seven subsequent sefirot (Chesed,Gevurah,Tiferet,Netzach,Hod,Yesod andMalkuth) describe the primary and secondary conscious divine emotions. The sefirot of the left side and the sefira ofMalkuth are feminine, as the female principle in Kabbalah describes avessel that receives the outward malelight, then inwardly nurtures and gives birth to the sefirot below them. Kabbalah sees the human soul as mirroring the divine (afterGenesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them"), and more widely, all creations as reflections of their life source in the sefirot. Therefore, the sefirot also describe the spiritual life of man, break down man's psychological processes, and constitute the conceptual paradigm in Kabbalah for understanding everything. This relationship between the soul of man and the divine gives Kabbalah one of its two central metaphors in describing divinity, alongside the otherOhr (light) metaphor. However, Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to avoid all corporeal interpretation. Through this, the sefirot are related to the structure of the body and are reformed intopartzufim (personas). Underlying the structural purpose of each sefirah is a hidden motivational force which is understood best by comparison with a corresponding psychological state in human spiritual experience.[4]
In its early 12th-century dissemination, Kabbalah garneredcriticism from some rabbis who adhered toJewish philosophy for its alleged introduction of diversity into Jewish monotheism. The seeming plurality of the One God is a result of thespiritual evolution of God's light, which introduced a diversity of emanations from the infinite divine essence. This was necessary due to the inability of humanity to exist in God's infinite presence.[13][b] God does not change; rather, it is our ability to perceive his emanations that is modified. This is stressed in Kabbalah to avoid heretical notions of any plurality in the Godhead. One parable to explain this is the difference between theMa'or "Luminary" and theohr "Light" that it emanates, like the difference between the single body of the sun and the multiple rays of sunlight that illuminate a room.[15]
In Kabbalah, there is a direct correspondence between the Hebrew name of any spiritual or physical phenomenon and its manifestations in the mundane world. The Hebrew name represents the unique essence of the object. This reflects the belief that the universe is created through themetaphorical speech of God, as stated in the first chapter of theBook of Genesis. Kabbalah expounds on the names of the sefirot and their nuances, including theirgematria (numerical values), to reach an understanding of these emanations of God's essence.[4][16]
In the 16th-century rational synthesis of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (Cordoveran Kabbalah), the first complete systemization of Kabbalah, the sefirot are listed from highest to lowest:[16]
| Category: | Sefirah: |
|---|---|
| Super-conscious | 1Keter - "Crown" |
| Conscious intellect | 2Chokmah - "Wisdom" 3Binah - "Understanding" |
| Conscious emotions | (Primary emotions:) 4Chesed - "Kindness" |
Kabbalah uses subtleanthropomorphic analogies and metaphors to describeGod in Judaism, both the God-world relationship, and the inner nature of the divine. These include the metaphor of the soul-body relationship, the functions of human soul-powers, the configuration of human bodily form, and female-male influences in the divine. Kabbalists repeatedly warn and stress the need to divorce their notions from any corporality, dualism, plurality, or spatial and temporal connotations. As "the Torah speaks in the language of Man",[17] the empirical terms are necessarily imposed upon human experience in this world. Once the analogy is described, its limitations are then related to stripping the kernel of its husk to arrive at a truer conception. Nonetheless, Kabbalists carefully chose their terminology to denote subtle connotations and profound relationships in the divine spiritual influences. More accurately, as they see the emanation of the material world from the spiritual realms, the analogous anthropomorphisms and material metaphors themselves derive through cause and effect from their precise root analogies on High.
Describing the material world below in general, and humans in particular, as created in the "image" of the world above is not restricted inRabbinic Judaism to Kabbalah, but abounds more widely inBiblical,Midrashic,Talmudic and philosophical literature.[18] Kabbalah extends the Man-metaphor more radically to anthropomorphise particular divine manifestations on high, while repeatedly stressing the need to divest analogies from impure materialistic corporality. Classicalproof texts on which it bases its approach include, "From my flesh I envisage God",[19] and the rabbinic analogy "As the soul permeates the whole body...sees but is not seen...sustains the whole body...is pure...abides in the innermost precincts...is unique in the body...does not eat and drink...no man knows where its place is...so the Holy One, Blessed is He..."[20] Together with the metaphor of light, the Man-metaphor is central in Kabbalah. Nonetheless, it too has its limitations, needs qualification, and breaks down if taken as a literal, corporeal comparison. Its limitations include the effect of the body on the soul, while the World effects no change in God; and the distinct, separate origins of the soul and the body, while in relation to God's omnipresence, especially in its acosmic Hasidic development, all creation is nullified in its source.
As all levels of Creation are constructed around the 10 sefirot, their names in Kabbalah describe the particular role each plays in forming reality. These are the external dimensions of the sefirot, describing their functional roles in channelling the divine, creativeOhr (Light) to all levels. As the sefirot are viewed to comprise both metaphorical "lights" and "vessels", their structural role describes the particular identity each sefirah possesses from its characteristic vessel. Underlying this functional structure of the sefirot, each one possesses a hidden, inner spiritual motivation that inspires its activity. This forms the particular characteristic of inner light within each sefirah.
Understanding the sefirot throughout Jewish mysticism is achieved by their correspondence to the human soul. This applies to the outer, Kabbalistic structure of the sefirot. It applies even more to their inner dimensions, which correspond to inner psychological qualities in human perception. Identifying the essential spiritual properties of the soul gives the best insight into their divine source, and in the process reveals the spiritual beauty of the soul. InHasidic thought these inner dimensions of the sefirot are called the Powers of the Soul (Kochos HaNefesh). Hasidism sought the internalisation of the abstract ideas of Kabbalah, both outwardly in joyful sincerity ofdveikus in daily life, acts of loving-kindness and prayer; and inwardly in its profound new articulation of Jewish mystical thought, by relating it to the inner life of man.[21] Articulation of the sefirot inHasidic philosophy is primarily concerned with their inner dimensions, and exploring the direct, enlivening contribution of each in man's spiritual worship of God.[22] Kabbalah focuses on the esoteric manifestations of God in creation, the vessels of divinity. Hasidut looks at the lights that fill these vessels, how the structures reveal the divine essence, and how this inwardness can be perceived. This difference can be seen in the names of these two stages of Jewish mysticism. "Kabbalah" in Hebrew is derived from "kabal" (to "receive" as a vessel). "Hasidut" is from "chesed" ("loving-kindness"), considered the first and greatest sefirah, also called "Greatness", the wish to reveal and share. The names of the sefirot come from Kabbalah, and describe the Divine effect that each has upon Creation, but not their inner qualities. Hasidic thought uses new descriptive terms for the inner dimensions of the sefirot:[23][24]
| Sefirah: Outer function in Divinity and soul | Inner experience: Inner Divine motivation and human soul response |
|---|---|
| Above conscious: Keter-Crown | Essence of Keter: Emunah – "Faith" (expresses essence of soul in Infinite) Inner Keter: Taanug-unconscious source of "Delight" (soul rooted in delight) Outer Keter: Ratzon-unconscious transcendent "Will" (soul expresses through will) |
| First revelation of intellect: Chochmah-Insight of Wisdom | Bittul – "Selflessness" (Revelation inspires self nullification) |
| Grasped Intellect: Binah-Understanding | Simchah – "Joy" (Understanding awakens joy) |
| Assimilated Intellect: Daat-Knowledge | Yichud – "Union" (Union with idea awakens emotions)[25] |
| Primary emotion of giving: Chesed-Loving-kindness | Ahavah – "Love" of God and Divine in all things (Response of Divine giving) |
| Primary emotion of restriction: Gevurah-Might/Severity | Yirah – "Fear" of God (Mystical awe of Divinity) |
| Primary emotion of balance: Tiferet-Beautiful harmony[citation needed] | Rachamim – "Mercy/Compassion" (Balances kindness with restriction) |
| Secondary emotion of giving: Netzach-Victory/Eternity | Bitachon – "Confidence" (Confidence inspires determination) |
| Secondary emotion of restriction: Hod-Splendour/Thanksgiving | Temimut – "Sincerity/Earnestness" (Sincere response to Divine Glory) |
| Secondary emotion of balance: Yesod-Foundation | Emet – "Truth" (Drive to verify connection in task) |
| Emotional vessel for action: Malchut-Kingship | Shechinah - "Divine Presence" (The Highest Light) |
These ten levels are associated with Kabbalah's four different "Worlds" or planes of existence, the main part from the perspective of the descending "chain of progression" (Seder hishtalshelut), that links the infinite divineEin Sof with the finite, physical realm. In all Worlds, the 10 sefirot radiate, and are the divine channels through which every level is continuously created from nothing. Since they are the attributes through which the unknowable, infinite divine essence becomes revealed to the creations, all ten emanate in each World. Nonetheless, the structure of the Four Worlds arises because in each one, certain sefirot predominate. Each World is spiritual, apart from the lower aspect of the final World, which is theAsiyah Gashmi ("Physical Asiyah"), the physical Universe. Each World is progressively grosser and further removed from consciousness of the Divine,[26] until in this World it is possible to be unaware of or to deny God. In descending order:
In the Zohar and elsewhere, there are these four Worlds or planes of existence. In the Lurianic system of Kabbalah, five Worlds are counted, comprising these and a higher, fifth plane, Adam Kadmon-manifest Godhead level[clarification needed], that mediates between the Ein Sof and the four lower Worlds.
As the four Worlds link the Infinite with this realm, they also enable the soul to ascend in devotion or mystical states, towards the Divine. Each World can be understood as descriptive of dimensional levels of intentionality related to the natural human "desire to receive", and a method for the soul's progress upward toward unity with or return to the Creator. (The terminology of this formulation is based on the exposition of Lurianic Kabbalah by the 20th century KabbalistYehuda Ashlag).
Sefirot—the ten creative attributes of God, according to theKabbalah.
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