KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah

Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Lesson 2: Sefirot - The Kabbalsitic Theory of the Divine Structure

Unit 1- The Term “Sefirot”

The structure of the divine world and its inner dynamics are a central focus of
interest in most Kabbalistic trends and movements, from the late 12 th century
until today. A major concept in most Kabbalistic doctrines is that the divine
realm is constituted of ten divine powers or "Sefirot".
Some of you may have already heard the term “Sefirot”. But what does it
mean? In this lesson, we will clarify the idea of the "Sefirot", and describe
some of the major terms and symbols used by Kabbalists to describe the ten
divine powers. In the following lesson, we will discuss Kabbalistic ideas
concerning the interaction between the Sefirot, and the way these interactions
affect our world.

But first, I’d like to say a few words about the word “Sefirot” itself. The word
"Sefirot" is not a common word in Hebrew, and it does not appear in the Bible,
or in the canonical literature of the post-biblical period, the Talmud and
Midrash. Hebrew words have a three letter root. The root of the word "Sefirot",
is made up of the Hebrew letters samech, peh, and reish, which mean
“counting” - ‫ לספור‬or telling ‫לספר‬. Indeed it seems that the original meaning of
the term Sefirot is related to these meanings.

The word appeared for the first time in a short and enigmatic ancient text,
called Sefer Yetzira, or the book of creation. This text preceded the
appearance of the first Kabbalistic circles, in the late 12 th century. It was
traditionally attributed to Abraham the patriarch, but its real author and the
precise time and location of its composition remain unknown, and are still
debated amongst scholars. What is certain is that the book had been
circulating since at least the 10th century, and became a central text for
Jewish philosophers, and later, for Kabbalists who wrote many commentaries
on it.

The Sefer Yetzira begins with the declaration that God created the universe
with 'thirty-two wondrous paths of wisdom'. It claimed that these thirty-two
paths of wisdom constitute the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet
together with the ten "Sefirot". In this context, it is probable that the word
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

"Sefirot" simply means numbers, and that the idea of Sefer Yetzira is that god
created the world using primordial letters and numbers. However, many later
Kabbalist commentaries on the book, embedded the term "Sefirot" into their
different Kabbalistic theories, portraying the Sefirot not as primordial numbers
used by God to create the world, but rather, as ten divine powers, or the ten
major components of the divine system.

Unit 2 - Sefirot as Divine Attributes

From the late 12th century, Kabbalists adopted the term Sefirot, and it became
the central notion in most Kabbalistic schools until the present day. Yet, the
Kabbalists gave the term “sefirot” a new meaning. In contrast to Sefer Yetzira,
the early Kabbalists regarded the Sefirot not as primordial numbers that were
used by God to create the world, but rather, as the ten powers that constitute
the divine realm. Furthermore, the early Kabbalist used new names, terms,
and symbols, which did not appear in Sefer Yetzira, to refer to the different
Sefirot.

The Kabbalists perceived the Sefirot as the ten major aspects or powers of
the divine system. They described these powers in many different ways. A
central way of representing the sefirot was as divine attributes, or traits, such
as God's wisdom or God's mercy, as well as God's judgment and anger.
The idea that God has different attributes, characteristics and traits, probably
does not seem unusual to you. Discussions of God’s attributes are very
common in the Bible as well as in the Talmudic literature written by Rabbis in
late antiquity. Thus, for instance, in the book of Chronicles, King David
declares: "Yours, Lord, are greatness, might, splendor, triumph and majesty"
(Chronicles 1, 29, 11). As we will soon see, some of these attributes – in
Hebrew, ‫ נצח הוד‬,‫ תפארת‬,‫ גבורה‬,‫ – גדולה‬became the names of the Sefirot in
Kabbalistic literature.

In the bible, God is also described as wise and understanding. He is kind and
merciful, but can also be jealous and impassioned. In Exodus, God declares:
"For I the lord your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the
parent upon the children, upon the third and the forth generations of those
who reject me, but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those
who love me and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20. 5-6). Similar notions
appear in Talmudic literature, which emphasizes God’s two major attributes,
mercy, ‫ מדת הרחמים‬and Justice. ‫מדת הדין‬
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

The notion that God has different attributes and traits was adopted by the
Kabbalists, who regard the different Sefirot as representing different divine
characteristics. Usually, the second Sefirah represents God`s Wisdom -
Hochma in Hebrew, and the third Sefirah, represents God`s understanding -
Binah. The fourth Sefirah, represents God`s Loving kindness - Hesed, and the
fifth, God`s judgment, power, and anger - in Hebrew, Gvurah, or Din. The last
Sefirah, which is often called Malchut, kingdom, or Schechina, divine
presence, represents divine governance, or rulership. The first Sefirah, Keter
– which means Crown, represents the supreme, divine will, according to many
Kabbalists.

I would like to emphasize that although these conceptions are very common
in Kabbalistic literature, there are many different opinions in Kabbalah, and
different Kabbalists present different ideas concerning the nature and
character of the different Sefirot.

Unit 3- The Sefirot as the Divine "body"

Another central way in which the Sefirot are described is that of the Divine,
human like form. Thus, the Sefirot are described as representing the divine
head, the divine hands and legs, and - the divine phallus.
The explicit depictions of God’s human like figure in Kabbalistic literature are
quite striking. But are they such an innovation? If you think about it,
descriptions of God as having a human like form are quite common in the
Bible and you can also find them in Talmudic literature. According to the first
chapter of Genesis, God created man in his image – "And God said let us
make mankind in our image, after our likeness. Male and female He created
them (Genesis 1:26)". The biblical prophets describe the appearance of God
as a human like form. Ezekiel saw "the likeness of a throne made of sapphire,
and on top of it, there was the semblance of a human form" (Ezekiel 1: 14).
Daniel describes seeing God, the "ancient of days" sitting on a throne. "His
garment was like white snow, and the hair on his head was like lambs' wool".
In the Talmud, God is also described as having a human form. For instance,
in tractate Brachot, Rabbi Ishmael, the high priest, says that he encountered
the God of Israel in the Temple's inner chamber, sitting on a high and lofty
chair, and nodding his head (Brachot 7a).
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

As we shall see later, medieval Jewish philosophers objected to the idea that
God has a human like form. The Kabbalists, on the other hand, adopted this
notion, and perceived the Sefirot as representing the divine body. It is
important to emphasize that both Jewish philosophers and Kabbalists agree
that the divine body is not a material one. While philosophers treated biblical
descriptions of the divine body as metaphors, Kabbalists perceived them as
referring to the human like spiritual form of the Divine.

If you recall, one of the names of the first Sefirah is Keter, meaning crown.
This term immediately brings to mind the image of a king. Many Kabbalists
describe the first three sefirot, Keter, Hochma and Binah, as representing the
divine head. Usually Kabbalists refer to Hesed as Gods' right hand, and
Gevurah, or Din, at the left. Tifereth represents the divine torso, and Hod and
Netzah, the left and right legs. The ninth sefirah, Yesod, represents the divine
phallus. This indeed, is an innovation. God's phallus in never mentioned in the
bible or in Talmudic literature. Nonetheless, the Kabbalists did not shy away
from the idea that God's human like form includes the male sexual organ.
So far we have seen that the 9 upper Sefirot represent a male, human like
figure. But what about the last Sefira?

The last Sefirah, Malchut, or Schechina, is depicted by Kabbalists as the

female counterpart of the divine male, which is represented by the upper
Sefirot. According to this perception, the Sefirot don’t represent a purely
divine male figure, but the duality of male and female within the divine system.

Unit 4- Male and Female within the Sefirot

As we have seen, the nine upper Sefirot are described as representing a

crown, head, body, limbs, and divine phallus. According to such a
representation, the upper Sefirot represent a male figure. But is God male?
Early Jewish sources usually describe God as a male figure. But Kabbalists
regard the divine as also having a feminine aspect. As you may recall, in
Genesis, God said: "Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness.
Male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:26). The Kabbalists drew the
conclusion from this verse, that God's image is both masculine and feminine.
Elaborating on an ancient Jewish tradition that Adam was created first as an
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

androgynous figure, Kabbalists described the divine structure as both male

and female, regarding the last Sefirah, Malchut (kingdom) or Schechina
(divine presence) as feminine.

According to this paradigm, which is very prevalent in Kabbalstic literature,

especially, in the central text of the Kabbalah, The Zohar, the Sefirot are
represented as a divine couple. The upper Sefirot, especially, Sefirat Tiferet
and the sefirot surrounding it (Hesed, Gvurah, Tiferet, Netzah, hod, and
yesod), represent the divine male, the groom, or the king, while the last
Sefirah represents the divine female, the bride, or the queen.

As an elaboration of the depiction of the Sefirot as the divine male and female
couple, Kabbalists also describe the sefirot as representing a family.
According to this image, the second Sefirah, Hochma, is called Aba- father,
and the third Seifra, Binah- Ima, Mother. The six sefirot below them, are
described as their son, their male offspring. The last Sefirah, is the young
female, the bride, who is sometimes also depicted as the daughter of Hocma
and Binah. This paradigm already existed in early Kabbalah, but became
especially prevalent in 16th century Lurianic Kabbalah.

To summarize, so far, I have mentioned four major paradigms Kabbalists use

to describe the Sefirot – the first:. Divine attributes, the second: a Divine
human like image, the third: a Divine couple, and the fourth: a Divine family.

The Kabbalists describe the Sefirot using many other names, terms, and
symbols. In our next unit, we will look into some other major concepts that the
Kabbalist use in their description of the divine system of the Sefirot. I would
like to emphasize that the different descriptions of the Sefirot are not mutually
exclusive, and each Sefirah can be designated by the Kabbalists by many
different terms and names.

Unit 5 - The Sefirot as symbols and Hermeneutic Tools

As we saw, Kabbalists use familiar human concepts and images to describe

the divine system. Human traits and characteristics, the human body, and
basic social units like a human couple and family are used to describe the
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

divine world.

The Kabbalists believe that everything in our world was created by God and is
inherently connected to the divine system. Hence, every element we
encounter in the world reflects an aspect of the divine system, and through
the material world we can learn about the upper realms. Because of the
inherent connection between the material and the divine realms, the
Kabbalists assume that almost everything they encounter is related to the
sefirot, and can be used to symbolize them. Celestial bodies, for instance, are
assumed to be related to the sefirot - the Sun refers to Tifereth, and the moon,
to the last sefirah, malchut. The same is true of metals – Gold usually
symbolizes Gevurah, while Silver represents Hesed, and Iron, Tiferet. The
cardinal directions also reflect the Sefirot - Gvurah is the North, Hesed, the
south, Yesod, the East, and Malchut, the west.

First and foremost, the Kabbalists find the Sefirot in the canonical Jewish
texts, in the Bible and the Talmud, as well as in the Jewish prayer book. The
Kabbalists assume that these texts allude to the Sefirot, and indeed much
Kabbalistic literature comprises commentaries on the Bible and other central
Jewish texts. In these commentaries Kabbalists decipher different terms that
appear in the texts, revealing them as referring to the Sefirot. For instance,
the different names and appellations of God found in the bible are understood
as references to different sefirot – the ineffable name of God, written yod he
vav he – is usually interpreted as referring to Tiferet. The name Elohim, to
Bianh, or Gvurah, Shadai, to Yesod, and Adonai, to Malkhut. The unique,
intriguing term that God gave Moses when he asked him for his name,
'Eheyeh asher Eheyeh' (commonly translated as "I am that I am") - usually
refers to the highest Sefira- Keter.

Not only divine names – but also the heroes of the biblical texts – the
patriarchs and matriarchs, Kings and prophets, are understood by Kabbalists
as referring to the Sefirot. For instance: Abraham represents Hesed, Isaac
Gvurah, Jacob (and also Moses) Tiferet, Leah Binah, Rachel Malkhut, and so
on.

Actually, almost all words (even including pronouns) can be understood by

Kabbalists as referring to the Sefirot.
This is one of the most bewildering and complicated aspects of Kabbalah. In
order to facilitate the understanding of so many different terms referring to the
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Sefirot, Kabbalists wrote commentaries and dictionaries. One example is the

late 13th century work "Shaarei Ora" – "Gates of Light" written by the Castilian
Kabbalist Yoseph Gikatila. This book (which was one of the first Kabbalistic
texts to be translated and printed in Latin) is arranged according to the order
of the Sefirot, and discusses the different terms used to describe them. Other
dictionaries, such the one included in Moshe Cordovero’s "Or Neearv" from
16th century Safed, are arranged alphabetically. They enumerate different
terms, and indicate the Sefirot they refer to.

Unit 6- The concept of En-sof and the Sefirot

As you are now familiar with the idea of the Sefirot, I would like to introduce
you to another important concept in Kabbalah - the En Sof. The term En Sof
means "infinite" in Hebrew and according to Kabbalists, it represents the
absolutely transcendent aspect of the divine.
As we saw, the perception that God has different attributes and a human like
form, which is central in Kabbalah, was also common in the Hebrew bible, as
well as in Talmudic literature.

But you are probably aware that there were also objections to
anthropomorphism. Indeed, the idea that God has human like attributes was
strongly rejected by medieval Jewish philosophers, especially, Rabbi Moshe
ben Maimon, or Maimonides, a prominent Jewish philosopher, and one of the
greatest authorities in Halacha (Jewish law), who lived in Muslim Spain, and
Egypt, in the 12th century. Maimonides, and other Jewish philosophers
accepted some of the central ideas of the Greek philosophical tradition,
especially Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophy. Jewish philosophers
interpreted Judaism according to these philosophical traditions, which were
prevalent in medieval Arabic culture, which the Jews were part of. Following
Aristotle, Maimonides perceived God as the first cause of everything, a
transcendent principle, that is, a principle completely beyond our perception
and totally different from everything we know. God, according to Maimonides,
cannot be perceived at all by the human mind, nor can it be described by any
human expression. The descriptions of God found in the bible and the
Talmudic literature, are according to Maimonides only metaphors that do not
really describe the divine, but were used because of the limitations of human
understanding.
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

If you recall, Kabbalah emerged in the late 12 th century. By that time,

philosophical ideas concerning the absolute transcendence of the divine
became prevalent among Jewish intellectuals of the period. The Kabbalists
were aware of these ideas and of the contradiction between them and the
idea of the Sefirot as representing the traits and human form of the divine.

Kabbalists did not reject the philosophical idea of the divine. Rather, they
embraced this idea, and integrated it into their theology. The Kabbalists
claimed that the Sefirot represented the revealed aspect of the divine - the
aspects of God that engage, create, conduct and interact with the lower world
and with humanity. However, they asserted there is also a hidden,
transcendent aspect of the divine, which they termed En-sof, the infinite. This
is the completely transcendent and unperceivable God, which is postulated in
the theories of the philosophers. The Kabbalists accepted the philosophical
notion of the divine as wholly transcendent. However they were not willing to
give up the belief in a more personal god, who is not just the creator- the first
cause of everything, but is also actively engaged with the world – a God who
creates, rules, reacts, and stands in dialogue with his creatures. This,
engaged, aspect of God, was represented by the Sefirot.

Unit 7- The Sefirot as Essence or Vessels

The Kabbalists described the Divine as the hidden En-Sof and the revealed
Sefirot. But what are the connections between them? Kabbalists gave
different explanations for the relationship between En-Sof and the Sefirot.
Some Kabbalists perceived the Sefirot as tools, or instruments that the En Sof
uses to create, govern and interact with the lower realms. The Hebrew term
for tool, "Kli", in the singular, or "Kelim", in the plural, means both an
instrument as well as a vessel. Kabbalists who described the Sefirot as Kelim,
used both meanings of the term, and described the Sefirot as both vessels
that hold the divine affluence or energy of the En-Sof, as well as the
instruments that are used by the En-Sof in order to create, and interact with
the lower worlds.
Other Kabbalists, held that the En-Sof and the Sefirot were identical in
essence, and that the difference between them was only a matter of limited
human perception. In reality, there was no difference between the En-Sof and
the Sefirot, and the distinction existed only "in the eyes of the beholder". Most
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Kabbalists, especially later Kabbalists of the early modern period, integrated

both theories, and held that the Sefirot were indeed instruments and vessels
for the En-Sof, however, they were also of the same essence as the En-Sof.
According to this prevalent theory, the Sefirot are, from one point of view,
identical with the En-Sof, and from another, distinct from it.

Unit 8- The emanation of the Sefirot

An important question that Kabbalists discussed was how the Sefirot came
into being. Early Kabbalists adopted the philosophical, neo-platonist idea of
emanation (in Hebrew Ha-azala) to explain the emergence of the Sefirot from
the En-Sof. The word Emanation is derived from a Latin word, which means
"to flow from" or "to pour forth". According to the third century neo-Platonist
philosopher, Plotinus, who exercised a considerable influence on Moslem,
Christian, and Jewish philosophers in the middle ages, all reality, the great
chain of being, flowed, or poured forth from the One, the first and perfect
reality. The Kabbalist adopted this notion, and described the Sefirot as
emanating from the depth of the En-Sof. They described the formation of the
whole chain of being as a continuous process of gradual emanation and
creation. Other Kabbalists described the emergence of the Sefirot from the
En-Sof as a much more dramatic event that involved the self contraction of
the En Sof, in order to create a space for the emanation of the Sefirot. We will
discuss this idea in the next lesson. It is known as Zimzum and is
accompanied by an idea known as the breaking of the vessels, according to
the Kabbalah of Isaac Luria. The next lesson will be dedicated to the
dynamics of the divine realm, and the influence of its inner dynamics on the
lower realms.

Unit 9: Patach Elijahu – Reading a primary source

Up until now, I have presented Kabbalistic ideas to you in my words. I would

like us to turn to a Kabbalist text now, and read it together. Many of the topics
we discussed in this lesson come to the fore in a very important Kabbalistic
passage, called Patach Eliyahu, which means: “Elijah opened and said”. The
passage, which is presented as the words of the Prophet Elijah, is part of
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Tikunei Zohar, one of the units of Sefer ha-Zohar, which was written in the
early 14th century in Spain. As we will soon see, Patach Eliyahu is a sort of a
Kabbalistic credo, a statement of major Kabbalistic beliefs. In the 16th
century, the Aramaic text was integrated, into the prayers of the Kabbalists.
Under the influence of the Kabbalists, Patach Eliyhu came to be recited in the
prayer services of many Jewish communities, and since the 18 th century it has
been part of the daily prayer service of Sephardic and Hasidic communities.

Let us look together at the text:

Elijah opened and said:

Master of the worlds

You are one, but not part of calculation

You are the highest of the high

More Hidden than all hidden things

Thought cannot grasp you at all

You are the one who brought forth ten amendments

Which we call ten Sefirot

Through which to conduct the hidden realms that are not revealed

And the revealed worlds

You are hidden within them from human beings

And you tie them together, and make them one

Because you are within them

If someone separated one of the ten Sefirot from another

It is as if he caused separation within You

,,,,

And they are called

 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

In the following order:

Hesed - The Right Arm

Gevurah – The left Arm

Tiferet – The body

Netzah and Hod - the two legs

Yesod – the completion of the body

The sign of the holy covenant

Malchut – the mouth

We call it the oral Torah

Hochma – the Brain, it is the thought within

Binah – the heart, with it, the heart understands

Concerning these two it is written

“The hidden mysteries are of the Lord our God” (Deuteronomy 29:28)

The highest Crown (Keter Elyon) is

The Crown of Kingdom

Concerning it, it is written:

“He Foretells the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46, 10)

This passage presents many of the major Kabbalistic ideas that we have
discussed, and I believe you can understand most, or all of it, without need of
much further explanation. The passage is presented as a direct appeal, or a
prayer, to God, or more specifically, to the En-Sof. The beginning relates to
the transcendent divine, the En Sof, the master of the worlds or divine unity,
which is beyond calculation and which no thought can grasp. The concealed
and transcendent En-Sof emanated the Ten Sefirot, which are called also
"amendments", “Tikunim” in Hebrew. The seven lower Sefirot are depicted as
a human like figure – hands, torso, legs, and the phallus – which is described
 KAB1010x - Introduction to Kabbalah
Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. Yoed Kadary, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

as the completion of the body and the sign of the covenant, that is,
circumcision. The last Sefirah is called the Mouth (a symbol of femininity) and
the oral Torah, which is a common symbol for Malchut (the written Torah
usually relates to Tiferet). The higher Sefirot, Hochman and Binah, are
depicted it the passage as the inner organs – the brain and the heart. The first
Sefira, is Keter, the crown. The final sentence refers to the inherent
connection between the upper Sefirah, the highest crown, Keter Elyon, and
the lower Sefirah, which is called the crown of kingdom, Keter Malchut. To this
connection, says the author, alludes the verse from Isaiah – “He Foretells the
end from the beginning”.