Parallel Lines Meet at Infinity
The primary meaning of “Kabbalah” means “to parallel.” The wisdom of Kabbalah is the art of finding correspondences between seemingly disparate things, thus revealing their underlying unity.
Until the 12th century, Jewish mysticism was known by various names, such as "Secrets of the Torah" and "Reasons of the Torah." However, gradually the term "Kabbalah" became established, and it is by this name that it is known to this day. The final name of a thing is not random but reveals something about its inner essence. So, what can the word "Kabbalah" teach us about the wisdom of Kabbalah?
To receive vs. to parallel
Usually, the term Kabbalah is interpreted as stemming from the verb lekabel, “to receive.” Kabbalah is perceived as a wisdom that one receives from a previous, higher authority. However, looking up the biblical origin of the root k-b-l (the three-letter root of “Kabbalah”) reveals that the verb "to receive" is not the earliest and most fundamental usage of this root. The root appears in this meaning only in the third and latest part of the Bible, the Ketuvim or "Writings" part.1 In the earlier and more sacred Pentateuch (the first part of the Bible known simply as Torah) the root k-b-l appears only in the verb lehakbil, which means “to parallel” or “create correspondences.”2
A basic rule of interpretation establishes that the first appearance of a word in the Torah exposes something about its deepest essence. Before Kabbalah was associated with receiving, then, it was linked with corresponding or creating parallels. But in what way?
We perceive with our senses that the world around us is characterized by a vast multiplicity of phenomena and entities. Our belief leads us to assume that there is a hidden unity behind these diverse entities, which creates and sustains them. But what lies between these two realms? Is there an abyss between the one divine "nothingness" and the multiplicity of created "somethings," or is there an intermediate realm mediating between them? Kabbalah upholds the latter. It claims such an intermediate realm exists, and the world's first Kabbalistic book, Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Formation, traditionally attributed to the first Jew, Abraham), provides a detailed description of it.
The intermediate realm between the singular Creator and the multiplicity of created beings is described as containing a restricted and defined structure or model, a set of energy channels which serves as a kind of 'toolbox' through which the Holy Blessed One, created the world and continues to sustain it at every moment.
The most basic Kabbalistic model is God’s four-letter name, the tetragrammaton. Although God Himself is one, His name is made up four letters, י-ה-ו-ה (y-h-v-h), whose structure is seen as encompassing all of “being” (a word which in Hebrew is made of the very same letters, הויה, havayah). However, this model can be extended to include ten elements, called the sefirot, or “emanations.” The ten sefirot form a structure that is embedded in all reality and serves as its kind of inner map of the world. Furthermore, these ten sefirot are interconnected by twenty-two channels which correspond to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.3
Together, the ten sefirot and the twenty-two letters are referred to as the “Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom.” In the Jewish tradition, numbers are written as letters, and thus sometimes have linguistic meanings. When one writes the number 32 it becomes the word lev, which means “heart.” This suggests that the thirty-two paths of wisdom serve, so to speak, as the heart of creation. They are arranged according to the following very specific pattern:
Now, in as much as this pattern is a multiplicity it is part creation, which is made up of many parts; but in as much as its organs are few, general, and abstract it is closer in character to the Creator, who is characterized by unity.
If all things in reality are created using a finite set of channels, then their various structures must correspond to one another. Discovering these correspondences reveals the hidden common root from which the various phenomena stem. When this is properly understood, contemplation of the Kabbalistic principles cultivates an experience of unity and oneness in the soul, bringing it closer to its Divine source. Every correspondence discovered in the Torah and in the world is like an additional rung added to the ladder that brings us closer to God. This is the purpose of Kabbalah and the connection between it and the act of hakbalah, creating correspondences.4
Kabbalah as interface
To illustrate this let us examine a very basic Kabbalistic model, that of the levels of the soul.
The Sages enumerate five basic attributes that the soul, which dwells in the body, and God, who dwells in the world, have in common. They derive this from the fact that the phrase “Bless the Lord, O my soul” repeats exactly five times in the Psalms.5 The ability of the soul to praise the Lord indicates a connection between them, and the repetition of this five times indicates its subdivision into five particular aspects.
Here is what the Sages made of this, in their own words:6
Just as the Holy Blessed One fills the entire world, so too does the soul fill the entire body.
Just as the Holy Blessed One sees without being seen, so too does the soul see without being seen.
Just as the Holy Blessed One sustains the entire world, so too does the soul sustain the entire body.
Just as the Holy Blessed One is pure, so too is the soul pure.
Just as the Holy Blessed One dwells in chambers within chambers, so too does the soul dwell in chambers within chambers.
As we can see, this interpretation itself is an exercise in correspondence: it creates parallels between the attributes of the soul and the attributes of the Holy Blessed One. Another thing we can distinguish is that the order of the attributes ascends from bottom to top: the first attribute speaks of the presence in the "body," i.e., the point of connection between the soul and this world; and the last attribute speaks of a seat in the "chambers of chambers," i.e., the point of connection between the soul and its heavenly source (the expression "chambers of chambers" alludes to infinite chambers, one inside the other, to the Holy of Holies in the Temple, and also to the infinity of God from whom the soul emanates).
Now, in a completely different and seemingly unrelated place the Sages indicate that the soul also has five names:7
Who knows the spirit of human beings, five names are called for it: nefesh (“anima”), ruach (“spirit”), neshamah (“soul”), chayah (“living one”), yechidah (“singular one”).
For each of the names, the sages bring a source from the Scriptures, but they do not elaborate beyond that.
Now, the sages do not make any connection between these two interpretations, nor do they offer any Kabbalistic structure to explain them. The revealed literature of the Torah does not tend to highlight the Kabbalistic teachings nor to expose the inner architectural plan of creation. However, when a student of Kabbalah stands before these two interpretations, one counting five attributes to the soul and the other pointing out its five names, a lightbulb immediately goes on in his mind, telling him that the two must be interconnected.
Plus, if he is skilled in gematria, an incredible surprise awaits him: After calculating the sum of the words nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah,and yechidah (נפש רוח נשמה חיה יחידה), he discovers it exactly matches the verse “Bless the Lord, O my soul” (ברכי נפשי את י־הוה) upon which the whole interpretation of the five attributes is based! The two interpretations are thus a true heavenly pair, just waiting for someone to “marry” them.8
How can one bridge the two systems that appear in these two interpretations? Creating the correct correspondence between two sets of concepts is no simple matter. Beyond the extensive knowledge required to perform it, one needs a certain well-honed Kabbalistic “sense.” In our case, it is a relatively simple and straightforward correspondence, and therefore we can easily explain it here.
We have already mentioned that it is possible to arrange the five attributes in the first interpretation ina bottom-up way. Now, what about the five names? In this case, the Kabbalists have already done the work for us and explained at length that the names express five layers in the soul, which are also arranged from bottom to top: the nefesh layer is the most grounded; the ruach layer expresses a higher level; and so on.9
Based on this, we can draw up the following table:10
Name Attribute Yechidah (“singular one”) Dwells in the innermost chambers Chayah (“living one”) Pure Neshamah (“soul”) Nourishes the entire body Ruach (“spirit”) Sees but is not seen Nefesh (“anima”) Fills the entire body
Many of us are put off by tables, as they remind us of the boring textbooks we had to suffer through in school (or alternatively, the boring bank statements we have to suffer through today). Studying Kabbalistic correspondences, on the other hand, can be a very enriching experience that stimulates our minds, hearts, and souls. What can we gain from the correspondence before us?
Levels of the Soul
The first thing we gain from this correspondence is a coherent model of the soul's layers. What was previously a scattering of attributes and synonymous names is now arranged into levels in a multi-layered structure. We can now distinguish between different planes within the soul, call them by their proper names, and hence learn about their relationship to each other.
Secondly, from the multi-level structure emerges a developmental model of the soul. Since the dimensions are arranged from bottom to top, we can infer from them the stages of complete spiritual development: mastery in the nefesh level leads to the discovery of the ruach level, mastery in ruach leads to the discovery of the neshamah level, and so on.
Thirdly, the Kabbalah between the interpretations allows us to find mutual correspondences between them, as well as other systems built on the same model of five levels. The multiplicity of Kabbalistic teachings allows us to compare from system to system and learn new things about each one.
But above all, the Kabbalah teaches us about the character and quality of each dimension. Each of the words nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah now corresponds to a specific characteristic that tells us about its nature:
The nefesh (“anima”) layer is revealed as the most basic level that fills and drives the body. It represents the inner aspect of the body, so to speak, the basic sense of vitality that we experience within us. The nefesh layer characterizes all living creatures (as implied in the verse “the blood is the nefesh,”11 and by the fact that the word nefesh is also used in connection with animals12).
The ruach (“spirit”) layer is revealed as a higher and more hidden dimension, characterized as “seeing but not being seen.” If we expand this expression, we can interpret it to mean it senses but is not sensed. We learn from this that our sensitivity to others and to reality as a whole resides in the ruach level, but this sensitivity is itself modest and hidden (we also that the previous layer, nefesh, is relatively “seen and doesn’t see” or “sensed but isn’t sensitive” – i.e we do experience it consciously, but it is not sensitive enough to others).
The neshamah (“soul”) layer is revealed as a layer that nourishes us. The feelings of satisfaction, joy, and self-fulfillment that we so eagerly seek are therefore dependent on the neshamah layer shining ithn us: If it is fulfilled, it fills and nourishes as well (we can also infer now that the previous two dimensions, nefesh and ruach, do not fill and nourish us as it does).
The chayah (“living one”) layer within us is described as pure. The implication is that this part is elevated above this world and is untarnished by its falsehoods and impurities (unlike the previous three dimensions, which apparently are not as pure as it is). The chayah dimension floats, as it were, above the waters of the world, and if we succeed in connecting to it, we too can aspire to inhale its pure air and be revived from it.13
Lastly, the yechidah (“singular one”) layer is described as “residing in chambers within chambers.” As mentioned, this circular expression hints at infinite chambers, one within the other. The implication is that the yechidah layer can never be fully attained, but only approached more and more. It expresses the essence of tzelem Elokim (“image of God”) within us, a spark of infinity we share with God (in contrast to the previous four dimensions, which apparently are relatively finite and limited).
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This model of the layers of the soul is relatively simple, and what was said here hasn't even scratched the surface of what there is to learn about it. But it is sufficient to somewhat illustrate to us the power of Kabbalistic correspondence. When done properly and contemplated deeply, Kabbalistic correspondences can awaken dormant and unconscious levels of the soul, integrate them into our consciousness, and use them for its growth.
This essay was writen through the kind support of my Patreon supporters:
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Proverbs 11:20.
Exodus 26:35; 36:12.
Beautifully, the four numbers we listed—1 (God’s oneness), 4 (the tetragrammaton), 10 (the sefirot), and 22 (Hebrew letters)—may be seen as evolving one from the other according to the simple formula 2n+2: place 1 in n and you get 4; place 4 in n and you get 10; place 10 in n and you get 22. This is a beautiful illustration of how plurality gradually and consistently evolves out of unity.
There is, of course, another major human endeavor seeking to find a middle ground between empirical phenomena and their hidden source: science. The laws of nature formulated by science is an attempt to reconstruct the basic structural patterns by which nature is organized – the same object as that of Kabbalah. Indeed, it can be said that science and Kabbalah complement each other: Both try to outline the fundamental patterns at the basis of creation, but from different directions: science does this through observations, hypotheses, and experiments in nature, and Kabbalah does this through deep study of the Torah.
Three times in Psalm 133 and twice in Psalm 144.
Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 10a.
E.g. Yalkut Shimoni, Ecclesiastes, 3:569.
That same number – 1,099 – is also the numerical value of the expression from the Midrash, hamisha shemot, “five names.”
It should be noted that other versions of this interpretation list yechidah before chayah, but in Kabbalah, this order is definitive.
These five levels also correspond to the above-mentioned four-letter name of God, with the addition of a special first level called "tip of yud" which corresponds to yechidah.
Deuteronomy 12:23.
The first appearance of the word nefesh in the Torah is in the context of the creation of the first living creatures: "And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures [nefesh chayah]...'" (Genesis 1:20).
According to the Kabbalah, the chayah layer corresponds to the avira—the "air" or gap that is found between the brain and the skull.