Abba: The partzuf of Father, partner of Ema/Mother; encompassing the sefira of Chochma/wisdom in the plane of Briya/mental.
Acupuncture: A form of alternative medicine used throughout Asia, especially in China, Japan, and Korea. Commonly used for pain relief and a wide range of other conditions, acupuncture involves stimulating specific points of energy using very fine needles. Acupressure uses the hands for this same stimulation without piercing the skin.
Adam Kadmon: The primordial man made of light upon whom the sefirot can be projected in order to relate them to the anatomy of a physical body. Adam Kadmon existed in the spiritual plane, Atzilut.
Aramaic: An ancient language written in Hebrew letters, found in many Jewish prayers and writings such as the Zohar.
(The) Ari: The term of affection and respect given to the brilliant sixteenth-century kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), leader of the Safed kabbalists during his brief lifetime. Ari means “lion.” The Ari is also referred to as the Arizal, meaning the Ari of blessed memory.
Assiya: The physical plane in Kabbalah, the lowest of the four planes of existence (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual).
Atzilut: The spiritual universe, literal meaning: nearness; highest of the four planes of existence—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Ba’al Shem Tov: Also known as the Besht, Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer was the eighteenth-century founder of the Chassidic movement in Eastern Europe.
Bible: The twenty-four books that comprise Hebrew scripture: Torah (5), Prophets (8), Writings (11).
Bina: The third sefira when counting from Keter. Called “understanding,” it is the analytic componant of the mind, and can refer to the left brain. It lies with Chochma in the mental plane, Briya. Bina is also the partzuf Ema/Mother.
Briya: The mental plane of existence.
Chabad: From the first letters of Chochma, Bina, and Da’at, a worldwide Orthodox Jewish movement involved in education and outreach.
Chakras: From the Sanskrit word meaning “wheel,” chakras are powerful vortex-shaped energy patterns. There are seven major chakras running up the center of the body.
Chashmal: The final barrier Eziekiel encountered in his vision of the merkava (chariot). Translated as “electrum,” it is the combination of two opposites, mal/speech and chash/silence.
Chesed: The fourth sefira when counting from Keter. Chesed represents the divine attribute of loving kindness. It lies in the emotional plane, Yetzira.
Chochma: The second sefira when counting from Keter, translated as “wisdom,” is the place of insight. It lies with Bina/understanding, in the mental plane, Briya. Chochma is also the partzuf Abba/Father.
Da’at: “Knowing.” Lower Da’at, located in the area of the throat, connects the mind to the heart. Upper Da’at, located in the area of the midbrain called corpus callosum, integrates the right and left hemispheres of the brain. It can be accessed symbolically at the third eye, located between the eyebrows. When dealing with the conscious mind, Da’at is counted instead of Keter as one of the ten sefirot.
Devekut: A mystic experience of intimate and direct connection between an individual and divinity; literally, “cleaving to God.”
Ema: Mother; the partzuf created by Binah. Ema is the partner of Abba, Father.
Gematria: Every Hebrew letter possesses a number value called gematria. Words or phrases with the same gematria have a special relationship that is the basis of many kabbalistic teachings.
Grounding: The process of connecting to life-sustaining earth energies.
Gvurah: The fifth sefira when counting down the Tree from Keter. Translated as “might” or “justice,” it is the boundary making force in creation. It lies in the emotional plane, Yetzira.
Hod: The eighth sefira when counting down the Tree from Keter, translated as “splendor,” Hod is the power of surrender and gratitude. It is one of the six sefirot in the emotional plane, Yetzira.
Immanent: The divine presence manifested in the physical world.
Kabbalah: The Jewish mystical tradition.
Keter: The highest sefira, the crown, the root of the soul. It lies in the spiritual universe of Azilut, “nearness.”
Kohen: Temple priest. Descended from Moses’ brother Aaron, the priests were responsible for performing religious rituals on behalf of the people and maintaining the purity of the Temple.
Lecha Dodi: A mystical hymn composed in the sixteenth century by the Safed kabbalist Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz. Lecha Dodi is sung as a part of the Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming the Sabbath) service on Friday evenings. As the last stanza is sung, the congregation rises and faces west to the setting sun to welcome the Sabbath queen. The song is also an acrostic—the first letter of each stanza spells the author’s name.
Ma’aseh Merkava: Literally, “workings of the chariot,” a phrase that refers to the practice of mystical ascension for the purpose of receiving divine influx. It is based on the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the heavenly throne.
Malchut: The lowest of the ten sefirot, translated as “majesty.” It corresponds to the physical plane, Assiya, and the realm of the divine feminine, and the partzuf of the daughter, Nukva.
Meridians: Energetic pathways that run along channels in the body. They are the basis of oriental medicine, including acupuncture.
Merkava: The chariot, throne of God, in Ezekiel’s vision.
Mingmen: An acupuncture point called the Gate of Life, located behind the navel on the back. The mingmen is said to be where the original life essence of the individual is based.
Mishkan: The portable sanctuary containing the Ten Commandments; carried throughout the forty-year journey in the desert following the the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. Home of both the Shechina and the cherubs who guarded the Ark of the Covenant.
Motzi: A term referring to the Hebrew blessing for bread, also recited at the beginning of a meal that includes bread as a grace over all the food that will be eaten.
Nadi(s): An ancient Sanskrit term for channels through which the energies of the body flow.
Netzach: The seventh sefira when counting down the Tree from Keter. Its meaning can be thought of as victory, eternity, or endurance. It one of the six sefirot in Z”A, corresponding to the emotional plane, Yetzira.
Nukva or NOK: The partzuf of the daughter, the archetype of Woman. Corresponds to the sefira of Malchut/majesty and the physical plane, Assiya. The root of the word Nukva literally means concave, implying a receptacle. The word for feminine in Hebrew, N’kayva, is from the same root.
Olam Haba: Literally, the world to come, envisioned as a time of Oneness and mutual cooperation.
Partzuf, pl. partzufim: The kabbalistic human-like archetypes in the Tree of Life that create a family system of grandfather/father/mother/son/daughter. They can also function as sub-personalities in an individual.
Radiant circuits: Subtle energy flows that support and assist all other energy systems, especially the meridians. Highly responsive to thoughts and emotions, they fuel joy and other positive feelings.
Rakia: Hebrew for “firmament.” According to the creation story in the book of Genesis, the firmament was created on the second day as a boundary between heaven and earth.
Sefer Yetzira: The Book of Formation; the oldest known kabbalistic text.
Sefira/pl. sefirot: The ten channels of divine flow that link the transcendent light of the Creator with the creation.
Shabbat: Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, lasting from sunset on Friday evenings to dusk on Saturday. Work is forbidden for observant Jews. It is a time of spiritual reflection rather than creation.
Shakti: A Hindu goddess, considered the concept or personification of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as the Great divine Mother. Hindus believe Shakti is both responsible for creation and is the agent of all change.
Shechina: In Kabbalah, the indwelling divine presence, the feminine expression of God associated with the partzuf Nukva, the daughter, the archetype of woman.
Shefa: Divine flow or influence.
Shiva: A supreme Hindu male deity, regarded as limitless, transcendent, unchanging, and formless.
Soul: Spiritual essence, life force, consciousness. The aspect of living creatures more closely connected to the light of Source.
Talmud: The teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including the Torah, law, ethics, philosophy, customs, history, and many other topics, codified in the fifth century.
Transcendent: Existing apart from and not subject to the limitations of the physical word.
Tiferet: The sixth sefira down the tree when counting from Keter, translated as beauty and harmony, and corresponding to the heart. It lies on the the central column, in the center of six sefirot in the partzuf of Ze’er Anpin (Z”A), the son, the archetype of Man.
Tikun olam: “Repair of the world,” including social reforms leading to a time of peace, prosperity, health, and justice for all.
Torah: The five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Tzimtzum: The withdrawing of God’s light to form a space for creation, the chalal.
Yesod: The ninth sefira when counting from Keter, translated as foundation, it lies in the central channel. One of the six sefirot of Yetzira, the emotional plane.
Yetzira: The emotional plane; literally, “universe of formation.”
Yichudim: Hebrew for unifications; kabbalistic practices meant to unite the practitioner with the divine Oneness.
Yin and Yang: In Chinese philosophy, a description of how opposite forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and create a whole greater than the assembled parts. Yin is associated with dark, cold, feminine; Yang with light, heat, masculine.
Ze’er Anpin (Z”A): The partzuf of the son/man. It is composed of the six sefirot of the word of Yetzira, the emotional plane. Sometimes referred to as the KB”H, Kadosh Baruch Hu, the Holy One Blessed be He.
Zohar: From the Hebrew רהַֹז, literally “splendor” or “radiance.” It is the foundational work in Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism. The Zohar contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of ego to darkness and “true self” to the “Light of God,” and the relationship between the “universal energy” and man. The Zohar was first published in Spain in the thirteenth century by Moses de Leon. De Leon ascribed the work to Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi), a rabbi of the second century during the Roman persecution who, according to Jewish legend, hid in a cave for thirteen years studying the Torah and was inspired by the prophet Elijah to write the Zohar.