The Sefirot – Part III – Opposing Forces in Equilibrium

Our physical universe is in a dynamic equilibrium of opposing forces: centrifugal and centripetal forces, positively and negatively charged particles, matter and antimatter, male and female organisms. In the spiritual world also, there are opposing forces, and an equilibrium is reached to navigate between them.

As discussed in “The Sefirot – Part I” (posted on 30 July 2009), for illustrative purposes we may represent the sefirot in various ways, depending on context. For our current discussion, consider the sefirot diagrammed as in my posting of 5 August 2009:


Note that the sefirot are arranged in three vertical columns. The three sefirot on the right side, the side of mercy – Chokhma, Chesed, and Netzach – constitute the masculine sefirot; the three on the left, the side of Din (Law or Justice) – Bina, Gevura, and Hod – constitute the feminine sefirot; and the remaining sefirot – Tif’eret, Yesod, and Malkhut – constitute the central pillar, which blends the two opposing forces of mercy and justice together. It is the central pillar, and especially Tif’eret, that holds the opposing heavenly forces in equilibrium, “making peace in His heavens” (Job 25:2). Technically, Keter can also be considered part of the central pillar, but, unlike the other central sefirot, Keter does not mediate between two other sefirot, and Keter is so far above the other sefirot that it is in a class of its own.

Note that Tif’eret mediates between Chesed and Gevura, and Yesod mediates between Netzach and Hod. But in the diagram there appears to be no sefira that mediates between Chokhma and Bina. In fact, there is a mediator between those two sefirot, but the mediator – Da’at (Knowledge) – is not considered a sefira, and we will say nothing more about Da’at at this time.

The three highest sefirot – Keter, Chokhma, and Bina – are, to a great extent, beyond our comprehension. Of the seven lower sefirot, the essential characteristic of each may be seen to be embodied in the personalities of certain Biblical characters. Thus, Abraham, whose love for humankind was unbounded, extending even to the sinful people of Sodom, embodies the essence of Chesed (Mercy); while Isaac, who willingly subjected himself to God’s decree and would have submitted to being offered as a sacrifice, embodies the essence of Gevura, also known as Din (Law, or Justice). Jacob, who incorporated characteristics of both Abraham and Isaac, represents the essence of the central pillar, the happy medium − Tif’eret − also known as Rachamim (Compassion) or Emet (Truth). And finally, King David, who solidified the monarchy of Israel and established Jerusalem as the capital of his kingdom, represents the essence of Malkhut, the kingdom of heaven. Just as the sefira of Malkhut rules and sustains the lower world through God’s blessings and justice, so did King David solidify the monarchy of Israel, establishing it as a model of justice on earth.

© Copyright 2011 by Ben Roshgolin. All rights reserved.

The Other Side

Until now we have considered only the world of holiness. But there is also a whole other dimension – the dimension of Evil, which in the Zohar is generally called the sitra achara (the Other Side). It is the other side of the coin of creation, so to speak: whatever exists in the realm of holiness has its counterpart in the sitra achara. Thus, just as there are ten sefirot in the holy realm, so are there also ten sefirot of the Other Side.

We must not regard the Other Side as completely separate from the holy realm. The two realms are in proximity to each other, and their point of contact is Malkhut. As long as man follows God’s will, the forces of evil do not readily enter our world. But when man sins and turns to evil, he thereby opens a door to the Other Side and invites the forces of evil to penetrate our world.

In the realm of holiness, God’s light is transmitted downward to Malkhut and to the physical world. Similarly, in the realm of evil, at the level of Tif’eret of the sitra achara, there is a lord named Samael, a great angel whose power is transmitted through Malkhut of the sitra achara; and when human actions open the door, his spirit enters our world also. His power is embodied in the serpent (Malkhut of the sitra achara), upon which he rides, sowing death and destruction in his wake. Thus he appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden and tempted her to sin, and it is he who continues to tempt man through the ages and to send his forces to wreak havoc in the world.

The Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil represents Malkhut and the world in which we live. If man does good, then it is a Tree of Good, and its blessings descend to us through the world of holiness; but if man does evil, then the Tree of Knowledge becomes a Tree of Evil – a Tree of Death – causing curses to flow from the Other Side, and evil befalls us. In Kabbalah, just as the Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil represents Malkhut, the Tree of Life represents Tif’eret. (Please refer to the sefirot diagram in my post of 5 August 2009.) According to the Zohar, man must seek to maintain the connection of the Tree of Knowledge to the Tree of Life – i.e., the connection between Malkhut and Tif’eret, between the lower world and the world above. The sin of Adam and Eve in tasting the fruit that the snake offered Eve, according to the Zohar, consisted of separating the Tree of Knowledge from the Tree of Life, of separating Man’s knowledge of this world from his awareness of the higher world, thus allowing the sitra achara to enter.

The foregoing discussion may suggest to the reader that the Other Side is autonomous and that Samael is a power equal to and rivaling God, but such a view is not correct. We see in the Bible (see Job 1:6-13) that Satan, like all the other angels, can do nothing without God’s consent. In fact, Satan and the entire sitra achara are God’s creation no less than is the realm of holiness. As the Bible says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I am the Lord Who makes all these” (Isaiah 45:6-7). The sitra achara, then – although apparently opposing God – is also an agent of God’s will. It is at once the antithesis of, and yet dependent on, and nourished by, the world of holiness.

As we see repeatedly in the Bible, beginning with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God gave man free will to choose between good and evil, to observe God’s commandments or to disobey them. Thus, the sitra achara plays an important role, in offering man an alternative to God’s commandments, and a temptation to follow that alternative course. Without the sitra achara, man would not truly have any choice but to observe God’s will.

An additional role of the sitra achara is as an enforcer of God’s judgement. The angel of death and the forces that wreak divine punishment on people for their sins are also aspects of the sitra achara. Therefore it should not surprise us that the Other Side originates from the attribute of Din (Justice, or Law), the attribute contained within the sefira of Gevura. (Again, please refer to the sefirot diagram posted on 5 August 2009, and to “The Sefirot – Part I,” posted on 30 July 2009.) Just as in the process of making wine, dregs are produced as an inevitable byproduct, and just as dross is an inevitable byproduct in the production of gold, so also when God created the sefirot, the process of creation of Gevura resulted in the creation of a byproduct: the Other Side.


© Copyright 2011 by Ben Roshgolin. All rights reserved.