OVERVIEW

The idea of the ten Sephirot (literally the "categories" or "symbols") is the most familiar and widespread of all Kabbalistic motifs. It first appears in the books of Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer Bahir, and probably dates from the first millennium. It is a very conscious attempt to offer an alternative to a rational, philosophical view of how God interacts with humans and vice versa.

In a nutshell, the Sephirot are like a transistor that enables us to receive messages and send them. If God, Ein Sof, is not physical in any way, then there is a problem as to how there can be any interaction between the purely spiritual and the material. By interposing the Sephirot they become the channels through which we receive and transmit the lines of communication with the Divine.

But the way the Sephirot intervene as the channel of communication between us and God is predicated on the assumption that one is voluntarily circumscribed by Torah Law and Discipline. It was never envisaged that this system would be of any benefit or use if it was not seen as being part of the complete behavioral structure of Jewish life which includes right actions and daily practices. Jewish spiritual energy is grounded in Torah.

There are many ways of understanding both the concept of Sephirot in general, and the specific functions, and even identity, of each of the ten individual components. Over the past thousand years, vast numbers of commentaries and opinions have added to the richness of the subject. The role of the individual Sephirot is so widely interpreted and reinvented by everyone who fancies himself as an expert that one has to take a great deal of what is said and written with caution.

The Sephirot are often described visually in the form of a human body or that of the Tree of Life. Either way, their function and role remain the same. I am arbitrarily going to use the human form in describing them. To me this symbolism is compelling because it creates a working model that describes the human spiritual world, in all its varieties, as an image of the Divine world, with its own varieties too. The implication is that we need to understand how we function as humans if we really want to understand and encounter the Divine. If we cannot cope with what is personal and immediate, it seems unlikely that we can handle something as complex and beyond our normal range of experiences as God.

Imagine you are looking at a human being facing away from you. The common visual image is of a central column starting at the top of the head and going down to two feet at the bottom. This central column contains four circles. Keter at the top links down to Tifferet, which then goes down to Yesod, and finally to Malchut.

On the right-hand side of the image there is a column of three Sephirot, starting at the right side of the head with Chochma and descending down to Chesed on the shoulder, and then down to Netzach on the right thigh. Mirrored on the left-hand side, Binah goes down to Gevurah, and then down to Hod. The Sephirot are all interconnected through channels of energy that are represented by different letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These are the lines of communication between them.¹

The Sephirot are not two-dimensional; they represent energy forces that radiate in all directions. They should make us aware of our own energy auras in the way the Talmud talks about each person having his own "Daled Amot"-a zone of personal space that halachically no one should invade or pass through while a person is praying.²Being aware of one's own space makes one more readily sensitive to others' personal space.

The Sephirot are usually divided into male and female qualities, according to the side on which they are located. Bina, Gevurah, Hod, Yesod and Malchut are feminine and Keter, Chochma, Chesed, Tifferet and Netzach are masculine. As you will notice there are obvious discrepancies with the way we look at feminine and masculine qualities in our Western societies. Kindness, Chesed, in normally associated with women and Gevurah, strength, with men.

But these qualities are not necessarily associated with one sex or the other, because, in truth, all of creation is made up of masculine and feminine elements. Indeed, according to the Zohar, God's name contains female (the letter HEH, because it resembles the womb), and male (the letter VAV). We, all of us, have both elements, regardless of whether one is male or female. In some of us one quality is exaggerated over another. A male may have an oversupply of female qualities and vice versa. But this need not necessarily have anything to do with our sexual genetic make up.

UNDERSTANDING THE SEPHIROT

Imagine the human form with a circle at the crown of the head. Below it, where the ears are, there are two other circles. In Hebrew, the crown is actually called just that--Keter. It represents consciousness, that strange means whereby we are aware of ourselves. Below it are the two mental processes by which we acquire information about the world--Chochma and Bina. In Hebrew, Chochma is cognitive knowledge. Opposite it is Bina, intuitive understanding.

Now apply these three elements to the way we think about our world.

Keter (Self)

Essential to the way we look at the world is the idea of "self". We see the world through our own eyes, hear through our own ears, and taste or smell with our own senses. Everything we look at or think about comes to us through the sensory and perceptual filter of self.

If we are depressed, the world we see, the events we witness, take on a certain negativity. And if we are in a happy frame of mind, then the same events take on an altogether different complexion, like the old example of a glass either being half-full or half-empty. It all depends on who is looking.

If we have come from a deprived background, our perception of what is possible and attainable will differ from the perception of someone coming from a wealthy background. Neither of these positions is right or wrong, better or worse, just different.

So before we look at the world we should be aware of how our consciousness affects what we see.

Chochma (Wisdom)

We absorb knowledge in lots of different ways--from experiencing the world around us, by being taught or shown. We look and listen. Information is fed from the outside. We pick it up and may store it to use again. Sometimes we forget what we have learned. Philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists, to mention the most obvious, still argue about the processes through which we acquire knowledge.

When knowledge is picked up from outside, is the process like writing on a blank sheet of paper? What about the information that is built into our system, instincts and ways of creating language? When you study hard for an exam, you know there is information you will have to master if you want to pass. Yes, you may also be required to express an opinion. This is indeed another aspect. But even this requires information and a basis for forming opinions.

This kind of knowledge is called Chochma. We have come to associate it with the left hemisphere of the brain but it is not so simply located or isolated or defined. Wisdom, Chochma, is very different from knowledge coming from Bina, understanding, intuition.

Bina (Understanding)

Bina is often described as the process of combining one piece of information with another to discover something new. This takes a different sort of thinking from simply absorbing facts.

Because Bina is often associated with intuition, it is sometimes described as a female quality. On the other hand, it is sometimes described as a male quality, with Chochma as female. As mentioned above, all of creation has both male and female elements that vary in the degree of dominance. The fact is that to have a full picture of knowledge we need to have both elements. Someone may know how to put paint onto canvas but have no artistic imagination. And vice versa.

Chesed and Gevurah (Kindness and Power)

From the three circles that make up the Sephirot of the head, move downward past the neck to the shoulders and arms. These are symbolic of action, as opposed to thought. Indeed, the "hand" or the "arm" of God are common Biblical metaphors for Divine Intervention. The two shoulders are associated with another pair of Sephirot--Chesed (kindness) and Gevurah (power).

Sometimes we behave aggressively. We fight or hit. We may use our minds aggressively, as well as our bodies. But we are also capable of love, kindness, and softness. If we are aware that both of these are crucial parts of ourselves, we can have a clearer picture of who we are. We can come to realize that if, for example, we tend to be aggressive, this is only because of an imbalance between these components.

Tifferet (Beauty)

Just as Keter stands in the center, above Chochma and Bina, so, too, Tifferet stands in the middle, below Gevurah and Chesed.³ Tifferet-beauty--is associated with the heart. This reflects the idea that inner beauty is greater than external beauty.

Although "heart" is used sometimes in Talmudic imagery to mean "mind", by the Medieval period it came to represent emotion, as indeed it does for us today. On one level Tifferet is what we now call emotional intelligence that complements the intellectual. But the rigid distinction we make between intellect and emotion is an artificial one. They are different, interconnected, facets and functions of the holistic human being. Separating the two is like trying to separate the mental from the physical. Yet we see how the mind affects the physical and vice versa. When the supply of blood or oxygen to the brain is cut off, then neither our emotions nor our intellect are able to function.

In some versions of the Kabbalah the soul is based in the mind, if not identical to it. But other versions describe the heart as the seat of the soul. Just as the heart is something that is essential to us but which we normally are not aware of until it stops working properly, similarly, we often ignore our souls until we are in crisis. This is why "heart" is often the analogy for "soul".

Hod and Netzach (Glory and Victory)

Below Tifferet, following down on each side from Gevurah and Chesed, are the two "thighs", Hod (glory) and Netzach (power or victory). Both can help realize a person's potential in different ways.

Glory is the radiation of self, an inner quality of peace and contentment that gives us the confidence to "stand" securely. Victory, on the other hand, is dynamism, the urge to achieve, to overcome obstacles in the struggle to assert oneself.

Balance is essential for a secure foundation. We need both the internal and the external, the inner confidence and the achievement, in order to "stand tall". Too little emphasis on self is as dangerous as too much.

Yesod (Essence)

Yesod literally means "foundation", but here it is "essence" and it centers on the reproductive system. Yesod is the third Sephira of the central column. In the mystical tradition, Yesod performs two essential functions. It is the source of the creative process and of the highest level of physical pleasure.

Throughout the Kabbalah the sexual act is a metaphor for the most intense relationship a human can have with God. This is an ancient tradition. The Talmud takes that magnificent Biblical poem, The Song Of Songs, which is phrased in very physical and sexual language, not to be a simple love story, but to be a symbol of the loving relationship between humanity and the Divine. Rabbi Akivah called it the holiest book in the whole Bible.

Sex is seen as being a very positive force and one that can be harnessed for creativity in every sense. Precisely because the energy of this Sephira is so powerful, the mainstream Kabbalists insisted that it should only be activated within the constraints of Torah.

And, like all the Sephirot, Yesod cannot exist in isolation. Unless it is allied to and involves all the other Sephirot, it functions in a distorted way. It would be like making love exclusively with the sexual organs, leaving out any mental or emotional dimension and, indeed, leaving out all the rest of one's physical senses.

According to one of the Medieval masters, unless one involves the whole of oneself, and can feel every single finger and toe in the sexual act, one is not really experiencing it to the full. And, by way of analogy, without involving all of one's spiritual self, one cannot fully experience the Divine. Unless every part of the totality of one's being is involved committed and dedicated, the act is incomplete, and so is one's spiritual health.

Malchut (Kingship)

Malchut (kingship) is the last of the Sephirot. It completes the central column of four, flanked on either side by three. In the function of the Sephirot on a Divine level, kingship is the vehicle through which the nonphysical is channeled to deal with humanity. It is what the rabbis of the Talmud call the Shechina, the Presence of God in our world.

But on a purely human level, it is the base on which we stand. If we are balanced and secure then the whole structure stands. If the balance is off then all the other elements will be unable to work effectively.

So Malchut, as it applies to the human form, corresponds to our feet. We know how difficult it is to stand still and balanced. An awkward walk or stumble can lead to damage to the spine right up to our heads, and in Oriental medicine the pressure points on the feet are clues to the distortions of the energies of the whole of the body.

Although we know how very essential our feet are, we also know that they are usually the most neglected part of our body. We tend only to notice our feet if they have blisters, or if we have walked too much and our soles ache. Our feet are constantly under assault, and yet we often give them the least care and attention.

So in one way we might think that feet are the least impressive part of the diagram. The Shechina which we treat with enormous reverence, does not seem to sit well with the image of feet. Yet this highlights the deficiency of treating the Sephirot as both human and Divine models. The spiritual realm can never be completely analogous to the physical.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

These ten Sephirot emphasize that the body is a delicate balance of elements or different sorts and functions. A healthy body means preserving each function within itself and in relation to all the others. This ensures balance-balance in comportment and in thought. As a result, our actions and responses can be balanced and beneficial, rather than destructive and negative.

Starting with oneself and then going on to deal with those around us at work and play, we are invited to consider our overall spiritual structure and balance, to check regularly our state of equilibrium as we go through each day.

How can we do this? Every day we should start with a quiet analysis of our Sephirot. By recognizing each one and delineating its function, we are giving ourselves a check-up, a pre-race service of our essential parts. We remind ourselves of the tools we need to face the day.

During the course of a busy schedule, we need to pause to check again which parts of us are working effectively and which not. Perhaps we have overemphasized Gevurah and been too aggressive in work. Perhaps our intuition has been allowed to dominate, or rational processes. Perhaps we have looked at another person and seen only the Yesod, the sexual, without the Tifferet, the beauty. The Sephirot are a template, a guide, a checklist of elements, of ourselves and of every other human, that we need to take into account.

How could a person hurt, rape, or kill another if they were conscious of the Sephirot in themselves and in the victim of their aggression? Within our society we may not be doing what genocidal maniacs in different parts of the world do to each other, but we are certainly not treating others at home or in the workplace in accordance with the concept of the balanced Sephirot.

These processes can be used equally for work, leisure, play, dating or marriage, for personal, family, community or world.

But the most important use of these exercises is to prepare for the encounter with God. Only by minimizing awareness of the physical world and focusing on space beyond us, through one's closed eyes and open mind, can we begin to feel the presence of the Divine and start to open up.

Exercise

Before prayer or any other morning activity, sit on a chair or on the floor with a straight back. Your mind should be blank, eyes staring in front at your closed lids. You may experience this as looking into white and black clouds, or you may perceive geometric patterns or other amorphous images.

Breathe in deeply from your stomach to the count of five, and out slowly to the count of five, ten times.

Then repeat the series of ten breaths, making each series the opportunity to focus on one of the Sephirot. Start with Keter at the top of your skull and work down to Malchut at the feet.

Then try to evaluate which ones you feel are being underused or misused or not being used at all. Consider those events you are about to deal with during the day. Which Sephira or Sephirot will be the most appropriate to bring into play to deal with one or more of these approaching problems or situations?

You may also use this technique to gain a deeper understanding of the other person or persons you will be encountering, by analyzing which Sephirot they use more or less effectively than others.

This process need take no more than five minutes. But you may choose to spend longer. Some mystics advised an hour at the start of each day. (Things were more leisurely then.)

Ideally, you will be able to repeat this as a five- or ten-minute exercise during the lunch break or at the time for the Afternoon Prayer of Mincha. Even if it means escaping somewhere, even the powder room, try doing this some time just after midday. If nothing else, it will certainly relax you.

At the end of your work day, in preparation for Maariv (evening prayers), or before going to sleep, repeat the same process. But this time review the day and see where the misapplication of a Sephira either caused disaster, prevented you from functioning effectively, or blocked your ability to relate to another person.

 

Notes:

¹ There are minor variations of this arrangement throughout the Kabbalah. Some diagrams place the central Sephirot differently in relation to the outer ones. Some include an additional Sephira of Daat (knowledge). But the essential message is the same.

² This is a perfect example of an important halachic principle that is universally ignored nowadays.

³ Tifferet is below Gevurah and Chesed in Yitschak Luria's formulation, which we are using here, but above them according to the Vilna Gaon.

 

View all Rabbi Jeremy Rosen's articles

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About the Author:
Rabbi Jeremy Rosen received his rabbinic ordination from Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He studied philosophy at Cambridge University, and also holds a PhD in philosophy. He has worked in the rabbinate and Jewish education for more than forty years, in Europe and the US, and is currently director of the Yakar Educational Foundation in London.
http://www.jeremyrosen.com/index.html

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