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161-400: In Kabbalah , Adam Kadmon ( אָדָם קַדְמוֹן , ʾāḏām qaḏmōn , "Primordial Man") also called Adam Elyon ( אָדָם עֶלִיוֹן , ʾāḏām ʿelyōn , "Most High Man"), or Adam Ila'ah ( אָדָם עִילָּאָה , ʾāḏām ʿīllāʾā "Supreme Man"), sometimes abbreviated as A"K ( א"ק , ʾA.Q. ), is the first of Four Worlds that came into being after the contraction of God's infinite light . Adam Kadmon is not

322-719: A Holy Name in Judaism , as no name could contain a revelation of the Ein Sof. Even terming it "No End" is an inadequate representation of its true nature, the description only bearing its designation in relation to Creation. However, the Torah does narrate God speaking in the first person, most memorably the first word of the Ten Commandments , a reference without any description or name to the simple Divine essence (termed also Atzmus Ein Sof – Essence of

483-549: A phenomenological understanding of the mystical nature of Kabbalistic experience, based on a close reading of the historical texts. Wolfson has shown that among the closed elite circles of mystical activity, medieval Theosophical Kabbalists held that an intellectual view of their symbols was secondary to the experiential. In the context of medieval Jewish philosophical debates on the role of imagination in Biblical prophecy, and essentialist versus instrumental kabbalistic debates about

644-781: A centre of this research, including Scholem and Isaiah Tishby , and more recently Joseph Dan , Yehuda Liebes , Rachel Elior , and Moshe Idel . Scholars across the eras of Jewish mysticism in America and Britain have included Alexander Altmann , Arthur Green , Lawrence Fine , Elliot Wolfson , Daniel Matt , Louis Jacobs and Ada Rapoport-Albert . Tohu and Tikun#Origin of Igul-Circle and Yashar-Line The World of Chaos ( Hebrew : עוֹלָם הַתֹּ֫הוּ , romanized :  ʿOlām hatTohu ) and The World of Rectification (Hebrew: עוֹלָם הַתִקוּן , romanized:  ʿOlām hatTiqqun ) are two general stages in Jewish Kabbalah in

805-604: A divine blessing too high to be contained openly. The mystical task of the righteous in the Zohar is to reveal this concealed Divine Oneness and absolute good, to "convert bitterness into sweetness, darkness into light". Kabbalistic doctrine gives man the central role in Creation, as his soul and body correspond to the supernal divine manifestations. In the Christian Kabbalah this scheme was universalised to describe harmonia mundi ,

966-470: A domain of pluralism rather than of unity. The world of chaos has very high level of light but weak vessels. Vessels paradoxically allow the revelation of Divinity to Creation by restricting and containing the Divine abundance in stable limitations. In tohu, the lack of sharing between the vessels makes them immature, undeveloped and weak, while the divine illumination overflows their capacity to contain. This causes

1127-573: A foundational Musar text . The most esoteric Idrot sections of the classic Zohar make reference to hypostatic male and female Partzufim (Divine Personas) displacing the Sephirot, manifestations of God in particular Anthropomorphic symbolic personalities based on Biblical esoteric exegesis and midrashic narratives. Lurianic Kabbalah places these at the centre of our existence, rather than earlier Kabbalah's Sephirot, which Luria saw as broken in Divine crisis. Contemporary cognitive understanding of

1288-422: A kind of prelude to the canon of Kabbalah. The history of Jewish mysticism encompasses various forms of esoteric and spiritual practices aimed at understanding the divine and the hidden aspects of existence. This mystical tradition has evolved significantly over millennia, influencing and being influenced by different historical, cultural, and religious contexts. Among the most prominent forms of Jewish mysticism

1449-448: A literary motif. Tzimtzum (Constriction/Concentration) is the primordial cosmic act whereby God "contracted" His infinite light, leaving a "void" into which the light of existence was poured. This allowed the emergence of independent existence that would not become nullified by the pristine Infinite Light, reconciling the unity of the Ein Sof with the plurality of creation. This changed

1610-546: A mutual dialectic that imply and include each other's partial validity. This was expressed by the Chabad Hasidic thinker Aaron of Staroselye , that the truth of any concept is revealed only in its opposite. They wish to convey here that if arms were a disgrace to the hero, it would not have used them as a parable for words of Torah. Instead, they are an adornment for him, so the verse used them for its parable, saying that he should have words of Torah and wisdom in hand, like

1771-536: A preceding Fifth World Adam Kadmon ("Primordial Man" – Divine Will) sometimes excluded due to its sublimity. Together the whole spiritual heavens form the Divine Persona/ Anthropos . Hasidic thought extends the divine immanence of Kabbalah by holding that God is all that really exists, all else being completely undifferentiated from God's perspective. This view can be defined as acosmic monistic panentheism. According to this philosophy, God's existence

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1932-663: A primordial shattering of the sephirot of God's Persona before creation of the stable spiritual worlds , mystically represented by the 8 Kings of Edom (the derivative of Gevurah ) "who died" before any king reigned in Israel from Genesis 36 . In the divine view from above within Kabbalah, emphasised in Hasidic Panentheism , the appearance of duality and pluralism below dissolves into the absolute Monism of God, psychologising evil. Though impure below, what appears as evil derives from

2093-463: A successive stage of Jewish mysticism from historical kabbalistic metaphysics. The first modern-academic historians of Judaism, the " Wissenschaft des Judentums " school of the 19th century, framed Judaism in solely rational terms in the emancipatory Haskalah spirit of their age. They opposed kabbalah and restricted its significance from Jewish historiography. In the mid-20th century, it was left to Gershom Scholem to overturn their stance, establishing

2254-413: A symbolic space in which only an imprint remains of the withdrawn Ein Sof. After this, a thin, diminished new emanation, able to create finitude, extends from the withdrawn infinite light into the vacuum. This represents the latently finite potentials in the Ein Sof. The new emanation is the fountainhead for all subsequent creation but instead leads to a catastrophe in the emerging spiritual Worlds. Because

2415-513: A wide variety of cultures. Generally he is described as bestowing life upon all things, and is also frequently the physical basis of the world, such that after death parts of his body became physical parts of the universe. He also represents the oneness of human existence, or the universe. For instance, in the Purusha sukta of the Rigveda , Purusha ( Sanskrit puruṣa , पुरुष "man," or "Cosmic Man")

2576-494: Is yuli ("potential" creation), Nekudim is the sephirot acting as independent Iggulim (concentric "circles") absolute principles, Berudim is the sephirot acting as a harmonised Yosher ("upright" three-column configuration) where all principles work together: each sephirah is able to inter-relate with the other 9, by each latently incorporating each of the other principles. For example, Chesed (Kindness) and Gevurah (Severity) no longer oppose as absolute principles, but there

2737-441: Is Kabbalah, which emerged in the 12th century and has since become a central component of Jewish mystical thought. Other notable early forms include prophetic and apocalyptic mysticism, which are evident in biblical and post-biblical texts. The roots of Jewish mysticism can be traced back to the biblical era, with prophetic figures such as Elijah and Ezekiel experiencing divine visions and encounters. This tradition continued into

2898-584: Is Kindness within Severity and Severity within Kindness. In the same way, all 10 sephirot subdivide into 10 x 10 = 100 latent principles, allowing the sephirot to harmonise as one system (as Yosher-Man ). The potency of Lurianic scheme , with its new doctrines and paradigm, arises from its power to systemise and unify previously unexplained and unrelated Kabbalistic notions. In this case, previously Iggulim and Yosher were alternative and complementary descriptions of

3059-605: Is a blessed and incorruptible and endless light in the power of Bythos ; this is the Father of all things who is invoked as the First Man, who, with his Ennoia, emits "the Son of Man", or Euteranthrôpos. According to Valentinus , Adam was created in the name of Anthrôpos and overawes the demons by the fear of the pre-existent man ( tou proontos anthropou ). In the Valentinian syzygies and in

3220-455: Is a set of sacred and magical teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God —the mysterious Ein Sof ( אֵין סוֹף ‎ , 'The Infinite') —and the mortal, finite universe (God's creation ). The nature of the divine prompted kabbalists to envision two aspects to God: (a) God in essence, absolutely transcendent , unknowable, limitless divine simplicity beyond revelation, and (b) God in manifestation,

3381-399: Is an important aspect of "Restriction", and is considered a kind of golden mean in kabbalah, corresponding to the sefirah of Adornment ( Tiferet ) being part of the "Middle Column". Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, wrote Tomer Devorah ( Palm Tree of Deborah ), in which he presents an ethical teaching of Judaism in the kabbalistic context of the ten sephirot . Tomer Devorah has become also

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3542-560: Is both illusion and real from Divine and human perspectives; evil and good imply each other ( Kelipah draws from Divinity, good arises only from overcoming evil); Existence is simultaneously partial (Tzimtzum), broken ( Shevirah ), and whole ( Tikun ) from different perspectives; God experiences Himself as Other through Man, Man embodies and completes (Tikun) the Divine Persona Above. In Kabbalah's reciprocal Panentheism , Theism and Atheism / Humanism represent two incomplete poles of

3703-575: Is considered as the reason of humanity, or humanity itself, as a personified idea, a category without corporeality, the human reason conceived as the World-Soul . The same idea, somewhat modified, occurs in Hermetic literature , especially the Poimandres . A portion of these Gnostic teachings, when combined with Zoroastrianism , furnished Mani with his particular doctrine of the original man. He even retains

3864-628: Is considered by its followers as a necessary part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah (the Tanakh and rabbinic literature) being an inherent duty of observant Jews. Modern academic-historical study of Jewish mysticism reserves the term kabbalah to designate the particular, distinctive doctrines that textually emerged fully expressed in the Middle Ages, as distinct from the earlier Merkabah mystical concepts and methods. According to this descriptive categorization, both versions of Kabbalistic theory,

4025-619: Is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah; Lurianic Kabbalah was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards. During the 20th century, academic interest in Kabbalistic texts led primarily by the Jewish historian Gershom Scholem has inspired the development of historical research on Kabbalah in the field of Judaic studies . Though innumerable glosses, marginalia, commentaries, precedent works, satellite texts and other minor works contribute to an understanding of

4186-506: Is contemplated about tiqqun, the latter must correspond to one or more decisive actions that prevent a previous lack. The difference between Tikkun Olam and individual Tikkun focuses on the qualitative scope and devotional commitment to it for which the rectified object is so elevated or correct, therefore, both in the World and among people. Isaac Luria stated that only subsequently can, for example, previously absent Mitzvot be fulfilled, and this

4347-454: Is harmony between the two. Consequently, while Jacob fathered the 12 tribes of Israel , Abraham gave birth to Ishmael , and Isaac gave birth to Esau . Esau and Ishmael are the two spiritual roots for the Nations of the world. They are identified with unrectified Chesed and unrectified Gevurah respectively, Kindness and Severity of the world of tohu. In the Kabbalistic scheme, they are rectified in

4508-516: Is higher than anything that this world can express, yet he includes all things of this world within his divine reality in perfect unity, so that the creation effected no change in him at all. This paradox as seen from dual human and divine perspectives is dealt with at length in Chabad texts . Among problems considered in the Hebrew Kabbalah is the theological issue of the nature and origin of evil. In

4669-508: Is inaugurated when the collective souls of Israel complete the esoteric cosmic Tikkun. National and individual spiritual failures in Jewish history delay redemption by introducing further exile of Divine vitality to the realms of impurity. Each root soul is subdivided into soul sparks that reincarnate ( gilgul ) to complete cosmic and personal tiqqun, as in Lurianism, higher levels return dynamically in lower vessels. The messianic redemption combines

4830-706: Is known to the kabbalistic elect and which, as described more recently by Gershom Scholem , combined ecstatic with theosophical mysticism. It is therefore important to bear in mind when discussing things such as the sephirot and their interactions that one is dealing with highly abstract concepts that at best can only be understood intuitively. From the Renaissance onwards Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish culture, where they were studied and translated by Christian Hebraists and Hermetic occultists. The syncretic traditions of Christian Cabala and Hermetic Qabalah developed independently of Judaic Kabbalah, reading

4991-518: Is no distinction between each sephirah, all Creation being included in potential. Luria read this as Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth", the initial vital source from which all would unfold. Nekudim is the secondary unstable form of chaos, referred to in general by "Olam HaTohu" (the "World of Chaos"), which precipitates the catastrophe of Shevirat HaKeilim ("shattering" of

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5152-570: Is one method for discovering its hidden meanings. In this system, each Hebrew letter also represents a number. By converting letters to numbers, Kabbalists were able to find a hidden meaning in each word. This method of interpretation was used extensively by various schools. In contemporary interpretation of kabbalah, Sanford Drob makes cognitive sense of this linguistic mythos by relating it to postmodern philosophical concepts described by Jacques Derrida and others, where all reality embodies narrative texts with infinite plurality of meanings brought by

5313-588: Is sacrificed by the devas from the foundation of the world—his mind is the Moon, his eyes are the Sun, and his breath is the wind. He is described as having a thousand heads and a thousand feet. One tradition associates Adam Kadmon or the biblical Adam and the figure of Cadmus in Greek mythology, both associated with dragons / serpents . The Marvel Comics character Eternity has called himself Adam Qadmon. In Persona 5 Royal ,

5474-507: Is said, 'And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,' meaning the spirit of the Messiah ["the spirit of Adam" in the parallel passage, Midr. Teh. to cxxxix. 5; both readings are essentially the same], of whom it is said ( Isaiah 11:2 ), 'And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.' This contains the kernel of Philo's philosophical doctrine of the creation of the original man. He calls him

5635-545: Is so utterly incomprehensible that the older Kabbalistic doctrine of the manifestation of the En-Sof in the Sefirot must be abandoned. Hence he teaches that only the Adam Ḳadmon, who arose in the way of self-limitation by the En-Sof, can be said to manifest himself in the Sefirot. This theory of Luria is treated by Ḥayyim Vital in "'Eẓ Ḥayyim; Derush 'Agulim we-Yosher" (Treatise on Circles and

5796-470: Is sometimes referred to as Adam Ila'a (Aramaic: "upper man") or Adam Elyon (Hebrew: "upper man"). The soul of Adam HaRishon ("the first man") was the supreme essence of mankind. It contained within it all subsequent souls. In the midrash , he is sometimes referred to as Adam HaKadmoni ("the ancient man"), Adam Tata'a (Aramaic: "lower man") or Adam Tachton (Hebrew: "lower man"). The anthropomorphic name of Adam Kadmon denotes that it contains both

5957-426: Is superior, and whether the symbols of Kabbalah should be read as primarily metaphysical intellectual cognition or Axiology values. Messianic redemption requires both ethical Tikkun olam and contemplative Kavanah . Sanford Drob sees every attempt to limit Kabbalah to one fixed dogmatic interpretation as necessarily bringing its own Deconstruction (Lurianic Kabbalah incorporates its own Shevirah self shattering;

6118-464: Is the divine will of Keter and the "plan" of the latent Chokmah within Keter for all subsequent detailed creation in potential. Its anthropomorphic name figuratively denotes that man is both the purpose of creation below and the embodiment on high of the sephirot Divine attributes, not yet manifest. The sephirot manifest in two general metaphorical-figurative schemes, as igulim (concentric "circles" within

6279-407: Is the original image of man, or the original man, so in the Zohar the heavenly man is the embodiment of all divine manifestations: the ten Sefirot , the original image of man. The heavenly Adam, stepping forth out of the highest original darkness, created the earthly Adam. In other words, the activity of the original essence manifested itself in the creation of man, who at the same time is the image of

6440-610: Is the thing related to both tiqqunim, which are different in terms of work carried out and the areas to which they refer. Isaac Luria reinterpreted the whole scheme of Kabbalah in the 16th century, essentially making the second of two different versions of theoretical Kabbalah: the Medieval/Classic/ Zoharic (later systemised by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero directly before Isaac Luria in Safed ), and Lurianic Kabbalah. However, he understood his new doctrinal revelation as no more than

6601-526: The Bahir and the Zohar were composed during this time, laying the groundwork for later developments. The Kabbalistic teachings of this era delved deeply into the nature of the divine, the structure of the universe, and the process of creation. Notable Kabbalists like Moses de León played crucial roles in disseminating these teachings, which were characterized by their profound symbolic and allegorical interpretations of

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6762-615: The Hitzoni (outer). It is solely in relation to the emanations, certainly not the Ein Sof Ground of all Being, that Kabbalah uses anthropomorphic symbolism to relate psychologically to divinity. Kabbalists debated the validity of anthropomorphic symbolism, between its disclosure as mystical allusion, versus its instrumental use as allegorical metaphor; in the language of the Zohar, symbolism "touches yet does not touch" its point. The Sephirot (also spelled "sefirot"; singular sefirah ) are

6923-810: The Mikraot Gedolot (Main Commentators). Cordoveran systemisation is presented in Pardes Rimonim , philosophical articulation in the works of the Maharal , and Lurianic rectification in Etz Chayim . Subsequent interpretation of Lurianic Kabbalah was made in the writings of Shalom Sharabi, in Nefesh HaChaim and the 20th-century Sulam . Hasidism interpreted kabbalistic structures to their correspondence in inward perception. The Hasidic development of kabbalah incorporates

7084-571: The Ein Sof transcends all of its infinite expressions; the infinite mystical Torah of the Tree of Life has no/infinite interpretations). The infinite axiology of the Ein Sof One, expressed through the Plural Many, overcomes the dangers of nihilism, or the antinomian mystical breaking of Jewish observance alluded to throughout Kabbalistic and Hasidic mysticisms. Like the rest of the rabbinic literature,

7245-506: The Kav shines into the vacuum, it first emanates the ten sequential Igulim , then is "enclothed" by the Yosher scheme as Adam Kadmon. From Adam Kadmon emanate five lights. As the Yosher scheme relates to the figure of man, and Adam Kadmon embodies Keter (Will-"crown") and its latent Chokmah (intellectual plan-"wisdom"), so these five lights figuratively emanate from the "head" of Adam Kadmon: from

7406-892: The Marcosian system, we meet in the fourth (originally the third) place Anthrôpos and Ecclesia. In the Pistis Sophia , the Aeon Jeu is called the First Man, he is the overseer of the Light, messenger of the First Precept, and constitutes the forces of the Heimarmene. In the Books of Jeu this "great Man" is the King of the Light-treasure, he is enthroned above all things and is the goal of all souls. According to

7567-589: The Naassenes , the Protanthropos is the first element; the fundamental being before its differentiation into individuals. "The Son of Man" is the same being after it has been individualized into existing things and thus sunk into matter. The Gnostic Anthrôpos, therefore, or Adamas , as it is sometimes called, is a cosmogonic element, pure mind as distinct from matter, mind conceived hypostatically as emanating from God and not yet darkened by contact with matter. This mind

7728-677: The Zohar , the sin of Adam and Eve (who embodied Adam Kadmon below) took place in the spiritual realms. Their sin was that they separated the Tree of knowledge (10 sefirot within Malkuth , representing Divine immanence ), from the Tree of life within it (10 sefirot within Tiferet , representing Divine transcendence ). This introduced the false perception of duality into lower creation, an external Tree of Death nurtured from holiness, and an Adam Belial of impurity. In Lurianic Kabbalah, evil originates from

7889-399: The divine four-lettered name of God, Adam Kadmon is represented by the transcendental cusp of the first letter Yud . In the system of the sefirot , Adam Kadmon corresponds to Keter ("crown"), the divine will that motivated creation. The two versions of Kabbalistic theosophy, the "medieval/classic/Zoharic" (systemised by Moshe Cordovero ) and the more comprehensive Lurianic , describe

8050-834: The divine transcendence described by Jewish philosophy , but as only referring to the Ein Sof unknowable Godhead. They reinterpreted the theistic philosophical concept of creation from nothing, replacing God's creative act with panentheistic continual self-emanation by the mystical Ayin Nothingness/No-thing sustaining all spiritual and physical realms as successively more corporeal garments, veils and condensations of divine immanence . The innumerable levels of descent divide into Four comprehensive spiritual worlds , Atziluth ("Closeness" – Divine Wisdom), Beriah ("Creation" – Divine Understanding), Yetzirah ("Formation" – Divine Emotions), Assiah ("Action" – Divine Activity), with

8211-516: The hermeneutic methods of interpretation for ascertaining these meanings. Names of God in Judaism have further prominence, though infinite meaning turns the whole Torah into a Divine name. As the Hebrew name of things is the channel of their lifeforce, parallel to the sephirot, so concepts such as "holiness" and " mitzvot " embody ontological Divine immanence, as God can be known in manifestation as well as transcendence. The infinite potential of meaning in

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8372-507: The process of descending worlds differently. For Cordovero, the sefirot, Adam Kadmon and the Four Worlds evolve sequentially from the Ein Sof (divine infinity). For Luria, creation is a dynamic process of divine exile-rectification enclothement, where Adam Kadmon is preceded by the Tzimtzum (Divine "contraction") and followed by Shevira (the "shattering" of the sefirot). Closely related to

8533-556: The "Upright" (Yosher) form of "Man". This reconfiguration is essential in Lurianic Kabbalah to enable the opposing spiritual forces of the Sephirot to work together in harmony. Each persona now operates independently, and unites with the other ones. So, for example, "The Long Visage" is said to descend and become enclothed within the lower personas. The sephirot now harmonise to enable the Lurianic scheme of tiqqun to begin. Supernal tiqqun

8694-454: The "circular" ḥalal ) and Yosher/Yashar (the three-column "upright" diagram, related to the "line" beamed into the ḥalal ). Igul denotes potential creation encompassed within the female principle. Yashar denotes manifest creation, the male principle, where creation proceeds as a hierarchical progression. As Igulim , ten concentric "circles," the sephirot act sequentially and independently from each other, from Keter in closest proximity to

8855-476: The "eyes, ears, nose, mouth and forehead". These interact with each other to form three specific olamot (worlds) after Adam Kadmon, three evolving stages in the first manifestation of the sephirot systemised by Luria: The terms are learned from the esoteric meaning of the story of Jacob 's breeding of Laban 's flocks in Genesis 30:27-43, where the terms Akudim , Nekudim and Teluim (Patched") are used. Akudim

9016-597: The 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel. Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin ) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands. It is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with very different outlooks; however, all are accepted as correct. Modern halakhic authorities have tried to narrow

9177-468: The 18th century onwards, internalised esoteric Lurianism through its concern with experiencing divine omnipresence amidst daily material life. The terminology of the modern ideal of tikkun olam "repairing the world" is taken from the Lurianic concept but applied more widely to ethical activism and justice in contemporary society. The individual tiqqun may or may not also include gilgul ( reincarnation ) theology; this means that, whether or not it

9338-585: The Creator for the purpose of creating the universe. The sephirot are considered revelations of the Creator's will ( ratzon ), and they should not be understood as ten different "gods" but as ten different ways the one God reveals his will through the Emanations. It is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes. Divine creation by means of the Ten Sephirot is an ethical process. They represent

9499-504: The Divine Persona before the creation of man. Exile and enclothement of higher divinity within lower realms throughout existence requires man to complete the Tikkun olam (Rectification) process. Rectification Above corresponds to the reorganization of the independent sephirot into relating Partzufim (Divine Personas), previously referred to obliquely in the Zohar. From the catastrophe stems

9660-523: The Ein Sof, but transcending the sephirot. He excludes it from their usual listing, substituting Da'at "Knowledge" instead. If the sephirot are listed with their vessels, Chokmah ("wisdom") becomes the first principle. Adam Kadmon is all light with no vessels before the emergence of the sephirot; its expanse within the ḥalal is limited by the power of the Reshima ("impression" left in the empty vacuum) and by its future potential to create vessels. Adam Kadmon

9821-484: The Ein Sof, to Malkhut at the centre. As Yosher , an "upright" 3-column linear scheme, the sephirot act as a harmonized configuration of related powers in the scheme of man. As in the soul of man and represented in his bodily form, each sephirah fulfils its particular function while correlating and sharing with the other powers as a whole arrangement. As Adam Kadmon is before the emergence of the sephirot, it relates to both schemes only in latent ("transcendent") potential. As

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9982-443: The Four Worlds unfolding sequentially until physical creation. Lurianic Kabbalah, in contrast, describes dynamic processes of exile and redemption in the flow of Ohr, where higher levels descend into lower states, as souls to spiritual bodies. This process introduces or interprets new Kabbalistic doctrines and concepts. In the Lurianic scheme, Creation is initiated by a primordial and radical divine tzimtzum "self-withdrawal", forming

10143-428: The Four Worlds, the perfected world of Atziluth "Emanation", through the sefirot reconfiguring as partzufim "personas". Rectification of the independent lower three worlds of Beri'ah "Creation", Yetzirah "Formation", and Assiah "Action" is the task of humanity. Adam Kadmon incorporated the collective souls of humanity before eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil , a manifestation in Kabbalah of

10304-549: The Hebrew Bible or classic rabbinic literature, and was rejected by various Medieval Jewish philosophers. However, the Kabbalists explained a number of scriptural passages in reference to Gilgulim. The concept became central to the later Kabbalah of Isaac Luria, who systemised it as the personal parallel to the cosmic process of rectification. Through Lurianic Kabbalah and Hasidic Judaism, reincarnation entered popular Jewish culture as

10465-413: The Infinite Ein Sof before Creation, the sephirot were entirely nullified into non-existence in the simple unity of endless Divinity. They emerge as Divine attributes only from the perspective of creation by combining two aspects of lights and vessels. The spiritual vitality, denoted as "light", similarly manifests in two levels of Ohr Sovev (transcendent) and Ohr Mimalei (immanent). First the light creates

10626-422: The Infinite) beyond even the duality of Infinitude/Finitude. In contrast, the term Ein Sof describes the Godhead as Infinite lifeforce first cause, continuously keeping all Creation in existence. The Zohar reads the first words of Genesis , BeReishit Bara Elohim – In the beginning God created , as " With (the level of) Reishit (Beginning) (the Ein Sof) created Elohim (God's manifestation in creation)": At

10787-451: The Jewish designations "Adam Kadmon" (= אדם קדמון ) and "Nakhash Kadmon" (= נחש קדמון ), as may be seen in Al-Fihrist . But, according to Mani, the original man is fundamentally distinct from the first father of the human race. He is a creation of the King of Light, and is therefore endowed with five elements of the kingdom of light; whereas Adam really owes his existence to the kingdom of darkness, and only escapes belonging altogether to

10948-607: The Jewish texts as universalist ancient wisdom preserved from the Gnostic traditions of antiquity. Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Jewish understanding, to merge with multiple other theologies, religious traditions and magical associations. With the decline of Christian Cabala in the Age of Reason , Hermetic Qabalah continued as a central underground tradition in Western esotericism . Through these non-Jewish associations with magic, alchemy and divination, Kabbalah acquired some popular occult connotations forbidden within Judaism, where Jewish theurgic Practical Kabbalah

11109-416: The Kabbalah as an evolving tradition, the major texts in the main line of Jewish mysticism that inarguably fall under the heading 'Kabbalah'—conforming to the sense of every definition and meeting all of the various diagnostic criteria of these different perspectives—are the Bahir , Zohar , Pardes Rimonim , and Etz Chayim ('Ein Sof') . The early Hekhalot writings are acknowledged as ancestral to

11270-422: The Murder of innocents and unfair punishment. "Righteous" humans ( tzadikim plural of Tzadik ) ascend these ethical qualities of the ten sephirot by doing righteous actions. If there were no righteous humans, the blessings of God would become completely hidden, and creation would cease to exist. While real human actions are the "Foundation" ( Yesod ) of this universe ( Malchut ), these actions must accompany

11431-565: The Partzuf symbols relates them to Jungian archetypes of the collective unconscious , reflecting a psychologised progression from youth to sage in therapeutic healing back to the infinite Ein Sof/Unconscious, as Kabbalah is simultaneously both theology and psychology . Medieval Kabbalists believed that all things are linked to God through these emanations , making all levels in creation part of one great, gradually descending chain of being . Through this any lower creation reflects its particular roots in supernal divinity. Kabbalists agreed with

11592-560: The Philonic doctrine of the heavenly Adam is the Adam Ḳadmon (called also Adam 'Ilaya, the "high man," the "heavenly man") of the Zohar , whose conception of the original man can be deduced from the following passages: "The form of man is the image of everything that is above [in heaven] and below [upon earth]; therefore did the Holy Ancient [God] select it for His own form." As with Philo the Logos

11753-531: The Scripture. This explains Philo's statement that the original man was neither man nor woman. This doctrine concerning the Logos, as also that of man made "in the likeness," although tinged with true Philonic coloring, is also based on the theology of the Pharisees. Genesis Rabbah : Thou hast formed me behind and before' ( Psalms 139:5 ) is to be explained 'before the first and after the last day of Creation.' For it

11914-529: The Sephirot evolve into new persona arrangements, where they can unite. The different realms of tiqqun are characterised in comparison to Tohu as lower lights and stronger vessels. After the inter-inclusion of the ten sephirot within each other, in Lurianic Kabbalah , they then develop into personas. Wide discussion of the personas is found in the Medieval Kabbalah of the Zohar , before Isaac Luria. In

12075-620: The Straight Line). The Primeval Man ( Protanthropos , Adam) occupies a prominent place in several Gnostic systems. In the Coptic Nag Hammadi texts , the archetypical Adam is known as Pigeradamas or Geradamas. According to Irenaeus the Aeon Autogenes emits the true and perfect Anthrôpos, also called Adamas; he has a helpmate, "Perfect Knowledge", and receives an irresistible force, so that all things rest in him. Others say there

12236-593: The Torah and Israel are all One". The reapers of the Field are the Comrades, masters of this wisdom, because Malkhut is called the Apple Field, and She grows sprouts of secrets and new meanings of Torah. Those who constantly create new interpretations of Torah are the ones who reap Her. As early as the 1st century BCE Jews believed that the Torah and other canonical texts contained encoded messages and hidden meanings. Gematria

12397-460: The Torah, as in the Ein Sof , is reflected in the symbol of the two trees of the Garden of Eden; the Torah of the Tree of Knowledge is the external, finite Halachic Torah, enclothed within which the mystics perceive the unlimited infinite plurality of meanings of the Torah of the Tree of Life . In Lurianic terms, each of the 600,000 root souls of Israel find their own interpretation in Torah, as "God,

12558-440: The Torah. In the early modern period, Lurianic Kabbalah , founded by Isaac Luria in the 16th century, introduced new metaphysical concepts such as Tzimtzum (divine contraction) and Tikkun (cosmic repair), which have had a lasting impact on Jewish thought. The 18th century saw the rise of Hasidism , a movement that integrated Kabbalistic ideas into a popular, revivalist context, emphasizing personal mystical experience and

12719-419: The Zohar, Shimon bar Yochai expounds upon the spiritual roles of the personas by talking about them as independent spiritual manifestations. "The Holy Ancient of Days " or "The Long Visage," two of the different personas, are not just alternative adjectives for God but are particular spiritual manifestations, levels and natures. Lurianic Kabbalah focused on the role of the personas as the fully evolved stage of

12880-399: The absolute unity of Divine light via the ten sephirot, or vessels. According to Lurianic cosmology, the sephirot correspond to various levels of creation (ten sephirot in each of the Four Worlds, and four worlds within each of the larger four worlds, each containing ten sephirot , which themselves contain ten sephirot , to an infinite number of possibilities), and are emanated from

13041-481: The actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually. A common way of explaining the three parts of the soul is as follows: Reincarnation , the transmigration of the soul after death, was introduced into Judaism as a central esoteric tenet of Kabbalah from the Medieval period onwards, called Gilgul neshamot ("cycles of the soul"). The concept does not appear overtly in

13202-420: The advantages of the lights of tohu in mature rectified vessels of tiqqun and the unity of God and Creation. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero , in his comprehensive systemization of Medieval Kabbalah, had reconciled previous Kabbalists' opinions of the sephirot by describing each as Divine ohr ("light") invested in ten spiritual keilim "vessels." This overcame the philosophical difficulty of Divine attributes, as in

13363-583: The apocalyptic period, where texts like 1 Enoch and the Book of Daniel introduced complex angelology and eschatological themes. The Heikhalot and Merkavah literature, dating from the 2nd century to the early medieval period, further developed these mystical themes, focusing on visionary ascents to the heavenly palaces and the divine chariot. The medieval period saw the formalization of Kabbalah, particularly in Southern France and Spain. Foundational texts such as

13524-510: The attention of the Pharisees , for whom the Bible was a subject of close study. In explaining the various views concerning Eve's creation, they taught that Adam was created as a man-woman ( androgynos ), explaining " זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה " ( Genesis 1:27 ) as "male and female" instead of "man and woman," and that the separation of the sexes arose from the subsequent operation upon Adam's body, as related in

13685-598: The beginning of Existence, is read etymologically by Kabbalists as the question "Koach Mah?" the "Power of What?"). Alternative listings of the Sephirot start with either Keter (Unconscious Will/Volition), or Chokmah (Wisdom), a philosophical duality between a Rational or Supra-Rational Creation, between whether the Mitzvot Judaic observances have reasons or transcend reasons in Divine Will, between whether study or good deeds

13846-640: The body-vessel descends-shatters. Attached to the broken vessels are residues of the light, Nitzutzot -"Sparks" of holiness, as all Creation only continues to exist from non-existence by the Divine flow of Will. The sparks are the creative force of the Sephirot down the Four Worlds , giving life to the broken vessels, that become the descending beings of each realm. As they descend, they subdivide innumerable times. The fragments contain only sparks of holiness, allowing them to become self-aware creations rather than being nullified in Divine light. The unabsorbed residue of

14007-478: The broken vessels in our physical, lowest World Assiah becomes the realm of impurity and evil. To Kabbalah, as Creation is enacted through Divine "speech" as in Genesis 1, so gematria (numerical value of Hebrew letters) has spiritual meaning. In the supernal World of Atziluth -Emanation, the origin of our spiritual Order of Worlds, the sparks of holiness are said to subdivide into 288 general-root sparks, read out from

14168-670: The catastrophe stemmed from the "unwillingness" of the residue imprint after the Tzimtzum to relate to the new vitality that began creation. The process was arranged to shed and harmonise the Divine Infinity with the latent potential of evil. The creation of Adam would have redeemed existence, but his sin caused new shevirah of Divine vitality, requiring the Giving of the Torah to begin Messianic rectification. Historical and individual history becomes

14329-607: The central role in spiritual creation, whether the practitioner was learned in this knowledge or not. Accompanying normative Jewish observance and worship with elite mystical kavanot intentions gave them theurgic power, but sincere observance by common folk, especially in the Hasidic popularisation of kabbalah, could replace esoteric abilities. Many kabbalists were also leading legal figures in Judaism, such as Nachmanides and Joseph Karo . Medieval kabbalah elaborates particular reasons for each Biblical mitzvah , and their role in harmonising

14490-449: The channels through which creation is enacted. They become the revealed personas manifested from concealment and nullification in the Ein Sof . As the Lurianic scheme continues, in Nekudim , the world of "Points", the sephiroth exist in separation and differentiation from each other: ten distinct point principles through ten vessels without harmony. This state, Olam haTohu "World of Chaos"

14651-592: The collapse in Malchut was only partial. This doctrine is the Lurianic esoteric meaning of Genesis 36:31 and I Chronicles 1:43: "These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel." Edom is described in Genesis as the descendants of Esau . In the Kabbalistic scheme, the Patriarchs Abraham , Isaac and Jacob embody respectively Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferet. Chesed and Gevurah are imbalanced, while Tiferet

14812-536: The colours are painted below; it is sealed among the sealed things of the mystery of Ayn Sof. It penetrated, yet did not penetrate its air. It was not known at all until, from the pressure of its penetration, a single point shone, sealed, supernal. Beyond this point nothing is known, so it is called reishit (beginning): the first word of all ... " The structure of emanations has been described in various ways: Sephirot (divine attributes) and Partzufim (divine "faces"), Ohr (spiritual light and flow), Names of God and

14973-696: The community is recounted in the hagiographic works Praises of the Ari , Praises of the Besht , and in many other Kabbalistic and Hasidic tales. Kabbalistic and Hasidic texts are concerned to apply themselves from exegesis and theory to spiritual practice, including prophetic drawing of new mystical revelations in Torah. The mythological symbols Kabbalah uses to answer philosophical questions, themselves invite mystical contemplation, intuitive apprehension and psychological engagement. In bringing Theosophical Kabbalah into contemporary intellectual understanding, using

15134-415: The comprehensive Four or Five Worlds. Adam Kadmon is the realm of Keter ("crown"), supra-conscious Divine Will. Due to its supreme transcendence, it is often excluded from listing with the other Four Worlds. Medieval Kabbalists listed Keter as the first Sephirah , but debated its relationship with the Ein Sof or Limitless Divine. Luria described Keter as an intermediary to the sephirot, not identified with

15295-407: The conscious intention of compassion. Compassionate actions are often impossible without faith ( Emunah ), meaning to trust that God always supports compassionate actions even when God seems hidden. Ultimately, it is necessary to show compassion toward oneself too in order to share compassion toward others. This "selfish" enjoyment of God's blessings but only in order to empower oneself to assist others

15456-463: The cosmic catastrophe of Shevirat HaKeilim "Shattering of the Vessels," introducing disharmony and exile throughout divinity. The light created each sephirah sequentially, first vessel, then the illumination within. Each sephira's light also contained the subsequent diminishing lights to form the following lower sephirot. As the light of the Ein Sof radiated to form Keter, the vessel of Keter could absorb

15617-473: The daily events in the worldly life of man in general, and the spiritual role of Jewish observance in particular. The Kabbalah posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh , ru'ach , and neshamah . The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but can be developed over time; their development depends on

15778-552: The different aspects of Morality. Loving-Kindness is a possible moral justification found in Chessed, and Gevurah is the Moral Justification of Justice and both are mediated by Mercy which is Rachamim. However, these pillars of morality become immoral once they become extremes. When Loving-Kindness becomes extreme it can lead to sexual depravity and lack of Justice to the wicked. When Justice becomes extreme, it can lead to torture and

15939-510: The divine immanently , and are bound up in the life of man. Kabbalists believe that these two aspects are not contradictory but complement one another, emanations mystically revealing the concealed mystery from within the Godhead . As a term describing the Infinite Godhead beyond Creation, Kabbalists viewed the Ein Sof itself as too sublime to be referred to directly in the Torah. It is not

16100-641: The first being the Apocalyptic literature of the second and first pre-Christian centuries and which contained elements that carried over to later kabbalah. Throughout the centuries since, many texts have been produced, among them the ancient descriptions of Sefer Yetzirah , the Heichalot mystical ascent literature, the Bahir , Sefer Raziel HaMalakh and the Zohar , the main text of Kabbalistic exegesis. Classic mystical Bible commentaries are included in fuller versions of

16261-462: The first creative act into one of withdrawal/exile, the antithesis of the ultimate Divine Will. In contrast, a new emanation after the Tzimtzum shone into the vacuum to begin creation, but led to an initial instability called Tohu (Chaos), leading to a new crisis of Shevirah (Shattering) of the sephirot vessels. The shards of the broken vessels fell down into the lower realms, animated by remnants of their divine light, causing primordial exile within

16422-506: The five books of the Torah. After the Talmud is written, it refers to the Oral Law (both in the sense of the 'Talmud' itself and in the sense of continuing dialog and thought devoted to the scripture in every generation). In the much later writings of Eleazar of Worms (c. 1350), it refers to theurgy or the conjuring of demons and angels by the invocation of their secret names. The understanding of

16583-400: The flourishing present-day academic investigation of Jewish mysticism, and making Heichalot, Kabbalistic and Hasidic texts the objects of scholarly critical-historical study. In Scholem's opinion, the mythical and mystical components of Judaism were at least as important as the rational ones, and he thought that they, rather than the exoteric Halakha or intellectualist Jewish philosophy , were

16744-417: The harmony of Creation within man. In Judaism, it gave a profound spiritualisation of Jewish practice. While the kabbalistic scheme gave a radically innovative, though conceptually continuous, development of mainstream Midrashic and Talmudic rabbinic notions, kabbalistic thought underscored and invigorated conservative Jewish observance. The esoteric teachings of kabbalah gave the traditional mitzvot observances

16905-477: The heavenly man and of the universe, just as with Plato and Philo the idea of man, as microcosm , embraces the idea of the universe or macrocosm . The conception of Adam Ḳadmon becomes an important factor in the later Kabbalah of Isaac Luria . Adam Ḳadmon is with him no longer the concentrated manifestation of the Sefirot, but a mediator between the En-Sof ("infinite") and the Sefirot . The En-Sof, according to Luria,

17066-482: The history of Judaic Kabbalah, the greatest mystics claimed to receive new teachings from Elijah the Prophet , the souls of earlier sages (a purpose of Lurianic meditation prostrated on the graves of Talmudic Tannaim , Amoraim and Kabbalists), the soul of the mishnah , ascents during sleep, heavenly messengers, etc. A tradition of parapsychology abilities, psychic knowledge, and theurgic intercessions in heaven for

17227-548: The holy, are nurtured from it, and yet also protect it by limiting its revelation. Scholem termed this element of the Spanish Kabbalah a "Jewish gnostic" motif, in the sense of dual powers in the divine realm of manifestation. In a radical notion, the root of evil is found within the 10 holy Sephirot, through an imbalance of Gevurah , the power of "Strength/Judgement/Severity". Gevurah is necessary for Creation to exist as it counterposes Chesed ("loving-kindness"), restricting

17388-419: The idea of the earthly Adam, while with the rabbis the spirit ( רוח ) of Adam not only existed before the creation of the earthly Adam, but was preexistent to the whole of creation. From the preexisting Adam, or Messiah, to the Logos is merely a step. In Kabbalah, before creation began, all that existed was God's Infinite Light. The first stage of creation began when God contracted His Infinite Light to create

17549-422: The life force. In turn, the vessels of Hokhma and Bina could absorb most of their flow, as their proximity to Keter made them strong enough. Keter extended enough relationship to them as their motivating Will. Their excesses of light encompassed each as an or makif "surrounding light." However, as the light proceeded to Da'at, the root of the emotional sephiroth, its vessel could not absorb the abundant radiance for

17710-565: The living subterranean stream in historical Jewish development that periodically broke out to renew the Jewish spirit and social life of the community. Scholem's magisterial Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941) among his seminal works, though representing scholarship and interpretations that have subsequently been challenged and revised within the field, remains the only academic survey studying all main historical periods of Jewish mysticism . The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been

17871-535: The medieval-Zoharic and the early-modern Lurianic Kabbalah together comprise the Theosophical tradition in Kabbalah, while the Meditative - Ecstatic Kabbalah incorporates a parallel inter-related Medieval tradition. A third tradition, related but more shunned, involves the magical aims of Practical Kabbalah . Moshe Idel , for example, writes that these 3 basic models can be discerned operating and competing throughout

18032-517: The narrative of reclaiming exiled Divine sparks. Kabbalistic thought extended Biblical and Midrashic notions that God enacted Creation through the Hebrew language and through the Torah into a full linguistic mysticism. In this, every Hebrew letter, word, number, even accent on words of the Hebrew Bible contain Jewish mystical meanings , describing the spiritual dimensions within exoteric ideas, and it teaches

18193-458: The number of demons through the fact that he bears the likeness of the original man in the elements of light contained within him. The Gnostic doctrine of the identity of Adam, as the original man, with the Messiah appears in Mani in his teaching of the "Redeeming Christ," who has his abode in the sun and moon, but is identical with the original man. It also appears in this theory that Adam was the first of

18354-416: The order of descending spiritual worlds known as "the Four Worlds ". In subsequent creations, they also represent two archetypal spiritual states of being and consciousness. Their concepts derive from the new scheme of Lurianic Kabbalah by Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the father of modern Kabbalah, based on his interpretation of classic references in the Zohar . The implications of tohu and tiqqun underlie

18515-514: The origin of free will and the evil realm of the qlippoth caused by the "Shattering of the Vessels" ([שְבִירַת הַכֵּלִים] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |3= ( help ) ), the processes of spiritual and physical exile and redemption , the meaning of the 613 commandments , and the messianic rectification of existence . Tikkun also means the esoteric sifting or clarification ( בירור ) of concealed divine sparks ( ניצוצות ) exiled in physical creation. This new paradigm in Kabbalah replaced

18676-612: The portmanteau Adakas in the Ginza Rabba , means "the hidden Adam" in Mandaic . The hidden Adam is also called Adam Qadmaiia ("First Adam") or Gabra Qadmaiia ("First Man"). In Mandaeism , it means the soul of the first man and the soul of every human. Adam Kasia shows many similarities with the Jewish idea of Adam Kadmon. Outside of an Abrahamic context, the Cosmic Man is also an archetypical figure that appears in creation myths of

18837-466: The possibility of self-aware Creation, and also the Kelipot (Impure Shells) of previous Medieval kabbalah. The metaphorical anthropomorphism of the partzufim accentuates the sexual unifications of the redemption process, while Gilgul reincarnation emerges from the scheme. Uniquely, Lurianism gave formerly private mysticism the urgency of Messianic social involvement. According to interpretations of Luria,

18998-595: The presence of the divine in everyday life. Today, the academic study of Jewish mysticism, pioneered by scholars like Gershom Scholem , continues to explore its historical, textual, and philosophical dimensions. According to the Zohar , a foundational text for kabbalistic thought, Torah study can proceed along four levels of interpretation ( exegesis ). These four levels are called pardes from their initial letters (PRDS [ פַּרדֵס ‎] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |links= ( help ) , 'orchard'): Kabbalah

19159-461: The previous linear description of descent by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero with a dynamic process of spiritual enclothement, where higher souls invest inwardly in lower "vessels". The cosmic drama of tiqqun in Lurianic Kabbalah inspired the 16th-18th century popular Jewish imagination, explaining contemporary oppression and supporting messiah claimants . The essential tiqqun is to have peace and order in Creation. The revivalist Hasidic Judaism from

19320-545: The primordial Adam as the idea, and the created man of flesh and blood as the "image." That Philo's philosophic views are grounded on the Midrash, and not vice versa, is evident from his seemingly senseless statement that the "heavenly man," the οὐράνιος ἄνθρωπος (who is merely an idea), is "neither man nor woman." This doctrine, however, becomes quite intelligible in view of the following ancient Midrash. The remarkable contradiction between Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:7 could not escape

19481-433: The primordial evolution of the sephirot at the beginning of Creation. Instead of each of the ten Sephirot merely including a full subset of ten sephirot as latent potential forces, the first stage of their evolution, in the personas the sephirot become fully autonomous and interrelated. The name of each persona denotes that the sephira from which it derived has now become an independent scheme of 10 fully functioning Sephirot in

19642-473: The reader. In this dialogue, kabbalah survives the nihilism of Deconstruction by incorporating its own Lurianic Shevirah , and by the dialectical paradox where man and God imply each other. The founder of the academic study of Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem , privileged an intellectual view of the nature of Kabbalistic symbols as dialectic Theosophical speculation. In contrast, contemporary scholarship of Moshe Idel and Elliot R. Wolfson has opened

19803-726: The relation of sephirot to God, they saw contemplation on the sephirot as a vehicle for prophecy. Judaism's ban on physical iconography, along with anthropomorphic metaphors for Divinity in the Hebrew Bible and midrash , enabled their internal visualisation of the Divine sephirot Anthropos in imagination. Disclosure of the aniconic in iconic internal psychology, involved sublimatory revelation of Kabbalah's sexual unifications. Previous academic distinction between Theosophical versus Abulafian Ecstatic-Prophetic Kabbalah overstated their division of aims, which revolved around visual versus verbal/auditory views of prophecy. In addition, throughout

19964-460: The rest of Genesis 1:2, "And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters." Merachepet -"hovered" splits into the number "288 died", the divided Divine sparks within the broken fragments. The comprehensive Four Worlds of our created existence are together collectively the realms of tiqqun ("Fixing"). Atzilut , the highest, is called specifically Olam Hatiqqun (the "World of Rectification"). In Atzilut,

20125-412: The revealed persona of God through which he creates and sustains and relates to humankind. Kabbalists speak of the first as Ein/Ayn Sof (אין סוף "the infinite/endless", literally "there is no end"). Of the impersonal Ein Sof nothing can be grasped. However, the second aspect of divine emanations, accessible to human perception, dynamically interacting throughout spiritual and physical existence, reveal

20286-399: The same as the physical Adam Ha-Rishon (אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן). In Lurianic Kabbalah , the description of Adam Kadmon is anthropomorphic . Nonetheless, Adam Kadmon is divine light without vessels, i.e., pure potential. In the human psyche, Adam Kadmon corresponds to the yechidah , the collective essence of the soul. The first to use the expression "original man," or "heavenly man,"

20447-476: The scope and diversity within kabbalah, by restricting study to certain texts, notably Zohar and the teachings of Isaac Luria as passed down through Hayyim ben Joseph Vital . However, even this qualification does little to limit the scope of understanding and expression, as included in those works are commentaries on Abulafian writings, Sefer Yetzirah , Albotonian writings, and the Berit Menuhah , which

20608-408: The sefirot are pure and unrelated to each other at this stage, each attribute alone is unable to contain the enormity of the divine light as it descends into them, and the vessels of the sefirot shatter, creating the World of Tohu. Their divine light is released and reascends while the broken vessel fragments descend, still animated by sparks of Ohr. The fragments become the absorbed, animating source of

20769-544: The sefirot. His sin introduced a new dispersal of Divine vitality into exile in Creation, and shedding soul sparks from his being. The election of the Israelites through the Law given to Moses at Sinai in the section Mishpatim of the Book of Exodus , recollected the 600,000 root souls from Adam. The 613 commandments redeem the exiled sparks of holiness from Tohu, embedded below in physical creation. The messianic era for all peoples

20930-490: The sensibilities of this later flowering of the Kabbalah and more especially the Sefer Yetzirah is acknowledged as the antecedent from which all these books draw many of their formal inspirations. The Sefer Yetzirah is a brief document of only few pages that was written many centuries before the high and late medieval works (sometime between 200-600CE), detailing an alphanumeric vision of cosmology—may be understood as

21091-523: The sephirot "vessels"). Berudim is the initial incomplete stage of Olam Hatiqqun (the "World of Rectification"), beginning rectification of the sephirot, as it is reconstituted enough to exist stabily. However, supernal rectification is only completed subsequently in Atzilut (the world of "Emanation"), first of the comprehensive Four spiritual Worlds after the Shevirah , through the secondary transformation of

21252-504: The sephirot comprise the inner "life of God;" their unification is humanity's task. When the sephiroth unite above in Atziluth, the Shekhinah unites with God below and blessings are channelled into physical creation. The " Patach Eliyahu " section of the Zohar relates that the sephirot only exist from the perspective of Creation. From the Divine perspective, only unity exists. The sephiroth are

21413-405: The sephirot in Medieval Kabbalah. In Lurianic Kabbalah their difference becomes the root cause of the new process of dynamic crisis-catharsis in the Divine unfolding of Creation. Akudim is the initial stable stage of Olam HaTohu (the "World of Chaos"), the first emergence of the sephirot in undifferentiated unity, 10 lights encompassed in one vessel. In this supreme abundance of Divinity, there

21574-436: The sephirot into personas. Atzilut, therefore, is generally referred to by "Olam Hatiqqun" (the "World of Rectification"). All three stages Akudim , Nekudim , Berudim are also described sometimes as three initial stages in the emergence of the World of Atzilut. However, in general, unqualified reference to "Atzilut" denotes its complete recified form after Berudim, the first of the comprehensive Four Worlds . In Kabbalah,

21735-502: The sevenfold series of true prophets, comprising Adam , Seth , Noah , Abraham , Zoroaster , Buddha , and Jesus . The stepping-stone from the Gnostic original man to Manichaeism was probably the older Mandaean conception, which may have exercised great influence. Of this conception, however, there remains in the later Mandaean writings little more than the expression "Gabra Ḳadmaya" (Adam Ḳadmon). Adam Kasia , also referred to using

21896-430: The significance of Jewish religious observances. Historically, Kabbalah emerged from earlier forms of Jewish mysticism , in 12th- to 13th-century Spain and Southern France , and was reinterpreted during the Jewish mystical renaissance in 16th-century Ottoman Palestine . The Zohar , the foundational text of Kabbalah, was authored in the late 13th century, likely by Moses de León . Isaac Luria (16th century)

22057-577: The souls of Man who are the inner dimension of all spiritual and physical worlds, yet simultaneously the Infinite Divine generative lifesource beyond Creation that continuously keeps everything spiritual and physical in existence); Sephirot bridge the philosophical problem of the One and the Many; Man is both Divine ( Adam Kadmon ) and human (invited to project human psychology onto Divinity to understand it); Tzimtzum

22218-413: The subsequent Four Worlds in stable Creation (called the realms of Tikkun "rectification"). As the fragments are animated by exiled divine sparks, a consciousness unaware of its divine dependence, the resulting Creation can exist independently rather than being nullified by its source. This process, however, overspills into the realms of evil (qlippoth "shells"). Tiqqun is supremely embodied in the highest of

22379-506: The supernal Torah , Olamot (Spiritual Worlds), a Divine Tree and Archetypal Man , Angelic Chariot and Palaces , male and female, enclothed layers of reality, inwardly holy vitality and external Kelipot shells, 613 channels ("limbs" of the King) and the divine Souls of Man . These symbols are used to describe various levels and aspects of Divine manifestation, from the Pnimi (inner) dimensions to

22540-575: The supernal divine flow, uniting masculine and feminine forces on High. With this, the feminine Divine presence in this world is drawn from exile to the Holy One Above. The 613 mitzvot are embodied in the organs and soul of man. Lurianic Kabbalah incorporates this in the more inclusive scheme of Jewish messianic rectification of exiled divinity. Jewish mysticism, in contrast to Divine transcendence rationalist human-centred reasons for Jewish observance, gave Divine-immanent providential cosmic significance to

22701-769: The sword on the hero’s thigh, girded and accessible to him whenever he wishes to unsheathe it and use it to overpower his fellow—this is his glory and splendor. This is the idea wherever they expound a midrashic parable or allegory ; they believe that both “the internal and external” are true By expressing itself using symbols and myth that transcend single interpretations, Theosophical Kabbalah incorporates aspects of philosophy , Jewish theology , psychology and unconscious depth psychology , mysticism and meditation , Jewish exegesis , theurgy , and ethics , as well as overlapping with theory from magical elements . Its symbols can be read as questions which are their own existentialist answers (the Hebrew sephirah Chokmah -Wisdom,

22862-472: The ten emanations and attributes of God with which he continually sustains the existence of the universe. The Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts elaborate on the emergence of the sephirot from a state of concealed potential in the Ein Sof until their manifestation in the mundane world. In particular, Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (known as "the Ramak"), describes how God emanated the myriad details of finite reality out of

23023-526: The term Kabbalah is used to refer to a canon of secret mystical books by medieval Jews, these aforementioned books and other works in their constellation are the books and the literary sensibility to which the term refers. Even later the word is adapted or appropriated in Western esotericism ( Christian Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah ), where it influences the tenor and aesthetics of European occultism practiced by gentiles or non-Jews. But above all, Jewish Kabbalah

23184-406: The texts of kabbalah were once part of an ongoing oral tradition , though, over the centuries, much of the oral tradition has been written down. Jewish forms of esotericism existed over 2,000 years ago. Ben Sira (born c.  170 BCE ) warns against it, saying: "You shall have no business with secret things". Nonetheless, mystical studies were undertaken and resulted in mystical literature,

23345-534: The tools of modern and postmodern philosophy and psychology , Sanford Drob shows philosophically how every symbol of the Kabbalah embodies the simultaneous dialectical paradox of mystical Coincidentia oppositorum , the conjoining of two opposite dualities. Thus the Infinite Ein Sof is above the duality of Yesh/Ayin Being/Non-Being transcending Existence/Nothingness ( Becoming into Existence through

23506-496: The totality of the emotions and shattered. This caused the total light to proceed downwards, shattering each vessel. The succession was altered in Yesod, the channel of connection to Malkhuth. Initially, it received only the light for Malkhuth, which it projected on. It then also shattered under its light. However, this enabled Malchut to partially absorb its light before collapsing; the lower external aspects of Malkhuth were strengthened, so

23667-419: The true meaning and deeper systemisation of the Zohar . Lurianic Kabbalah became the dominant system in Jewish mysticism, displacing Cordovero's, and afterwards, the Zohar was read by Jewish Kabbalists in its light. Medieval Kabbalah depicts a linear descending hierarchy of Ohr "Light", the ten sefirot or divine attributes emerging from concealment in the Ein Sof "Divine Infinity" to enact Creation, with

23828-517: The ultimate Persona of the antagonist Takuto Maruki is named Adam Kadmon. Kabbalah Jewish Kabbalists originally developed their own transmission of sacred texts within the realm of Jewish tradition and often use classical Jewish scriptures to explain and demonstrate its mystical teachings. These teachings are held by Kabbalists to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional rabbinic literature and their formerly concealed transmitted dimension, as well as to explain

23989-416: The ultimate divine purpose for creation, i.e., mankind, as well as an embodiment of the Sefirot (divine attributes). Adam Kadmon is paradoxically both "Adam" and divine ("Kadmon-Primary"). Adam Kadmon preceded the manifestation of the Four Worlds , Atzilut ("emanation"), Beriah ("creation"), Yetzirah ("formation") and Asiyah ("action"). Whereas each of the Four Worlds is represented by one letter of

24150-451: The universal Messianic era when all peoples will "go up to the mountain of the Lord" to follow the 7 Laws of Noah . The eight kings listed who reigned in Edom before any king of Israel embodied the eight sephirot of Da'at to Malkhuth in the world of Chaos: the shattered vessels. Of each, it says they lived and died, death connoting the soul-light of the sephirot ascending back to its source while

24311-484: The unlimited divine bounty within suitable vessels, so forming the Worlds. However, if man sins (actualising impure judgement within his soul), the supernal Judgement is reciprocally empowered over the Kindness, introducing disharmony among the Sephirot in the divine realm and exile from God throughout Creation. The demonic realm, though illusory in its holy origin, becomes the real apparent realm of impurity in lower Creation. In

24472-464: The vacuum. Then a ray of divine light penetrated the vacuum and the persona of Adam Kadmon was projected into the vacuum. The first stage of Adam Kadmon was in the form of ten concentric circles ( igulim ), which emanated from the ray. The ray of light was then enclothed by the anthropomorphic form of Adam Kadmon ( yosher ), which is a realm of infinite divine light without vessels, constrained by its potential to create future Existence. Adam Kadmon

24633-463: The very beginning the King made engravings in the supernal purity. A spark of blackness emerged in the sealed within the sealed, from the mystery of the Ayn Sof, a mist within matter, implanted in a ring, no white, no black, no red, no yellow, no colour at all. When He measured with the standard of measure, He made colours to provide light. Within the spark, in the innermost part, emerged a source, from which

24794-399: The vessels, then animates (fills) them. Only the vessels differ in their natures, while the light remains unified. Isaac Luria accepted this but adapted it to his new scheme. As the Kav "ray" of illumination shines into the ḥalal or primordial "vacuum"), beginning Creation, it first forms the pristine realm of Adam Kadmon ("Primordial Man"), described in previous Kabbalah, the first of

24955-540: The views of some Kabbalists this conceives "evil" as a "quality of God", asserting that negativity enters into the essence of the Absolute. In this view it is conceived that the Absolute needs evil to "be what it is", i.e., to exist. Foundational texts of Medieval Kabbalism conceived evil as a demonic parallel to the holy, called the Sitra Achra (the "Other Side"), and the qlippoth (the "shells/husks") that cover and conceal

25116-491: The whole history of Jewish mysticism, beyond the particular Kabbalistic background of the Middle Ages. They can be readily distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God: According to Kabbalistic belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets , and sages, eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this view, early kabbalah was, in around

25277-529: The word Kabbalah undergoes a transformation of its meaning in medieval Judaism, in the books which are now primarily referred to as 'the Kabbalah': the Bahir , the Zohar , Etz Hayim etc. In these books the word Kabbalah is used in manifold new senses. During this major phase it refers to the continuity of revelation in every generation, on the one hand, while also suggesting the necessity of revelation to remain concealed and secret or esoteric in every period by formal requirements native to sacred truth. When

25438-446: Was Philo , in whose view the γενικός , or οὐράνιος ἄνθρωπος , "as being born in the image of God , has no participation in any corruptible or earthlike essence; whereas the earthly man is made of loose material, called a lump of clay." The heavenly man, as the perfect image of the Logos , is neither man nor woman, but an incorporeal intelligence purely an idea; while the earthly man, who

25599-637: Was a minor, permitted tradition restricted for a few elite. Today, many publications on Kabbalah belong to the non-Jewish New Age and occult traditions of Cabala, rather than giving an accurate picture of Judaic Kabbalah. Instead, academic and traditional Jewish publications now translate and study Judaic Kabbalah for wide readership. The definition of Kabbalah varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it. According to its earliest and original usage in ancient Hebrew it means 'reception' or 'tradition', and in this context it tends to refer to any sacred writing composed after (or otherwise outside of)

25760-468: Was created by God later, is perceptible to the senses and partakes of earthly qualities. Philo is evidently combining philosophy and Midrash , Plato and the rabbis. Setting out from the duplicate biblical account of Adam , who was formed in the image of God ( Genesis 1:27 ), and of the first man, whose body God formed from the earth ( Genesis 2:7 ), he combines with it the Platonic theory of forms ; taking

25921-469: Was read by Luria in Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was tohu wa-bohu (Chaos and Void), with darkness over the surface of the deep." Each sephirah emerges as an independent principle so that intellect does not mediate the absolute emotional expressions; kindness, severity, and so forth become opposing forces. This "flaw" in the Divine realm emerges because the sephirot are in the mode of Igulim ("Circles"), like discreet, sequential concentric circles. They become

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