Kabbalah

The term guf, body, essentially has three meanings in kabbalistic literature. The first is the vessel for the supernal light. Just as the physical body is a vessel for the soul, so too vessels of all kinds and on all levels of reality are called bodies (while the lights within them are called neshamot, souls). Second, “body” can refer to the central and important aspect that defines each level. The third meaning of “body” is in the context of the structure of a partzuf: the sefirot of Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet, or sometimes Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod, contained in the partzuf are called the body of the partzuf, in contrast to the first three sefirot contained in the partzuf – Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina – which are considered the head of the partzuf.

The inner light refers to the supernal light that successfully permeates and is enclothed within every level of reality, in accordance with the level’s capacity to contain it at any given time. This contrasts with surrounding light, the light that reality cannot contain because it is too limited to contain the infinite divine light and so the surrounding light cannot shine within reality at present (but will do so in the future).

The sefirot represent ten ways through which the Creator reveals Himself in the creation, with each sefira representing a different degree of revelation. The term sefira itself has the same root as the word sapir, which means sapphire or radiance, indicating that the divine light is contained within the sefirot and illuminates the creation through them. Generally, there are ten sefirot: Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod, and Malkhut. But in essence there are five primary sefirot: Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut. Additionally, each of these five sefirot are themselves composed of the other sefirot, since everything in reality is formed out of sefirot. Thus, for example, the sefira of Keter contains the levels of Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut. As for the five remaining sefirot, Ḥesed, Gevura, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod, they are encompassed within the sefira of Tiferet. Like the other sefirot, the sefira of Tiferet contains all five sefirot, but in this case they are called by different names: In this context, they are called Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ and Hod. The reason the sefirot are given different names is that a different kind of light from that of the other sefirot, called the “light of giving,” is revealed through Tiferet. Although they are named differently, they are still, in a sense, the same five sefirot mentioned above. Thus, Ḥesed is referred to as the Keter of Tiferet, Gevura as the Ḥokhma of Tiferet, Tiferet as the Bina of Tiferet, Netzaḥ as the Tiferet of Tiferet, and Hod as the Malkhut of Tiferet. In addition to these five, there is another sefira that incorporates all the levels of Tiferet called Yesod.

The world of Yetzira is the third of the four worlds (after the supernal world of Adam Kadmon) that emanate and descend from one another in the process of creation. Some maintain that its name derives from the Hebrew words for form, tzura, or image, tziyur, since it is a kind of image or pattern for the final and fourth world, Asiya. Each of the worlds corresponds to one of the five primary sefirot. The world of Yetzira corresponds to the sefira of Tiferet or the third level of creation. The created beings that dwell in this level are the angels called ḥayot.