the Jewish Kabbala which is based upon a highly complicated number mysticism, whereby the primordial One divides itself into 10 sefirot (from safar, number), which are mysteriously connected with each other and work together, with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet serving as "bridges" between them. The highest sefirah is keter (Crown), out of which hokhmah (Wisdom) and binah (Intelligence) branch out. The fourth sefirah can be called hesed (Love) or gedullah (Greatness); the fifth one is gevurah (Justice); the sixth one tiferet (Beauty), and the seventh netsah (Triumph). Added to them are hod (Splendor) as the eighth, yesod (Fundament) as the ninth, and finally malkhut (Kingdom or Reality). This last sefirah can also be equated with the Shekhinah that lives in the exile of this world. Out of the 10 sefirot, which are perhaps best called logoi or primor- dial ideas, comes the world of the first divine emanation, atsilut. There are three more worlds, which also depend upon the 10 sefirot: the world of creation and the heavenly spheres, beriah; the world of the figurations of creatures connected with the heavenly realm, like spirits and angels, yetsirah; and finally the world of matter, asiyah. Since the Hebrew letters also serve as numbers, the figure of the sefirot and its derivations lead to fascinating relations between the different parts of the world. The vast field of cabalistic hermeneutics, masterfully described by Gershom Scholem, is permeated by number mysticism.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 02:24:20 +0000
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