Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Adam
אדם
Adam, the supernal “man” (adameh l’Elyon) · also: אדם העליון
The 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.”
The word אדם is usually just “a person” or Adam HaRishon. It names the supernal level when the text speaks of the figure on the throne (כמראה אדם), אדם העליון, אדם דלעילא, אדמה לעליון, אדם דאצילות or the Name Mah (45); the pair אדם and בהמה can also mean two kinds of souls. Adam Kadmon, the general Keser above Atzilus, has its own entry.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶12“By all that comes from the mouth of Havayah man lives”: the man above, the figure on the throne, is called Adam from adameh l’Elyon. As a man’s life divides through his 248 limbs, so above the life spreads among the many ranks of angels and souls (“the eyes of Havayah”); this spreading, memalei kol almin, is called Adam, so the verse says “like the appearance of a man,” not man itself.
כי נק׳ אדם מלשון אדמה לעליון כי כמו שבאדם למטה יש רמ״ח אברים כו׳ שבהם ועל ידם מתחלק החיות שבתוכו
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2, ¶11“Adam, when he brings an offering”: in truth G‑d is not of these attributes at all, but He clothes Himself in the ten sefiros, called the 248 limbs of the King, to shine through them to the souls of Israel and all the worlds; then He is called “like the appearance of a man.” This is the meaning of Shiur Komah.
כי באמת לאו מכל אלין מדות איהו כלל אלא שמתלבש בע״ס ונק׳ רמ״ח אברים דמלכא כדי להאיר עי״ז לנש״י וכל העולמות
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 5, ¶2The “spirit of the chayah” is the inclusion of the four faces of the chariot, and their inclusion is Adam: the lion’s face is on the right and the ox’s on the left, but Adam has no right and left. So he is called adameh l’Elyon, likened to the man on the throne.
משא״כ בחי׳ אדם אין בו ימין ושמאל. ולכן נק׳ אדם אדמה לעליון לאדם שעל הכסא
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 9, ¶2Adam is the inclusion of the three lines, shaped like an alef: a yud above, a yud below and a line between. Their joining is called Adam, the Name Mah (45); the lines can be joined only through bittul, which is what Mah means.
וכללות הג׳ קווין והתחברותן נק׳ בשם אדם שהוא שם מ״ה
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 2, ¶1“The seed of man and the seed of beast”: adam (Mah, 45) is the souls of Atzilus, behemah (Ban, 52) the souls of Beriah. Atzilus is Adam, likened to the One Above, for it is only a passage from concealment to revelation, whereas Beriah is new existence from nothing.
כי אצילות הוא בחי׳ אדם אדמה לעליון שאינו רק מהעלם אל הגילוי
Stated differently
Which level is called Adam: only Zeir Anpin (not Chochmah and Binah, nor Arich Anpin), or Chochmah, or Arich Anpin and Keser
כי הנה ז״א נק׳ בשם אדם התחלקות קוין כו׳. משא״כ חו״ב שהוא הארת אור א״ס לא נק׳ בשם אדםZeir Anpin, with its division into lines, is called Adam; Chochmah and Binah, the radiance of Or Ein Sof, are not called Adam.
פי׳ אדם הוא בז״א ולא בא״א ואף בז״א אינו נקרא אדם אלא מהחוטם ואילךCiting the Arizal: Adam is in Zeir Anpin and not in Arich Anpin, and even in Zeir Anpin only from the nose down, where the light divides into right and left; of Keser, above division, it is said “for He is not a man.”
ולכן נק׳ החכ׳ אדם ונק׳ אדם הראשון ובזהר נק׳ אדם קדמאה כי ראשית חכמה כתי׳Or Ein Sof is drawn into all the sefiros through Chochmah, as the soul’s life is first clothed in the brain; therefore Chochmah is called Adam, “the first Adam” (Adam Kadma’ah in the Zohar), and the Torah, which comes from Chochmah, is called Adam.
אדם הוא א״א כמראה אדם ז״אAs an alternative reading, following the Mikdash Melech: Adam is Arich Anpin, and “like the appearance of a man” is Zeir Anpin.
ולכן נק׳ הכתר אדם, ובפרדס ערך אדם שהכתר נקרא אדם קדמוןIn the supernal Keser the middos are great and strong yet wholly included in one another, from their bittul before Or Ein Sof (“within is the Name Mah”); therefore Keser is called Adam, and the Pardes says Keser is called Adam Kadmon.
What the figure “like the appearance of a man” on the throne is
כמראה אדם הוא בחי׳ ע״ס דאצילות דעולם התיקון שנתקנו בבחי׳ פרצוף אדםIt is the ten sefiros of Atzilus, the world of Tikkun, ordered in the form of a man: alef is thought, dalet speech, mem action, and the light rests in them as the soul in the body.
והתפשטות החיות של כל אחד ואחד כפי מדריגתו ומזגו ותכונתו נק׳ בשם אדם שהוא בחי׳ ממכ״עIt is the spreading of life among the many created angels and souls, each according to its rank and nature, memalei kol almin; hence “like the appearance of a man,” not man itself.
ובחי׳ כמראה אדם הוא בחי׳ נש״י כמ״ש אדם אתם כי ישראל עלו במחשבהWorlds of limit and division come about through the clothing of lights in vessels, “like the appearance of a man”; and “like the appearance of a man” is the souls of Israel (“you are called Adam”), for Israel arose in thought.
לכן כמראה אדם היינו בחי׳ נה״י דא״ק כמו שהוא מלובש תוך בי״עYechezkel saw only in Beriah; “like the appearance of a man” is Netzach, Hod and Yesod of Adam Kadmon as clothed within Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.
Sefer HaErchim Chabad
הוא לבחי׳ האור כמו שמתצמצם ומתלבש בעשר ספירות, שהע״ס הם בציור אדם (כדלהלן סעיף ב׳) ועל זה נאמר ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם. אבל אוא״ס עצמו שלמעלה מהתלבשות בע״ס, נקרא לא אדם, כי אינו בגדר ציור כלל.[The title Adam in G‑dliness] refers to the light as it contracts and clothes itself in ten sefiros, for the ten sefiros are in the form of a man; of this it is said, “and upon the likeness of the throne, a likeness like the appearance of a man.” But Or Ein Sof itself, above clothing in the sefiros, is called “not a man,” for it is not within the bounds of any form at all. (our translation)
Sefer HaErchim Chabad, vol. א, entry אדם העליון, col. קנט–קס · © Kehot Publication Society, quoted
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶12Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2, ¶11Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 3, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Emor 6, ¶9Torah Ohr, Yisro 5, ¶2Torah Ohr, Terumah 1, ¶3Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 6, ¶5
Where it appears
In 12 paragraphs of 12 maamarim (only where it is the subject: the word is common in its plain sense).
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 22 ¶33
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 6 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 9 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 2 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Terumah 1 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 6 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 5 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 5 ¶4
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.