Glossary

רמ״ח אברים דמלכאThe Zohar’s name for the 248 positive mitzvos: as limbs are vessels for the soul’s life, the mitzvos are vessels through which the Or Ein Sof, clothed in Zeir Anpin (“the King”), is drawn below.

אבא ואמאChochmah and Binah as father and mother, who beget the middos (love and awe, “son and daughter”). Abba is self-nullifying insight, source of the chassadim; Imma is comprehension, source of the gevuros.

אבא יסד ברתאThe Zohar’s “Abba (Chochmah) founded the daughter (Malchus)”: Malchus, the divine speech and the lower awe, has its root and source in Chochmah, the higher awe, and rises back toward it.

אחדות השםG‑d’s oneness: He is simple in utter simplicity, beyond all division; all worlds are nullified before Him and included in His unity, which Israel draws down and reveals below.

אדםThe supernal “man”: G‑dly light clothed in the ten sefiros, ordered in a man’s form, the figure on the throne (adameh l’Elyon, “likened to the One Above”). In Himself He is “not a man.”

אדם קדמוןThe general Keser of all the worlds, above Atzilus: the Supernal Will that the ten Sefiros come to be, including them all. Relative to the Emanator it is only “Adam of Beriah.”

אהבה בתענוגיםLove with delights: the soul delights in G‑d as one who sees, “gazing on the glory of the King.” Mostly placed above ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam; the level of the tzaddik.

אהבה מסותרתThe natural love for G‑d hidden in every Jewish soul, a part of G‑d above; rooted above intellect, it is not made by contemplation, only brought into the open, and is ready for mesirus nefesh.

אהבה רבהGreat love: a love above reason and without limit, for G‑d Himself and not His radiance alone; higher than ahavas olam, the love bounded by intellect. Aharon the Kohen Gadol draws it into Israel.

אהבה ויראהLove, the soul’s longing to cleave to G‑d, and awe, its self-nullification before Him: opposites born of the mind (“son and daughter”), called the two “wings” that lift one’s service on high.

אהבת עולםThe love that comes from the world: from contemplating the G‑dly life hidden in the worlds. Bounded and clothed in the soul, it can lapse. Avraham’s love; it must precede ahavah rabbah.

עקודים נקודים וברודיםThree stages of the ten sefiros named in Etz Chaim: Akudim, all ten bound in one vessel without division; Nekudim, ten separate points (the world of Tohu); Berudim, the partzufim of Tikkun.

עלמא דפרודאThe world of separation: the worlds below Atzilus, where creations appear to exist as separate things, unlike Atzilus, where “He and His life are one.” Some passages place it below holiness, in kelipah.

עמלקThe kelipah of brazen haughtiness, “first of the nations” and root of the evil traits, that knows its Master yet rebels, cutting mind off from heart; G‑d’s war with it goes on in every generation.

ענוהHumility: a person’s sense of his own lowliness, holding himself as nothing before G‑d; and above, G‑d’s “humility” in lowering Himself to be clothed in greatness and to attend to lowly beings.

אנכיAnochi (“I”), as in “Anochi Havayah your G‑d”: G‑d’s own Essence, “I Myself,” beyond every name, even Havayah; at Sinai it was drawn to Israel, through Havayah, to become “your G‑d.”

אריך אנפיןThe partzuf of Keser below Atik: the root of the emanated and Supernal Will, sovev kol almin; Abba and Imma clothe its middos, and its light is “long,” reaching down even to Asiyah.

עשיהThe lowest of the four worlds, corresponding to action: its ten Sefiros are still holy, but below them lies kelipas nogah; this physical world is Malchus of Asiyah, its lowest level.

אספקלריא המאירה ושאינה מאירהTwo ways of seeing G‑dliness: the shining glass (clear glass) shows the essence by direct light, as Moshe saw; the glass that does not shine (a mirror) shows only a likeness, yet reaches higher levels.

עתיקThe inner partzuf of Keser: the lowest level of the Emanator, Or Ein Sof clothed in Atzilus, not counted among the Ten Sefiros; “removed” from all, all face, the source of delight.

עצרתAtzeres, the name of Shemini Atzeres (also the seventh day of Pesach and Shavuos), read as kelitah, absorption, and kenishin, gathering: the light drawn as Or Makif on Sukkos is taken in and held inwardly.

אצילותThe first revelation in the chain of worlds (vayaetzel, “drew off”): the ten Sefiros, where Or Ein Sof rests and lights and vessels are one with Him; Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are created from nothing.

עצמות ומהותHis Essence and Being, G‑d as He is in Himself: above even Chochmah and the category of worlds, sovev and memalei included, and unchanged by creation; yet Torah, mitzvos and teshuvah draw it down.

אוירAir, which makes a lamp shine: avir is or (light) with a hidden yud, the concealment through which light is revealed. Above, it is set at Z’eir Anpin (Tiferes), at Keser, or above Mocha Stima’ah.

עבודת ה׳Serving G‑d as a servant: doing the King’s will and changing one’s nature, as hides are tanned, so the middos are for G‑d alone.

אבותAvraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, the only three called “fathers”: love, awe and compassion, the Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes of Atzilus, whose chariot they were; their root is above Atzilus.

בעל תשובהOne who returns to G‑d from a distance, whether from sin or from worldly separateness, as every soul does after its descent. Drawing “with greater force,” he stands where complete tzaddikim cannot.

בחינהA level, aspect or mode: the general word for any distinct rung or facet, above or in the soul. One thing can hold several bechinos, and be higher in one bechinah, lower in another.

בחכמה אתברירוThe principle that refining, separating good from evil, is done through Chochmah, which sorts without its own essence entering what it refines; so Torah, drawn from Chochmah, refines, and Mah refines Ban.

בכל מאדךLove of G‑d without limit, too great for the heart to hold, encompassing the measured love “with all your soul.” It is “your” me’od: beyond one’s own vessel, each by his measure.

בהמה רבהA level called “beast” that is greater than “man”: a love and self-nullification above grasped intellect, from the light encompassing all worlds. Elsewhere it is Malchus (the Name Ban, gematria behemah), which refines fallen sparks.

בינוניThe intermediate person: one whose mind must always conquer a heart still rooted in worldly things; good and evil both “judge” him. He cleaves to G‑d in prayer, then turns to his affairs.

בן ועבדTwo modes of serving G‑d: the son serves from love, nullified to his Father like a foot to the head; the servant has his own will and subdues it, accepting the King’s yoke above reason.

ברכהBlessing (berachah), read from bereichah, a pool, and from grafting a vine: drawing G‑dliness down from its hidden source into revelation; as opposed to hodaah, acknowledging what is not revealed.

בריאהThe first created world, below the partition (parsa) under Atzilus: something new from nothing (yesh me’ayin), corresponding to thought, where Binah of Atzilus dwells; world of the seraphim, souls and Gan Eden HaElyon.

ביו״ד נברא העוה״בThe World to Come was created with the yud: the souls’ delight there comes through a great contraction, one small point of Or Ein Sof, a mere ziv; this world was created with the hei.

בינהThe Sefirah of comprehension (Imma, the first hei): it expands Chochmah’s flash in length and breadth; letters of thought appear in it; it is “yesh,” and from it love, joy and the middos are born.

בירורSorting good from evil: separating the sparks that fell into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah in the breaking of the vessels, and raising them through Torah, prayer, eating and work. “Through Chochmah they are refined.”

ביטולSelf-nullification before G‑d, the condition for the Or Ein Sof to rest. Its lower degree is a “something” that bows; its higher, Chochmah’s “what are we,” takes up no place at all.

ביטול רצוןSetting aside one’s own will before G‑d’s (“nullify your will before His”), beyond making His will one’s own; every Jew can do it, and it draws down the Supernal Will, Keser.

ביטול הישA yesh, a separate being, nullifying itself to G‑d while it still exists: “there is one who nullifies himself and bows.” The mitzvos make yesh into ayin; this is creation’s purpose.

ברית ותורהCovenant (bris, the bond of Yesod) and Torah, named, covenant first, in the Grace After Meals’ blessing for the land: through them the higher unity is drawn down into the lower, Malchus.

חסדים מכוסים ומגוליםThe powers of Chesed (chasadim) in Zeir Anpin: covered while still inside Yesod of Imma, which ends at its chest; revealed below it. In the soul: love hidden within, and love revealed in the heart.

חשמלA garment from Binah’s outer dimension, wrapping Zeir Anpin and Nukva so outside forces cannot draw from them; beneath their feet, the screen between Atzilus and Beriah. Chash-mal: silence and speech.

חיותLife-force: the G‑dly vitality that brings each creation into being and keeps it alive, drawn to each according to its level and renewed from nothing, as the soul enlivens the body.

חסדThe Sefirah of kindness (the right arm; Avraham): giving that comes from its nature to do good, spreading from highest to lowest like water. Gevurah, its opposite, limits it; in tikkun each includes the other.

חסד עולםThe Chesed of Z”A: kindness within the order of hishtalshelus, in limit and measure, with judgment opposite it that can hold it back. Above it is rav chesed, the Chesed of Arich Anpin.

חינוךTraining and dedication: a beginning needs an extra gift or light beyond the regular order, as a child is coaxed to learn; so the altar and Temple were dedicated with added, encompassing lights.

חיצוניותThe outer dimension of a level: the part that goes out to give to others, as against pnimiyus, which cleaves to the source. Only the outer descends, becoming the inner of the level below.

חיצוניות הלב ופנימיות הלבThe heart has two layers: the outer heart, whose feelings follow the mind, and the inner point of the heart, a will and love above reason, hidden in every Jew, revealed in teshuvah.

חכמהThe first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it.

חומר וצורהEvery created thing, even the heavens and the angels, has matter, the thing itself in general or still hidden, and form, its shape and revelation; so speech gives form to what was in thought.

חותם בולט וחותם שוקעA raised seal leaves a sunken imprint and a sunken seal a raised one. So love surging up from below (raised) draws light clothed in vessels; bittul below (sunken) draws Or Ein Sof unclothed.

חותמו של הקב״ה אמתChazal’s “G‑d’s seal is truth,” read as Chochmah: truth, since it grasps what truly is, that nothing exists besides Him; a seal, a mere making beside Or Ein Sof, yet it confirms and sustains all.

חולין שנעשו על טהרת הקדשWeekday life, work and speech, mundane in themselves, that receive a glow of holiness and bittul, as from Shabbos, or are raised to the soul’s root, through prayer, honest dealing, Torah study and teshuvah.

חופהThe canopy over groom and bride: an encompassing light (makif) above both giver and receiver, in which they are equal, so that the two opposites can unite. It must precede their inner union.

דעתKnowledge as felt recognition: the intellect bound into the soul until it is felt as if seen. Daas unites Chochmah with Binah and spreads into the middos as their inner life; the middos follow it.

דעת עליון ודעת תחתוןTwo levels of Daas: the lower spreads into the middos, carrying Chochmah and Binah into them (memalei kol almin); the higher, drawn from Keser, joins Chochmah and Binah, and is elsewhere called sovev kol almin.

דביקותCleaving to G‑d: the soul’s longing and binding to its source, joining its thought, speech and action to Him; through Torah and mitzvos it cleaves even to what lies beyond its grasp.

דבור עליוןMalchus of Atzilus as G‑d’s “speech”: as a king rules by his word, through it, in the Ten Utterances, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are made and live; it carries the higher Sefiros yet conceals them.

דילוגA leap: a drawing-down or ascent that skips the chain of cause and effect (hishtalshelus) across a gap with no proportion: from Or Ein Sof to Atzilus, at the Exodus and Sinai, in teshuvah.

דירה בתחתוניםThe purpose of creation, Torah and mitzvos: that Or Ein Sof be revealed and rest below, in this lowest, darkest world, as in Atzilus and more, through mitzvos done with physical things.

דברי סופריםThe words of the Scribes: the Sages’ enactments and fences around the Torah, rooted in the “scribe” (sofer), above the “book” (sefer), the Written Torah; so they are “sweeter than the wine of Torah.”

דומם צומח חי מדברThe four kinds of creation in every world: inanimate, growing, living, speaking. Each includes those below; in the soul they are letters, middos, intellect and its source. In their roots the lower are higher.

אחד ויחידTwo terms for G‑d’s oneness. Echad (One): He is one in the heavens, earth and four directions, which are nullified before Him. Yachid (Singular): He alone, beyond any relation to worlds or number.

אין ערוך“No comparison”: not as one to a myriad, which share number, but as the finite to the Infinite. All worlds are as nothing before G‑d and do not come from Him as effect from cause.

אין מלך בלא עם“There is no king without a people (am)”: kingship needs subjects distinct from the king, so G‑d’s Malchus brings separate beings and worlds into being, and they make Him King by accepting His yoke.

אין סוףThe name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof.

אלקיםThe Name of contraction and concealment, the shield and sheath over Havayah, through which creation appears separate (yesh) and runs as nature (hateva, numerically Elokim). Relative to a higher revelation, Havayah counts as Elokim.

אמונהFaith: accepting as true what one does not grasp as if seeing; all Israel believe what is beyond intellect, such as sovev. An encompassing “crown,” it must be nourished until it is also daas.

אש שחורה על גבי אש לבנהThe Sages’ image of the Torah as black fire upon white fire: white is Or Ein Sof beyond grasp; black, the contraction that hides it so it can be revealed, like ink on parchment.

אשת חיל עטרת בעלהThe verse (Proverbs 12:4) read of Malchus: now she receives from Z’eir Anpin, her “husband”; after all the refinements, in the Time to Come, she rises above him as his crown and becomes the giver.

עץ הדעת טוב ורעThe level where good and evil are mixed, so the external forces can draw from it, as against the Tree of Life. Eating from it mixed evil into man; in essence it is kelipas nogah.

ד׳ יסודותFire, ruach (air), water and earth, which compose every physical thing. Man, a small world, has all four in body and soul; they match Havayah’s four letters, the four worlds, and inanimate-growing-living-speaking.

גן עדןWhere souls delight in grasping G‑dliness, the radiance (ziv) of the Shechinah. The upper Gan Eden is in Beriah; the lower, beneath it, is placed in some maamarim in Yetzirah, in others in Asiyah.

לבושי הנשמהGarments for the soul in Gan Eden, made from the mitzvos: encompassing lights by which it is “bound in the bond of life.” “Garments of the nefesh” usually means thought, speech and action.

גסות הרוחCoarseness of spirit: arrogance, a person’s regarding himself as a separate something (yesh). Called Amalek in the soul, it is the screen that covers the G‑dly soul’s love, broken through lowliness and bittul.

גאה על גאהFrom “He is exalted, exalted” (Song at the Sea): G‑d exalted above even His exaltation as sovev kol almin, beyond any relation to worlds; in Onkelos, “exalted over the proud,” withholding from them.

גבורהThe Sefirah of might (the left; Yitzchak), opposite Chesed: described as what limits and contracts Chesed’s flow, and as the life-force in greater intensity, which becomes judgment; included in Chesed, it gives life.

גבורות דאבאRestraint and division within Chochmah (Abba): sweetened gevuros contained in bittul, which, drawn into Imma, become her chasadim; the root of salt and techeles, giving power to refine and to bring bittul inward.

ג׳ קויןThe arrangement of the sefiros in Tikkun in three lines: right (Chochmah, Chesed, Netzach), left (Binah, Gevurah, Hod), and the middle (Daas, Tiferes, Yesod), which joins the two so they include each other.

גלגלתאGulgalta (“the skull”): Keser as the Supernal Will, the outer dimension of Keser of Arich Anpin, covering the hidden brain (Mocha Stima’ah) and letting only “hairs” of its light through to Chochmah.

העלאה והמשכהAscent from below upward, as a soul or world rises to be included in G‑dliness, and drawing down of G‑dly light from above; the ascent is for the sake of the drawing down that follows.

דינים והמתקתםSweetening of dinim (judgments): harsh Gevuros are softened by Chesed and mercy drawn to them from above, or through their root, as “dinim are sweetened only in their root.”

השגהComprehension: grasping what a thing is, as one holds it. G‑d’s essence is beyond it; creatures know only that He is (Daas) or what He is not; souls in Gan Eden grasp His ziv.

הוי׳The Name meaning “He brings into being”: by contraction and expansion, its four letters, He brings all worlds into being while Himself unchanged; was, is and will be are one to Him. Elokim conceals it.

שם הוי׳ דלעילא ודלתתאTwo levels of the Name Havayah: the lower brings all worlds into being through contraction and spreading; the higher, above hishtalshelus, is the Supernal Will that the lower be, not grasped but believed in.

העלם וגילויConcealment and revelation: G‑dliness is present everywhere, hidden or revealed; what seems its withdrawal or spreading is explained in several places as only concealment or revelation. The world (olam) is named for concealment (he’elem).

הארת פניםThe shining of G‑d’s face (“May Havayah make His face shine”): His flow given from His inner will, gladly, as to a beloved, not grudgingly; drawn “with us,” as our joy and bittul arouse it.

ה׳ מוצאות הפהThe five places in the mouth where speech is articulated (throat, palate, tongue, teeth, lips); above, the divine speech, Malchus, divides likewise, through the five Gevuros, into bounded levels, such as the four angelic camps.

היכלותChambers in the worlds, such as those of love, fear and will, holding souls and angels and veiling G‑d’s light to what creations can bear; the seventh of Beriah’s is the Holy of Holies.

מוחא סתימאהThe hidden brain within Keser: a wisdom concealed from all thought, one with the supernal delight, the hidden reason behind the Supernal Will; source of Chochmah of Atzilus and root of the Torah.

עלמא דאתכסיא ועלמא דאתגליאThe hidden world: what is nullified within its source, like thought or the sea; the revealed world: what creations grasp, like speech or dry land. The texts apply the pair to different levels.

חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה“Two wisdoms”: the higher, Chochmah at the head, the Written Torah, bittul in essence; the lower, Malchus, Chochmah at the end, the Oral Torah, enclothed in the physical mitzvos to refine the world.

התבוננותContemplation: thinking deeply with the mind (Binah) on G‑d’s greatness, as in the prayers, so that love and awe may be born in the heart and the hidden is brought into the open.

השתלשלותThe descent of levels from cause to effect, linked like the rings of a chain, from Chochmah downward; each reveals what was hidden in the one above. Or Ein Sof itself is above this order.

התכללותEach attribute containing the others (Chesed within Gevurah, Gevurah within Chesed), so opposites join as one. Marking Tikkun as against Tohu, it comes through mochin drawn into them and bittul before a higher light.

התלבשותEnclothement: a higher thing held within a lower, its essence grasped there, as intellect in a trait or soul in body; this is how G‑dly light fills the worlds, not how it encompasses them.

הודThe Sefirah below Gevurah on the left line, its branch, and Netzach’s partner: acknowledgment (hodaah) from afar of what one does not truly grasp. Like Netzach it is “outside the body,” yet rooted in Keser.

הודאהConceding a truth one does not see: that all is as nothing before G‑d and He alone is true being, as the Sages “concede” to Rabbi Meir. Paired with blessing (berachah), revealed drawing-down.

עיבור ולידהLike a fetus with every limb but an unused head, eating what its mother eats, a level in ibbur is hidden and nullified within its source; leidah is its emergence into revelation.

עגולים ויושרTwo modes of light in every world: igulim (circles), lights still hidden and included together with no above or below; yosher (line), lights revealed in vessels, divided into Sefiros from head to foot.

איהו וגרמוהי חדOr Ein Sof is wholly one with the vessels of Atzilus (“He and His vessels are one”), a union below His oneness with Chochmah (“He and His life-forces”); the created vessels below Atzilus are not.

עילה ועלולCause and effect: each level comes from the one above, as emotion from intellect; the cause is clothed in its effect, which bears a proportion to it and grasps it, unlike creation from nothing.

אתערותא דלעילאG‑d’s stirring toward the world and the soul: it may answer an arousal from below, come first to awaken one, or come from a level no arousal from below reaches.

אתערותא דלתתאA stirring that begins with the person (love and awe won by toil, self-nullification, the deed of the mitzvos) which, “as water reflects a face,” awakens a matching arousal from above.

אתכפיא ואתהפכאIskafya is subduing the sitra achra: holding back the animal soul’s desires without yet changing them. Is’hapcha is transforming them, turning darkness itself to light, so they love G‑d alone.

קבלת עול מלכות שמיםAccepting G‑d as King: nullifying one’s will before Him; from it the mitzvos are kept as a servant keeps his master’s decree, even without reason. In the Shema it precedes the yoke of the mitzvos.

כחשיכה כאורהPsalms 139:12: before G‑d as He transcends the worlds, darkness and light, concealment and revelation, high and low are equal: darkness does not darken, and even the brightest light counts as darkness.

קדמונו של עולםOr Ein Sof Himself as He is not in the category of worlds, above memalei and (in most places) sovev. Torah, the “parable of the Primordial One” (mashal hakadmoni), is His parable and garment.

קדושHoly: set apart, beyond any relation to the worlds, as He gives them life without being enclothed or changed by them. Kodesh is that holiness itself; kadosh, with a vav, is its drawing-down.

קטנות וגדלותSmallness and maturity of mind, in a person and in Z’eir Anpin: in katnus a narrow Daas leaves the middos small and quickly roused; in gadlus a broad Daas governs them.

קוThe thread-like line of Or Ein Sof drawn into the vacated space after the tzimtzum: a small revelation, root of all hishtalshelus and the inner light, narrowing as it descends until it ends in Atzilus.

קו המדהThe measuring line (kav hamiddah, botzina dekardinusa): the Gevurah and tzimtzum that measures how much light each Sefirah and world receives, bound up with the Gevurah of Atik clothed in the hidden Chochmah.

כוונהThe intent with which a mitzvah, prayer or Torah study is done. The mitzvah is the body and vessel, the kavanah its soul, which draws the light into it; in general the kavanah is prayer.

קליפהThe “husks” that cover and conceal holiness: forces of yesh set opposite holiness, whose mark is bittul. They came into being through the breaking of the vessels and draw their nurture from holiness.

קליפת נוגהThe “glowing husk”: mixed good and evil, between holiness and the three wholly impure kelipos; source of the animal soul and of permitted desires, it can be refined and raised into holiness.

כתרThe Crown over the Sefiros: intermediary between Or Ein Sof and the emanated, holding the lowest level of the Infinite; the Supernal Will and source of delight, beyond grasp; Chochmah emerges from it.

כתר מלכותThe royal crown: the Supernal Will (Keser) drawn into G‑d’s kingship (Malchus), above the King’s “body”; it is drawn by willing acceptance of His rule and by the deeds of the mitzvos.

כתר תורהThe Torah as crown: its root in the Supernal Will (Keser), above the Chochmah from which it issues, an encompassing light where high and low are equal; revealed at Matan Torah and on Shemini Atzeres.

קדושין ונשואיןTwo stages of a bond: kiddushin, the ring, an outer, encompassing tie (as through the mitzvos); nisuin, an inner union in which the light is absorbed within. Applied to Torah, prayer, Sinai and the future.

כסאThe Throne (kisei, read kes-alef, “covering of the Alef”): what lowers and conceals G‑d’s light, as one lowers oneself to sit, so that worlds separate from Him can come into being.

כלל ופרטA Torah pattern: a whole is given in general (klal) and then unfolded in its details (prat); the general holds only what the details spell out, as the Written Torah stands to the Oral.

כללותThe general, undivided form of a thing, holding its particulars (pratim) as one. It is revealed first, like the soul’s life in the head, and particular life spreads from it to each part.

כלות הנפשThe soul’s expiring: a longing for G‑d so intense that the soul would leave the body to be absorbed in Him, like a flame rising to its source; Knesses Yisrael is called kallah from it.

כנסת ישראלAll the souls of Israel as one, and their source above in Malchus, named for gathering in (koneses) the divine flow called “Israel”; the bride, with the Holy One as groom.

כח המתאוהThe animal soul’s faculty of desire, not sinful in itself: rooted in the holy Chariot, it fell through sheviras hakeilim into cravings for this world, and can be turned to love of G‑d.

כח הפועל בנפעלA maker’s own power truly clothed within what he makes, as in a person’s deed. Some passages identify it with memalei, the life within the worlds, unlike His essence; others place it only lower down.

כח הצומחThe G‑dly power in the earth, from the utterance “Let the earth sprout,” that makes a rotted seed grow manifold. Its analogue: the supernal earth (Malchus, source of souls), where mitzvos, the seeds, are sown.

כח מ״הChochmah read as koach mah, “the power of ‘what’”: bittul before a revelation that thought cannot grasp, Moshe’s “and we are mah”; the wisdom of kelipah, by contrast, is yesh.

קדש הקדשיםThe innermost chamber, and the level it stands for: above “holy” (Chochmah, sovev), the source of all holiness, from which Yom Kippur draws to fill every blemish. A heichal of Beriah also bears the name.

קרבנותThe altar offerings, called G‑d’s “bread”: the animal, offered in place of the person’s animal soul, is raised to its root and nullified, as fire from above consumes it. Prayer now takes their place.

קוצו של יו״דThe upward-facing tip on the yud of Havayah: an allusion to what is beyond grasp; Keser, above Chochmah, which joins yud to hei; in the soul, the hidden love beyond reason and knowledge.

כובד ראשSubmission before prayer: bitterness that the soul’s “head” (Yisrael li rosh) and the Shechinah are weighed down by sin and exile. Like crushing olives, it brings out the hidden love and arouses great mercy.

קריאת שמעThe twice-daily “Hear, O Israel”: accepting the yoke of His kingship and contemplating that Havayah is one, all being nothing before Him, bringing the love of “VeAhavta” and drawing the encompassing light into the worlds.

קודשא בריך הואAramaic, “the Holy One, blessed be He”: G‑d as holy, set apart from the worlds, paired with Shechinteh, His indwelling; read as sovev kol almin, Z’eir Anpin, Atzmus, and sometimes memalei kol almin.

ל״ב נתיבות החכמהThe thirty-two channels into which Chochmah of Atzilus opens (Sefer Yetzirah’s ten Sefiros and twenty-two letters; the thirty-two Elokim of creation): narrow paths that reach far, carrying the wisdom of Torah below.

לעתיד לבאThe era of Mashiach, the resurrection and the seventh millennium, when this world’s concealment turns to light and G‑dliness is seen “eye to eye” forever: the fruit of service now, in exile.

לאה ורחלThe two feminine configurations (Nukva) of Z’eir Anpin: Leah, the letters of thought, the hidden world; Rachel, the letters of speech, the revealed world, Malchus of Atzilus, called the Community of Israel.

לאשתאבא בגופא דמלכאThe Zohar’s phrase for the soul’s complete inclusion in the Or Ein Sof, like food turned into blood, one with the soul’s blood; above Gan Eden’s radiance; reached through Torah, prayer, teshuvah and mitzvos.

לבוש מלכותThe royal garment: G‑d’s kingship (Malchus) as a garment, covering and surrounding the worlds rather than entering them; drawn down onto the world and the soul through the deeds of the mitzvos.

לבושיםWhat clothes a thing without being of its essence, covering it yet letting it be reached: thought and speech are the soul’s garments; mitzvos make garments for the soul; Malchus is G‑d’s garment.

לבון הלכתאThe Zohar’s reading of the Egyptian “bricks” (levenim): deep study of the halachos of the Oral Torah, resolving questions and contradictions, which “whitens” them, drawing the supernal Chochmah and higher “whiteness” into what looks dark.

אורות וכליםThe two sides of each sefirah: the lights, a radiance of Or Ein Sof, boundless; and the vessels, the defined attributes (Chesed, Gevurah…) that limit that light so it can give life to finite beings.

לשמהTorah study “for its own sake”: explained as for the sake of the Torah itself, to draw Or Ein Sof into the Torah’s wisdom, which needs the learner’s bittul and freedom from other wants.

לא בשמים היאDeuteronomy 30:12: what G‑d asks is not in “heaven,” the encompassing levels; it has been drawn down and is near, so the Torah is decided below and G‑dliness is drawn through Torah and teshuvah.

לובן העליוןThe supernal whiteness (in the name Lavan): the source of simple mercy and kindness above the chain of worlds, or the essence of Or Ein Sof, as white is the thing itself, not a dye.

יראה תתאה ויראה עלאהTwo levels of awe: lower awe, from Malchus, accepting the King’s yoke, which comes before wisdom; and higher awe, a bittul at the level of Chochmah Ila’ah or above it, reached through the Torah.

מחשבה הקדומהG‑d’s first thought to bring the worlds into being, including all equally, Atzilus and physical Asiyah alike; it is “I will reign,” identified variously with Adam Kadmon and with Malchus of Ein Sof.

מחשבה דבור ומעשהThe soul’s three garments, over its intellect and middos; above, G‑d’s “thought, speech and action” are the worlds Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah (“I created, formed, made him”). Mitzvos too fall into these three.

מ״ה וב״ןTwo spellings-out of the Name Havayah: Mah (45, as adam), essential bittul, male, which refines; and Ban (52, as behemah), Malchus, female, which is refined and in the future will stand above Mah.

מלאכיםCreated spiritual beings: messengers and vessels through which the divine flow passes into the worlds. Drawn from G‑d’s speech and the externality of Chochmah, each stays at one fixed level. Seraphim, chayos, ofanim.

מלכותG‑d’s kingship: the lowest Sefirah, His “speech” and the revealed world, through which all worlds come into being from nothing and live, without touching His essence (“there is no king without a people”).

מלכות דאין סוףThe kingship of the Infinite One: the lowest level of the Ein Sof, His “Name,” not His Essence, from which the kav and all revelation are drawn; it becomes Atik and Keser of Atzilus.

מארי דחושבנאMasters of the reckoning: those who take account of their thoughts, words and deeds that were not for G‑d, and of the soul’s distance from Him, bringing bitterness, lowliness and compassion on the soul.

מטי ולא מטיEtz Chaim’s term for a light too great for its vessels: it reaches into them and at once withdraws, again and again, never leaving entirely; above, it is the root of ratzo vashov.

מים חייםSpring water, welling up from a hidden source. Above, Chochmah welling from its hidden source, Keser (“the source of living water”), or that source itself; in a person, Torah and an unceasing love.

מים עליונים ומים תחתוניםThe waters the firmament divided on the second day, applied at several levels: above, Chochmah, hidden worlds or supernal delight; below, revealed worlds, source of separate existence, or worldly pleasure.

מיין נוקבין ומיין דוכרין (מ״ן ומ״ד)Mayin nukvin (“feminine waters”): the sparks and longing raised from below through prayer and mitzvos. Mayin duchrin (“masculine waters”): the flow from above, from Chochmah, that answers and refines them.

מזלFrom nozel, “flowing”: the soul’s root that stays above the body, encompassing it and making influence flow into it, beyond what merit earns. Above, the beard of Arich Anpin, from which Abba draws.

מחוקקThe “lawgiver” of the well-song (Bamidbar 21:18), read as “engraver”: Moshe, who engraves the soul from within into a vessel that receives the Or Ein Sof, by drawing down Torah with bittul.

ממלא כל עלמיןG‑d’s life-force clothed within each world and creature by its level, like a soul in a body; it can be known, and it varies with its receivers. Sovev, its partner, is not clothed in them.

ממוצעA connecting level between two that cannot meet directly, which joins them and carries the flow from one to the other, as Keser stands between the Emanator and the emanated.

מרירותBitterness of soul over one’s distance from G‑d and the darkness that hides Him; not sadness. Through it and the cry it brings, Ahavah Rabbah and abundant mercy are aroused from above.

מרכבהA chariot: whatever is wholly nullified to the One who rides it, as a horse to its rider, and so carries Him: the Chayos bearing the Throne, or the Patriarchs, who “are the chariot.”

מסירות נפשGiving over one’s life to G‑d: nullifying one’s very existence in the Or Ein Sof, as at “One” in the Shema. It stems from above reason, and every Jew has it in potential.

מדותThe emotive powers (in the soul: love, fear, mercy). Born from the intellect and matching its measure, they are rooted above it, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A, emanated to conduct the worlds.

מילויThe letters that spell out a letter’s name (ה as ה״ה or ה״א): the power hidden in the letter brought out into revelation below; one needs it to say a letter, not to write it.

מיעוט הירחMalchus, the “moon,” created equal to the sun (Z’eir Anpin) and then diminished: she receives through him and descends to enliven Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; in the future the two will be equal again.

מוח ולבThe soul’s two opposite powers, the cool mind of comprehension and the fiery heart of feeling. Their peace is “the mind rules the heart,” though the inner heart, the higher will, is above the mind.

מוחיןThe intellect, Chochmah, Binah and Daas, as the “brains” of a level; chiefly the light of Abba and Imma clothed in Z’eir Anpin, the middos, by which they grow.

מותרי מוחיןThe “excess” of the mind, like hair drawn from the brain but not its essence. In a person: needless cleverness in worldly affairs, to be “shaved.” Above: a contracted glimmer not touching the Essence.

שם ע״בThe Name Havayah spelled out to 72 (ע״ב), whose core is four yuds: the Name of Chochmah, the yud of Havayah; “love in delights,” drawn when Mah and Ban unite, though higher than both.

נפש האלקיתThe soul in every Jew that is “a part of G‑d above”: by nature in bittul, it needs no correction itself, and descends into the body and animal soul to refine them.

נפש הבהמיתOne of a Jew’s two souls, clothed in the blood to give the body life; from kelipas nogah, mixed of good and evil, with its own intellect and middos; the G‑dly soul must refine it.

נפש רוח נשמהThe three lower levels of the soul, nefesh, ruach and neshamah, which are clothed in vessels (neshamah in the brain, ruach in the heart), unlike chayah and yechidah, which stay above as makifim.

נר מצוה“A mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light”: the mitzvah, G‑d’s will beyond understanding, is the lamp; the Torah, Chochmah, is the light that holds to it and shines through it.

נשמהA Jew’s soul: G‑dliness at its root (“Israel rose in thought”), brought down to be a created being in a body, a descent for the sake of ascent. Only a glimmer enters the body.

נסירהThe “sawing” from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur: the middos, joined back to back, are separated and returned face to face; in the soul, separating the G‑dly soul’s middos from the animal soul’s.

נצחThe Sefirah below Chesed on the right line, its branch: giving carried through by resolve after its reason has gone. With its partner Hod it is “outside the body,” yet rooted in Keser.

נובלות חכמהThe Sages’ name for the Torah: “the novlos (fallen, unripe fruit) of the wisdom above.” The Torah below is drawn from the outer dimension and “back” of supernal Chochmah, not its essence.

נוקבאMalchus of Atzilus as a partzuf: the feminine partner of Z’eir Anpin, built after it and from the gevuros; receiving from above, she gives to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah below.

נ׳ שערי בינהThe fifty levels of Binah’s contemplation of G‑d’s greatness: forty-nine, the seven middos each including seven, counted in the Omer; and a fiftieth that includes them all and joins them to their Source.

נוני ימאLofty souls likened to fish that the sea covers: hidden tzaddikim of the concealed world, never separate from their source, who serve through spiritual ascents and unions rather than physical deeds.

עולם הבאThe reward of the righteous: delight in the radiance of the Shechinah. Some places mean the souls’ Gan Eden, a glow received through contraction; others the world of the resurrection, in bodies; others both.

עולם הזהThis lowest, physical world, Malchus of Asiyah and the end of all levels, where G‑dliness is most hidden; the world of action, choice and teshuvah, where Torah and mitzvos draw light above all worlds.

עומדים ומהלכיםZechariah’s “walkers among those who stand”: angels (and souls before descent) “stand” at one fixed level of love and awe; souls in bodies “walk,” rising without limit through service and mitzvos in this world.

אורA radiance (ziv) drawn from a source (ma’or), nullified to it and making no change in it, as sunlight to the sun. So Or Ein Sof is a radiance from G‑d, not His essence.

אור חדשLight drawn from the essence of Or Ein Sof, above the kav and the order of worlds, not yet in them; drawn by self-sacrifice. Elsewhere: the light renewed in Beriah through the parsa.

אור חוזרLight that rises from below upward, set off by a barrier or concealment at the end of a descent, as against the direct light that descends; in it the lowest is highest, Malchus becomes Keser.

אור אין סוףThe boundless light radiating from G‑d’s Essence like sunlight from the sun: His “Name,” a revelation, not the Essence. Chiefly the light before the tzimtzum; also that light as clothed in the sefiros.

אור מקיףLight too great to enter a vessel, staying above and surrounding it, head and foot alike; or light that entered, could not be held, and went out to surround it. Its partner is or pnimi.

אור פנימיLight that enters a vessel and settles within it in graded order, limited to the vessel’s measure, as food enters the body. Its partner, or makif, surrounds the vessel without settling within.

אור של תולדהThe light that reaches Beriah through the screen (masach, parsa) between Atzilus and Beriah: born of the light above but not of its essence; the “nothing” from which Beriah’s “something” comes.

אור שבעת הימיםIsaiah’s phrase, read as the first, hidden light: the light and life of the “seven days” (Atik’s seven lower sefiros), that is, Atik’s first three sefiros. Elsewhere, the great lights of Tohu.

ערלת לבבכםThe “covering” over the heart: its attachment to physical desires and worldly matters, which hides the inner love for G‑d. Teshuvah removes it (“circumcise your hearts”); in the future G‑d Himself circumcises the heart.

אותיותThe garments in which intellect is grasped and conveyed, in thought and speech. Not one with the idea, they draw it, and the Or Ein Sof, from concealment into revelation (osiyos, from asa, “come”).

אותיות החקיקהLetters cut into stone, one with it, nothing foreign added, unlike ink on parchment. Above: Keser (Atik and Arich), root of the Torah and souls, above the “written letters” of Atzilus.

עוז ותושיהTwo names of the Torah: oz, “strength,” for it strengthens the G‑dly soul to rise and prevail over the body; tushiyah, for it weakens (מתשת) the animal soul’s bond to physicality.

פנים ואחורThe face is where a thing’s main life and will are turned; the back holds only a little vitality borrowed from the face. Said of G‑d’s flow, of a person’s service, and of supernal unions.

פרסא ומסךA partition or screen between worlds, chiefly between Atzilus and Beriah: the higher light passes through it only veiled, in a form the lower world can receive, so that the lower world becomes a yesh.

פרצוףOne Sefirah or several built into a full configuration like the human form: head, middle and end, its own mochin, each Sefirah in it including all ten. Tikkun has partzufim; Tohu had only points.

פנימיותThe inner dimension: the part of anything that turns toward and cleaves to its source (from panim, face), its depth and chief will. Its partner, chitzoniyus, goes out to others; the inner does not descend.

פנימיות התורהThe soul of the Torah: the hidden reasons and secrets within its laws, the Divine delight and supernal Chochmah clothed in them. At Sinai only the revealed Torah was given; its revelation awaits the future.

רעוא דכל רעויןThe hidden source of all wills: a “will for the will” to create the worlds, from no attribute; the particular wills of the 613 mitzvos are rooted in it.

רעיא מהימנאThe faithful shepherd: Moshe, who “feeds” the souls of Israel by drawing down Daas, felt knowledge of G‑d, which sustains their faith; his extension in every generation does the same.

רחמים רביםGreat mercy (rachamim rabim): G‑d’s boundless compassion, great because of His exaltation, before which even the highest worlds are naught; and the compassion a person arouses over his soul’s G‑dly spark, so far descended.

רפ״ח ניצוציןSparks of Tohu that fell when its vessels shattered, 288 as they were in Atzilus; enclothed in nogah, they give physical things life, and refining them all is the purpose of exile.

רצוא ושובRunning and returning, as in the angels: ratzo, the soul’s fiery yearning to leave its bounds and be absorbed in G‑d; shov, the return in awe and bittul, to make Him a dwelling below.

רצוןWill, which rules the middos: a lower will born of intellect, and the Supernal Will above intellect (Keser, Gulgalta), which covers a hidden reason and delight and is the root of the mitzvos.

ראיה ושמיעהTwo modes of grasping G‑dliness: seeing, from Chochmah, a close grasp that brings love and cannot be set aside; and hearing, from Binah, understanding from afar through letters, which lapses once the mind turns away.

רעותא דלבאThe heart’s desire (Aramaic for ratzon): the will revealed in the heart; in some places the will born of contemplation, in others the inner heart’s love “with all your might,” above reason, rooted in Keser.

ריחA small radiance from a thing, not its substance. Above, an encompassing light higher than taste (inner light), rooted in the “nose” above Chochmah; also the ascent from below, as in “a pleasing scent.”

רישא דלא אתידעThe highest of Atik’s three heads: the lowest level of the Emanator, not counted among the Sefiros and unknown even to Arich Anpin; root of Daas, reached only by faith.

רשימוThe impression left after the tzimtzum: the letters that remained without the light revealed through them. Also any impression a light leaves after it passes, as of love after prayer.

ריחוק מקוםDistance from G‑d’s revealed light, which mostly kindles the soul’s love and longing, as the moon shines only far from the sun. Literal distance of place cannot be said of G‑d.

רוממותExaltedness: G‑d’s being raised above the worlds, as a king above his people. It is His kingship (Malchus), which withdraws rather than enters them, and so makes them separate beings who bow before Him.

סתים וגליאThe Zohar’s pair: G‑d, the Torah and Israel each have a hidden side, beyond grasp and not clothed, and a revealed side, clothed and grasped; the Torah binds Israel’s sides to G‑d’s.

שערותThe image for a flow drawn, through great contraction, from a level beyond the order of the worlds: like hair growing from the brain, it carries only a radiance, with no comparison to its source.

זרע אדם וזרע בהמהTwo levels of Jewish souls (Jeremiah 31): “man” (adam = Mah), souls of Atzilus with felt knowledge (Daas) of G‑d; “animal” (behemah = Ban), souls of the lower worlds, who understand without it.

ספירותTen emanated powers, Keser (or Daas) and Chochmah through Malchus, each a light in a vessel; through them G‑d conducts the worlds, His essence unchanged; they recur in every world and in man.

שעשועיםThe King’s delight in His own self, in which He and His delight are one. It is the root of the Torah and mitzvos, and through them it is drawn down.

שבתThe seventh day as the ascent of the worlds: G‑d “rests” from the speech and action that create, the light that descended through contractions rises to its source, and the supernal delight is revealed.

שלוםPeace: the joining of two opposites by a higher level to which both are nullified; the vessel that holds blessing. Torah study makes it above (Chochmah with Binah, through Daas) and below.

שמים וארץHeaven and earth as spiritual levels in every world and in the soul: Mah and Ban, Z’eir Anpin and Malchus, ratzo and shov (in either order); through them Torah and Israel sustain the physical ones.

שכינהG‑d’s Malchus as it “dwells” among created beings to give them life: Malchus of Atzilus come down below Atzilus. Its being clothed below, down to the kelipos, is called the exile of the Shechinah.

שם מ״בThe Name of forty-two, the forty-two words of Ana Bekoach: seven attributes of six each, without the revealing seventh; a Name of Gevurah, through which all ascents rise. The forty-two journeys correspond to it.

שעור ה׳Barley (se’orah) read as shi’ur hei, “measure of hei”: divine speech measured out by the five Gevuros through the mouth’s five articulations, feeding angels at fixed ranks; in the soul, comprehension by one’s measure.

ש״ע נהוריןThe 370 lights of Arich Anpin (the “great reckoning”), a revelation of Or Ein Sof, some far above hishtalshelus, hinted in yeshuos (salvations); Z’eir Anpin receives them by gazing; tzedakah and mitzvos draw them down.

שירייםMaking oneself like leftovers (the Gemara’s reading of “the remnant of His inheritance”): regarding oneself as superfluous in the world, a bittul that draws the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which bear sin.

שלימותא דכולאG‑d’s essence as “the perfection of all”: the Or Ein Sof above the Sefiros, lacking nothing, which rests only in a “complete place” where the attributes are inter-included, and which fills every deficiency.

שושבינא דמטרוניתאTitle of Aharon, the Kohen Gadol (once also of Binyamin): as a groomsman escorts the bride, he raises Knesses Yisrael, the souls of Israel, to their source; Moshe, the King’s groomsman, draws G‑dliness down.

שמחהJoy is the revealing of what was hidden: delight coming into revelation. It comes from Binah, grasping G‑dliness; joy in a mitzvah below arouses joy above, which draws light beyond the usual order.

שמחה של מצוהJoy in doing a mitzvah: since the mitzvos are rooted in the supernal Will (Keser), joy in fulfilling them reveals the hidden inner Keser, the supernal delight, and reaches G‑d’s very essence, above all worlds.

סטרא אחרא“The other side,” the opposite of holiness: what appears as a yesh separate from G‑d and casts off His yoke. It has no life of its own but receives it from holiness.

סוף מעשה במחשבה תחלהThe last thing made was first in intent: what comes lowest in the order of descent (earth, Malchus, man, deed) has the highest root, and in it the Supernal Will is revealed.

סובב כל עלמיןG‑d’s light that is not clothed in the worlds: equal in all worlds, above and below, unchanged by them, it gives them life as an encompassing light. Its partner, memalei, is clothed within each world.

רצון העליוןG‑d’s will above Chochmah (Keser): the source of the worlds and root of the mitzvos and Torah, partly clothed in Chochmah and partly not; in the soul it is the inner heart.

תענוגDelight, the inner side of will. Above, the supernal delight of Atik, whose source is His very self: the source of Chochmah, covered by the Supernal Will and drawn down through the mitzvos.

טלDew as a level: an arousal from above that no arousal from below reaches, so sin never withholds it; drawn from the “crystal dew” (tala debedolcha) of the hidden brain, above hishtalshelus.

טלא דבדולחאTala debedolcha (“crystal dew”): the moisture of the hidden brain (Mocha Stima’ah), identified as Gevurah of Atik clothed there; above hishtalshelus, source of hidden Chochmah, the manna, purity and the dew of resurrection.

תר״ך עמודי אורThe 613 Torah mitzvos and seven Rabbinic mitzvos, numbering 620 (the value of Keser): rooted in Keser, the Supernal Will, they reach down like pillars joining roof to ground, drawing supernal delight into physical deeds.

טעמיםThe cantillation notes of the Written Torah, its song and melody, drawn from the supernal delight; the highest of the four levels te’amim, nekudos, tagin, osiyos.

תכלתThe sky-blue of tzitzis, from kilayon, consuming: like the blue flame that consumes its wick, it is the nullification of created being, drawn from Abba into Malchus; it repels evil and draws awe.

תחיית המתיםSouls rising in their bodies in the Time to Come, a reward above Gan Eden: sovev, drawn down by mitzvos done with physical things, will then be revealed to the body too.

תפלה“The service of the heart”: the soul’s love, fear and bittul raised up as mayin nukvin, joining it to its root, and through this a request that G‑dly light from above hishtalshelus be drawn down.

טהירו עלאהTehiru ilaah (“supernal brightness”): an illumination from Or Ein Sof in which, the Zohar says, the King “engraved engravings,” forming Keser; also the root of the soul called “pure.”

תשובהReturning the soul, which descended into physical things, to its source and root, to cleave to G‑d; not only leaving sin. Its two levels are the return of the lower and the higher hei.

תשובה עילאה ותשובה תתאהTwo levels of teshuvah, the lower and higher hei: the lower turns from evil and does good; the higher, from the depth of the heart, lifts the soul beyond its limits to its source.

תבונהThe comprehended intellect (paired with Yisrael Sava), below Chochmah: in it the middos are still included in understanding and unfelt, from it they take their divided form, and in it delight is chiefly revealed.

נעוץ תחלתן בסופןSefer Yetzirah’s principle that the highest is bound to the lowest: what is higher in essence vests itself in what is lower, so Keser shines in Malchus and the highest light in physical deed.

י״ג מדות הרחמיםThe boundless great mercy measured out through thirteen tikkunim of Arich Anpin’s beard, carrying light from Atik; above Havayah and Torah, they pardon sin and shine in Elul and on Yom Kippur.

תפארתThe Sefirah of the middle line (Yaakov’s attribute) between Chesed and Gevurah: it joins and includes them, so Or Ein Sof shines in it constantly. It is mercy and truth, and is rooted in Keser.

י״ג תיקוני דיקנאThe thirteen tikkunim (“arrangements”) of Arich Anpin’s beard: a contracted flow, like hair from the brain, by which Abba and Imma draw from Keser; inwardly lit from Atik; the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.

תהו ותקוןTohu: the world before Tikkun, great lights in small vessels, sefiros as points; its vessels shattered and fell, though its lights are higher. Tikkun: partzufim, lights enclothed in vessels nullified to them.

תורהG‑d’s own wisdom (“the Torah issues from Chochmah”), in which Or Ein Sof is enclothed; it descends into laws about physical matters, so one who grasps a law unites with His wisdom.

תורה ומצותThe Torah, G‑d’s wisdom, and the mitzvos, His will above wisdom: the Torah explains how a mitzvah is done and draws its root into the deed; through both, Or Ein Sof dwells below.

תורה שבכתב ותורה שבעל פהThe Written Torah: letters, holding everything in concealment, above human understanding. The Oral Torah: its explanation, which reveals the details of the mitzvos and how G‑d wills them done.

אני ואיןAni (“I”) and ayin (“nothing”) share letters. A person turns his ani into ayin, bittul hayesh, and so draws the supernal delight into Torah; above, the hidden Ayin is to be revealed as Ani.

צדיקA tzaddik keeps Torah and mitzvos and draws G‑dliness down into the world, giving life to the mitzvos as one gives tzedakah; tzaddik also names the bond of giver and receiver: Yosef above, Binyamin below.

צדקהGiving to the poor to “revive the spirit of the lowly,” as G‑d gives life to all worlds. All the mitzvos are called tzedakah; giving from one’s toil raises the animal soul.

צמצוםContraction: Or Ein Sof (not Ein Sof Himself) hidden in its source so finite worlds can exist, leaving a “vacated space” for the kav; also each later narrowing of light, as in Chochmah.

יעקב וישראלTwo names for levels of the soul and above: Yaakov (yud–akev), Chochmah drawn down to the “heel,” the servant who toils; Yisrael (li rosh, “a head for Me”), the son, above body and intellect.

ישת חשך סתרוG‑dliness above all grasp, called “darkness” because no thought can take hold of it: Keser Elyon, or the Or Ein Sof itself. It is hidden so that revelation can begin, from Chochmah.

יחידהThe soul’s fifth, highest level, above Chochmah: a simple will above reason, the soul’s essence and the point of the heart, a surrounding light not held in vessels, longing for G‑d alone.

ירידה לצורך עליהThe soul’s descent from its source into a body and animal soul is for a higher ascent than before, through Torah, mitzvos and teshuvah; so too other descents, as the weekdays for Shabbos.

יש ואיןYesh: what exists and is grasped, ultimately a being felt as separate. Ayin: what is beyond grasp, the G‑dly source. Creation brings yesh from ayin; the service of mitzvos turns yesh into ayin.

יש מאיןCreation of a wholly new being from no thing at all, unlike cause and effect, where the cause is enclothed in its effect. The created bears no relation to its Creator; it is renewed constantly.

יסודThe Sefirah of binding: a giver’s lowest level, through which it ties itself to the receiver and draws its flow to it. Called kol (all), chai (living), tzaddik and bris (covenant); linked to Yosef.

יצר הרע ויצר טובThe two inclinations of the heart: the yetzer tov, love and fear born of the G‑dly soul’s intellect; the yetzer hara, the animal soul’s desires, to be subdued and turned to love G‑d.

יצירהThe world of formation, between Beriah and Asiyah: like speech, it reveals what was hidden in Beriah (something from something, not new creation); the middos of Atzilus shine there; the world of the angels.

יחודThe joining of two levels, chiefly Abba and Imma or Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, for light to flow from giver to receiver; beyond a constant union, it is drawn by self-sacrifice, prayer, Torah and mitzvos.

יחודא עילאהThe unity seen from above: before G‑d all is as nothing and nothing exists besides Him (the Name Havayah, the Shema’s first verse); the lower unity is the existing world’s self-nullification.

יחודא תתאהThe unity seen from below: through the Name Elokim the world exists as a “something” (yesh), and that yesh bows before G‑d (bittul hayesh). It receives from the higher unity, which through it rests below.

יראת חטאDread of sin, for the lack and blemish it makes above, reaching the root of all roots, or for the separation from G‑d it brings; even the smallest prohibition looks like a mountain.

י״ה ו״הThe two halves of the Name Havayah: yud-hei, Chochmah and Binah, the hidden things, source of the 365 prohibitions; vav-hei, the middos and speech, the revealed, source of the 248 positive mitzvos.

זעיר אנפיןThe partzuf of the six middos of Atzilus (Chesed to Yesod), born from Imma and filled out by the mochin of Abba and Imma; Nukva’s masculine partner, through which the light reaches her.

זה לעומת זה“G‑d made one opposite the other”: levels of holiness have matching levels in kelipah, alike in form yet opposite, bittul against yesh; each opposes only its counterpart, and the very highest have none.

זריעהMitzvos done in physical things, souls sent into bodies, and Israel in exile, pictured as seed sown in earth: hidden, like a rotting seed, they sprout a manifold revelation of G‑dliness.

זיו השכינהThe radiance of G‑d’s Malchus (the Shechinah): the light that fills and enlivens the worlds, a mere ray compared with Him, like sunlight to the sun; the souls in Gan Eden delight in grasping it.

See Adam

See Ahavah mesuteres

See Or chozer

See Korbanos

See Chosamo shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu emes

See Korbanos

See Arich Anpin

See Iskafya and is’hapcha

See Kav hamiddah

See Bittul

See Birur

See Bechol me’odecha

See Gevurah

See Ziv haShechinah

See Hoda’ah

See Havayah

See Yichud

See Echad and yachid

See Hidden brain

See Marei dechushbena

See Yaakov and Yisrael

See Yichud

See Yesod

See Malchus

See Bris veTorah

See Hiskallelus

See Bechol me’odecha

See Mochin

See Mochin

See Machshavah hakedumah

See Mesirus nefesh

See Mayim chaim

See Shirayim

See Kelipas nogah

See Chitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halev

See Ner mitzvah

See Hearas panim

See Ben ve’eved

See Avodas Hashem

See Tohu and Tikkun

See Chitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halev

See Taanug

See Hidden world and the revealed world

See Pnimiyus

See Supernal Will

See Kadosh

See Kav

See Atzeres

See Rei’ach

See Ratzon

See Ratzon

See Supernal Will

See Tohu and Tikkun

See Shabbos

See Shushvina dematronisa

See Shalom

See Nun sha’arei Binah

See Se’aros

See Anavah

See Malachim