Tag Archives: Netzach

Elements of the Sefirot

As we continue counting the Omer in these weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, it is worth exploring another facet of the mystical Sefirot: their elements. It is well-known that the Sefirah of Chessed, “kindness”, is associated with water. Chessed represents positivity, generosity, and largesse (it is also called Gedulah). Chessed is flowing and life-giving, like water. On the other side, the Sefirah of Gevurah, “strength”, is always associated with fire. Gevurah represents restraint and severity. It is also commonly called Din, “judgement” and punishment. The burning flames are an appropriate metaphor and symbol.

Balancing the first two Sefirot is the third, Tiferet, literally “beauty”, harmony, or symmetry. Tiferet is the golden middle path. It is all about balance, and that’s where real truth is found, so it is also called Emet. Tiferet corresponds to the next major element, air. The ancient mystical text Sefer Yetzirah (3:3) states that “air balances fire and water” (והאויר מכריע בין האש ובין המים). It is hinting to a great secret of chemistry that no one could have known back then. Water is H2O, composed of the two gases hydrogen and oxygen. Most of the molecular weight of water (about 89%) is oxygen, which makes up about 20% of our air. Fire, meanwhile, requires oxygen to burn, and typically produces H2O as a product in the smoke and steam that emerge into the air. So, air does play a key role in both water and fire, balancing the two opposing forces.

Beneath Tiferet on the tree of Sefirot is Yesod, “foundation”, also referred to as Tzadik to represent true “righteousness”, and being the realm of intimacy and sexual purity. Yesod is “grounded-ness”, too, and fittingly parallels the element of earth. Sometimes, one will find that the Sefirah beneath Yesod, the “feminine” Malkhut, is called “earth” as well. Malkhut is literally “kingdom”, and is sometimes referred to as Shiflut, “lowliness” or humility, which is intrinsically tied to kingship or leadership. The difference elementally is that Yesod is afar, the actual dust of the earth, while Malkhut is aretz, the Earth itself, and its landmasses. The landmasses contain all the elements, including bodies of water and the atmosphere above, as well as the molten lava beneath the crust. It is like Malkhut, which sits at the bottom of the Sefirot and is seen as the receptacle that collects from all of the above.

In Western philosophy, there is a fifth element, the most subtle and sublime, called ether or quintessence. One could parallel Malkhut (commonly associated with the Shekhinah, the “divine presence”) with the ether as well. On the other side of the world, Eastern philosophy has the elements wood and metal instead of earth and ether. Scientifically, the Earth is full of metal. Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the crust, followed by iron, calcium, and sodium. And beneath the crust is mostly iron and nickel. One can integrate the Eastern system by paralleling earth-like wood with Yesod, and metal with Malkhut.

Indeed, we find that the tzadik (Yesod) is often described as a tree that has deep roots and foundations, as in Psalm 92:13-14 or Avot 3:17. And a kingdom (Malkhut) requires abundant metal both to build itself up and assert its rule. In fact, we find detailed lists of all the metals that the kings of Israel amassed, and even the metals that David specifically left for Solomon (I Chronicles 29:1-2), and in order to build the Temple, including “5,000 talents of gold, 10,000 darics, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of copper, 100,000 talents of iron.” (I Chronicles 29:7, for the significance of this, see the class on ‘Torah Chemistry’.) Keep in mind, too, that Malkhut represents the “vessel” or “receptacle”, which we typically make from metals.

Electromagnetism

So where does that put the remaining two “twin” Sefirot of Netzach and Hod? One is unlikely to find ancient texts that parallel these mysterious Sefirot to any elements. However, a careful reading of the available texts can point to the hidden answer. (I have discussed it briefly in the past, in ‘Secrets of the Menorah Psalm’ in Garments of Light, Volume One, and more fully last year in the class on ‘Kabbalah of the Omer’.) There are two more “twin” forces in nature that can be grouped together with the primordial elements: electricity and light. Both are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and their energies travel nearly 300,000 kilometres per second. Netzach and Hod are considered the roots of prophecy, so it is fitting to parallel them to electricity and light, through which we see and receive visions. Our eyes pick up light photons and convert them to electrical signals sent to the brain for processing.

More specifically, Netzach means “eternity” or “victory”, and represents perseverance, diligence, and faith. It lies under Chessed (which is water), and is an extension of it. Interestingly, today the vast majority of our electricity is generated using water at some point in the process, either in hydro plants and hydroelectric dams where flowing water directly spins a turbine; or in coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power plants that boil water into steam to spin a turbine. Fuel cells, meanwhile, combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, and water comes out as the byproduct. There is an intrinsic link between water and electricity, just as there is between Chessed and Netzach. Furthermore, Netzach represents the ascent towards the Eternal One, and electrical chashmal energy is precisely what God’s “Chariots” are described as using to ascend to the Heavens and traverse the cosmos (as explored in the past here).

On the other side, Hod means “glory” and “gratitude”, and is also referred to as majesty, grace, and acknowledgement. A person with good Hod energy is said to exude a light and a glow. The splendour of Hod is also associated with the Torah’s deeper mysteries, secrets of light. There is a beautiful gematria here where the word for “secret” (רז) has a value of 207, equal to the word for “light” (אור)! And this is why the holiday that celebrates Jewish mysticism and the hidden light of the Torah, Lag b’Omer, is specifically on the 33rd day of the Omer, the Sefirah of which is Hod sh’b’Hod—splendour of splendour, light within light. We kindle bonfires to bring out more light into the world. Hod lies under Gevurah and is an extension of it (like Netzach and Chessed), so fittingly the light of Hod emerges out of the fires of Gevurah.

We can think of these elements as we focus on personal development during the Sefirat haOmer period. A Chessed person is kind and flowing. A Gevurah person is tough and stoic. A Tiferet person is spirited, creative, and social. A Netzach person is “electric”, diligent, and ambitious. A Hod person is “magnetic”, graceful and charming, with a warm glow. A Yesod person is righteous and grounded. A Malkhut person is humble, ethereal, and regal. With these elements and qualities in mind, we can hopefully make our Sefirat haOmer more meaningful. To summarize:

Happy Yom ha’Atzmaut!

Learning Resources for Yom ha’Atzmaut:
The Kabbalah of Yom ha’Atzmaut
Hidden History of Zionism (Video)
Spiritual Tools for Israel’s Military Might
The Four Holy Cities (Video)
Zionism Before Zionism

A Mystical Peek Into Megillat Esther

Purim is a deeply mystical holiday. In fact, Megillat Esther literally means “revealing the hidden”. While God is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the Scroll, His fingerprints can be found all over it. In the same way, the Megillah is imbued with tremendous hidden wisdom. That it has a total of 10 chapters is the first clue, and if you read carefully, you will find that just about every Sefirah is mentioned!

The first Sefirah is Keter, the great “Crown” of God, and the first chapter of the Megillah is all about highlighting the greatness of Achashverosh’s crown and kingdom. Our Sages taught that Achashverosh wished to dress in the vestments of the kohen gadol, to “crown” himself as a king of the Jews (Megillah 12a). As is well-known, it was also taught that every time the Megillah refers to “the king” without a name, it is secretly referring to the King, to God. In Kabbalah, Keter always refers to Willpower (Ratzon), since the starting point of any endeavour is the will to do it. Everything begins with a will, and the universe began with God’s Will to create it, setting all of history in motion. Similarly, in the first chapter of the Megillah we find that Queen Vashti refuses to do the will of Achashverosh, thus setting the whole Purim story in motion.

The second Sefirah is Chokhmah, and the second chapter begins by introducing us to Mordechai, the paragon of a chakham, a Jewish sage. In Kabbalah, Chokhmah is also called Abba, the “father”, and we are told that Mordechai plays the role of an adopted father for the orphaned Esther. The third Sefirah is Binah, and the third chapter begins by introducing Haman, a master manipulator who knew how to twist people’s binah, “understanding”. Our Sages asked (Chullin 139b): where is Haman alluded to in the Torah? They answered that he is found in the words hamin ha’etz, “from the Tree”, referring to the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:11) Our Sages associate Haman with the Tree of Knowledge, the consumption of which brought evil into the world. According to one Kabbalistic view, the Tree of Life is associated with Chokhmah, while the Tree of Knowledge is associated with Binah, hence the mystical connection to Haman. It goes deeper. Continue reading →

The Spiritual Significance of Sefirat haOmer

The Torah commands that each day between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuot be verbally counted (Leviticus 23:15). Along with this counting, a bundle of barley was brought as an offering in the Holy Temple. The barley was measured in units of omer, with one omer being equal to approximately 3 litres. Today, we no longer have a Temple or barley offerings, but the mitzvah of counting the days between Pesach and Shavuot remains, and is referred to as Sefirat HaOmer, “the Counting of the Omer”. Since there are exactly seven weeks between the two holidays, there are 49 days which need to be counted. What is the deeper meaning behind this seemingly mundane practice?

The Fifty Levels

There are a number of spiritual explanations for Sefirat haOmer. Perhaps the most popular is the idea that in Egypt, the Jews were so deeply mired in the immoral and idolatrous Egyptian society that they had descended all the way down to the 49th level of impurity.

It is said that there are 50 levels of impurity, rooted in (or at least suggested by) the numerical value of the Hebrew word for “impure” (tam’e, טמא) which has a gematria of 50. The Jews had stooped down to the 49th level, and had they reached the 50th, there would have been no hope of salvation for them. Thus, God cut short the 400 year period of slavery that was decreed upon them, and immediately took the Jews out of Egypt before they could fall any further.

Corresponding to these, the Jewish mystics teach that there are 50 levels of constriction in the world. Egypt represented these 50 constrictions. Again, this can be illustrated through Hebrew and gematria: Egypt is Mitzrayim (מצרים), the root of which is tzar (צר, meaning “constrict” or “narrow”) and the suffix of which is ים, numerically equalling 50. Egypt is the land of 50 constrictions.

Following the Exodus, the task of the Jews was to cleanse themselves of the 49 levels of impurity which they had acquired, and to break free from all those constrictions that were imposed upon them. This is why they needed a 49-day period – one for each impurity and constriction – before they were ready for the Divine Revelation and reception of the Torah at Mt. Sinai on Shavuot.

The Tree of Life

The Passover Haggadah reminds us that each Jew must envision themselves as personally coming out of Egypt. Though we are thankfully no longer literally slaves, the truth is that each of us is still mired in some kind of constriction, be it a constriction to time or work, money or health, stress, fears, and all those others things that “narrow” our lives and confine us into various forms of spiritual slavery. The Torah commands each of us to break free, to remove all of those impurities and boundaries, and to elevate ourselves over this special period of 49 days. Each day is associated with a unique energy to help us in this path.

The 49 energies stem from the Kabbalistic “Tree of Life”. This Tree is composed of ten Sefirot (a term not coincidentally related to Sefirat HaOmer). These Ten Sefirot are regarded as the spiritual building blocks with which God created the universe (together with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet). It is said that all things in existence are permeated with these ten energies, and all things that are “ten” in the Torah correspond to the ten sefirot: the Ten Divine Utterances of Creation, the Ten Trials of Abraham, the Ten Plagues, the Ten Commandments, etc.

The top three sefirot are called the Mochin – the mental or intellectual faculties. The bottom seven are referred to as the Middot – the emotional and practical elements. During the time of the Omer, we are meant to focus on the purification of the bottom seven sefirot. Meanwhile, on Shavuot – having received the Torah – we are then able to rise further to the upper three mental sefirot and focus on intellectual development.

Etz Chaim, “Tree of Life”, Showing the 10 Sefirot and the 22 Lines that Unite Them (Corresponding to the Hebrew Alphabet), as Depicted by the Arizal

Therefore, each of the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot is associated with one of the seven Middot. The first week of the Omer corresponds to the sefirah of Chessed – kindness. The second to the sefirah of Gevurah – restraint and self-control. The third to Tiferet – balance (also called Emet – truth). The fourth is Netzach – “victory”, or persistence (often associated with faith). The fifth, Hod – gratitude, and the sixth, Yesod – literally “foundation”, referring to sexual purity. Lastly there’s Malkhut, “kingdom”, which is associated with the faculty of speech.

Each of the seven days of the week is further associated with one of these seven sefirot. So, the first day of each week corresponds to Chessed, and the second day of each week to Gevurah, and so on. This gives each of the 49 days a totally unique quality which one should be meditating on, and more importantly, attempting to rectify.

For example, tonight we will count the third day, with the corresponding sefirah of Tiferet sh’b’Chessed, “Balance (or Truth) in Kindness”. This suggests developing a harmonious approach to kindness: being a more giving person; charitable, helpful, sympathetic, but also making sure not to be taken advantage of or tricked into false kindness. Unfortunately, misplaced kindness has become a staple of Western society. (How often do we see well-meaning liberals supporting the “poor and disadvantaged” terrorists?) Tonight’s sefirah might be summarized well by the old Midrashic teaching that “those who are kind to the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the kind.”

Similarly, each of the remaining 49 days has a powerful message to teach us, hence the tremendous importance of Sefirat HaOmer – counting and meditating upon each and every one of these very special days.

The article above is adapted from Garments of Light – 70 Illuminating Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion and Holidays. Click here to get the book!