In the last section, we saw patterns in the Ten Commandments and the ten sayings of creation from Genesis 1. We saw that 1-3 addressed broad generalities. We also saw that 4-9 addressed mundane specifics. And within the 4-9 group, we saw that 4-6 dealt with a more "exalted" level than was the case with 7-9. Now, let's apply those patterns to the tools of creation encompassed by sefirot 4-9 of the Tree of Life.
This portion of the Tree, the "formative" section, offers us the following tools for creation: giving, withholding, and balance. We saw this sort of thing before; one polarity, the opposite polarity, and a balance between the two extremes (the three columns of the Tree represent one example). What we haven't seen is the distinction between a pure/exalted version of a thing versus a diluted/lesser version.
Consider the concept of "giving." I'm going to pose two very simple questions. Don't think about them. Just accept the first thought thing that pops into your head. (1) Why would you "give"? (2) Why would you "withhold"? Let me try to guess how you answered these. Starting with the second question, I'll bet most of you answered, more or less, that you would "withhold" when you want to keep something for yourself. And I'll guess you said you would "give" when you want someone else to have the thing. Stated another way, you "give" in order to confer a benefit on others, and you "withhold" in order to confer a benefit on yourself. These are "giving" and "withholding" in their pure forms. It sounds pretty simple.
What would constitute an impure or diluted approach to giving? If pure giving is done for the benefit of others, diluted giving would be done in order to benefit yourself. We could also say that pure withholding is done for the benefit of yourself, while diluted withholding is done for the benefit of others. We can now use these concepts to start glimpsing the broad meanings of sefirot 4-9.
Chesed / Mercy (4) is pure giving; an unselfish giving that is done with an eye toward conferring a benefit on the recipient. One might describe it as giving that is done based on love. Of course the world is a big place with much variety of experience, so it could easily be argued that there are times when the donor will benefit from pure, loving generosity. But even so, the main focus is on the recipient, not the giver.
Gevurah / Strength (5) is pure withholding; a constrictive withholding that is done with an eye toward what you wish to retain. Once again, the world is a varied place and it could be argued that there will be times when others might benefit form your desire to withhold. But in gevurah, that is incidental. The main point, here, is that you are withholding because you have decided that this is what is best for you, not the other person.
Tiphareth / Beauty (6) strives for perfect balance between pure giving and pure withholding.
There appears to be a tendency nowadays for many to see Chesed as being a good, or pleasant, sefira and to view Gevurah as a bad, or fearsome quality. I urge you to resist this framework. Rabbi Yechiel Bar-Lev, in Song of the Soul, asks us to consider the example of a father who wishes to punish his wayward son and therefore set him straight. The motive for the punishment is love. Keeping in mind the father's desire to help his son become a better person, look at how Chesed and Gevurah operate.
"Were the characteristic of chesed able to decide, anger would grow without restraint, and the father would punish his son severely. Here the sefira `gevura' gets involved, limiting and restricting the recommendations which arrived from chesed. This interference limits and restricts the passion which was aroused in chesed, pours out a feeling of calm and brakes the anger. The decision between the recommendations of chesed and gevurah is made by the sefira `tiferet,' `representative' of the middle line."
Aryeh Kaplan, in Inner Space offers an interesting way of seeing these three characteristics:
"In the case of a city wanting to control traffic flow across a bridge, Chesed would let as much traffic through as wants to cross; Gevurah would close it off completely; Tiferet would try to reach some kind of optimum"
In Netzach / Victory (7), we turn the tables a bit. This sefira represents giving that is done for the benefit of the giver, not necessarily for the benefit of the recipient. What might this look like in day-to-day life? If you are giving love or affection, but do so with a focus on yourself as opposed to the other, your behavior might be seen as smothering. If you give instruction, but do so with a focus on what you want to teach (as opposed to what the student needs to learn) your student may see you as being overwhelming. Summarizing, giving for the benefit of yourself rather than the recipient typically winds up with conduct that could generally be characterized as domineering. This is the essence of Netzach.
Hod / Splendor (8) is impure withholding. This is a tricky concept. In day-to-day behavior, this might take the form of refusing to accept something in order to allow someone else to get it; withholding from yourself. Suppose, for example, you and a friend buy a lottery ticket as partners. The ticket wins. You decide to allow your friend to keep all the proceeds (perhaps your friend experiences a financial calamity and you wish to lend a helping hand). You have subordinated your interests to those of your friend. Your conduct could be described as submissive (Kaplan uses the word "empathy"); this being the essence of Hod.
Yesod / Foundation (9) strives for balance between dominance and submission.
You may notice that there is a fine line between Hod and Chesed. Couldn't one say that your decision to allow your friend to keep the lottery winnings is an act of Chesed (a decision to benefit your friend by "giving" him/her your share of the proceeds)? Perhaps. But you really couldn't give the lottery proceeds because you never actually had them in the first place. You could have had them. But you chose to withhold them from yourself.
Conversely, if you smother another with guidance (Netzach), can it not be said that you are withholding from the student his/her right to stand on his/her own two feet (Gevurah)? Perhaps. As in the case of Chesed and Hod, there is a relationship, albeit one that can be blurry, between Gevurah and Netzach. The result in this example may be the same, but the process is different. In Gevurah, you withhold so that the student never receives anything in the first place. In Netzach, you give so much that the student can never constructively use it.
We could look at other examples and engage in more hair-splitting between Chesed/Hod and Gevurah/Netzach. But that would not necessarily be a worthwhile endeavor. Remember the discussion of the ten sayings of Genesis 1 and the Ten Commandments. These sefirot work together, as a team, to implement the creative thoughts of the top triad (Kether, Chochma and Binah). Each of the formative sefirot has a distinct role to play, but each is, nonetheless, a member of the team. Using a sports team analogy, the top three sefirot represent the coaching staff while the formative sefirot represent the players. Each player has a position, but often in life we see that players sometimes help out by playing "out of position." Baseball fans know full well that many a shortstop is occasionally called upon to play second base, or that a catcher will sometimes play left field. And in football games, a running back will often line up as a receiver. The key is that specialization isn't a hard and fast thing. The boundaries can be loose. So, too, with the formative sefirot. The key is the team. (Remember, too, the earlier discussion of the shattering of the vessels, which occurred because the sefirot originally tried to function in isolation from one another.)
Hence, rather than making a nit-picking effort to craft a completely isolated, self-contained definition for each sefira, it would seem more constructive to accept the idea that boundaries are often grey, and get comfortable with the idea that each sefira works very much in tandem with the others.
We're now ready to set up a matrix diagram that will help us understand the six sefirot of creation:
| Withholding | Balance | Giving | |
| Pure | 5 - Gevurah | 6 - Tiphareth | 4 - Chesed |
| Impure | 8 - Hod | 9 - Yesod | 7 - Netzach |
In the next part of this series, we'll touch bases with each of the six sefirot in this group and review some of the basic details and correspondences that haven't yet been addressed (the names of the sefirot, the corresponding god names, Tomer Devorah, and some Gematria).
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