[[Image:Sephirot.gif|frame|right|The Sefirot in Jewish Kabbalah]]

'''Sephirot''' (or "enumerations", '''Sephiroth''', '''Sefiroth''' (סְפִירוֹת), singular: Sephirah, also Sefirah (סְפִירָה "enumeration" in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]])), in the [[Kabbalah]] of [[Judaism]], are the ten attributes that [[names of God in Judaism|God]] (who is referred to as אור אין סוף ''Aur Ain Soph'', "Limitless Light, Light Without End") created through which he can manifest not only the physical but the metaphysical universe.

Alternative traditions consider the grammatical genders of the words involved. Thus, ''Gevurah'' is feminine because it has an atonal finial ''Heh''. Thus, Severity or Justice becomes a feminine attribute while ''Chesed'' (Mercy or Lovingkindness) becomes a masculine one, despite the modern Western tendency to genderize these terms in reverse manner.

The Sephirothic Tree is sometimes depicted as being a human body and, as such, is thought to symbolize the first "Heavenly" Man: [[Adam Kadmon]] ~~who is identified by [[Manly Hall]] as the Idea of the Universe~~. Each of the Sephirah, as seen within the formation of the Sephiroth, correspond with a body part or organ of this prototypical man.

==Numerology==

*The Doubles represent the seven times Genesis states “God saw."

*The elementals represent the rest of the times “God” (Elohim in every instance of Genesis Chapter 1) is mentioned.

==Spirituality and Parables==

[[Basic Introduction to Jewish Mysticism|Jewish mysticism]] is really only the ability to understand analogies or parables.

According to the verse "Man was created in the image of G-d", this is interpreted to mean that by understanding our own mental and spiritual faculties we can have some weak impression of G-dliness. Anything that one thinks about has a beginning, middle and end. In truth the mystics have refined this to ten steps. Just as everything has a beginning, middle and end, it has the ten sefirot. (These ten gradations of our perception of any "thing" that exists are a logical tool, a natural outgrowth of the way that G-d has made the human mind to work. In terms of Jewish Tradition, the mystics derive these principles from the 13 hermeneutical principles of interpretation).

They are ten levels of gradation to any action or object. For instance in building a house, we could say 1) we need a house, 2) we build it, 3) we live in it; or we could describe this process more finely into ten steps:

# Need Rooms,

# Need Hallways

# Once you have rooms and hallways you make a Blueprint,

# Find Workers

# Negotiate payment

# Once you have the above you have make a Budget,

# Talented Workers,

# Supplies,

# Actual Building,

# Living in the House.

These ten steps are like a great elastic rubber band which can be stretched bigger or smaller to fit any idea or concept. This finer level of detail allows us to find the corresponding steps between to objects, and allow us to make an analogy from one thing to another. This is the essence of a parable.

For us to use parables, we must have some source to make the parable from: This is the Torah, as interpreted by authentic Jewish tradition. It is written that every day the L-rd renews the acts of creation in His goodness. This means that the L-rd is constantly recreating the world at every moment. Because the Torah is the blueprint of creation, this means that the Torah is being replayed constantly. For us to "connect" with Scripture we must be able to see the analogies between the stories in the Bible and our lives. For example, going to the bank may be an aspect of Jacob and Lavan. Hosting guests may be an aspect of Abraham hosting guests in his tent.

This is what it means to teach in parables, and why it is so important to keep one's eyes and mind clear of filth and pollution so that we can make the proper, undistorted, analogies between ourselves and the Torah in absolutely everything that we do. For Noachides, these mystical concepts are very relevant because it allow us to find our place in the processes of the rectification, and to keep our actions aligned with Scripture, as interpreted by authentic Jewish tradition.

==References==

[[Category:Sephiroth]]

[[Category:~~Kabbalah~~Jewish Mysticism]]

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/extensions/MobileFrontend/includes/diff/InlineDiffFormatter.php:33) in /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/includes/WebResponse.php on line 42

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/extensions/MobileFrontend/includes/diff/InlineDiffFormatter.php:33) in /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/includes/WebResponse.php on line 42

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/extensions/MobileFrontend/includes/diff/InlineDiffFormatter.php:33) in /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/includes/WebResponse.php on line 42

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/extensions/MobileFrontend/includes/diff/InlineDiffFormatter.php:33) in /home/bpilant613/public_html/w/includes/WebResponse.php on line 42
Changes - Wikinoah English

Changes

Sephirot

No change in size, 09:03, 5 April 2007

no edit summary

← Older edit

Abrahamson

Bureaucrat, editor, administrator

3,464

edits