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In various works of the Torah’s inner dimension, we find four reasons for why the will arose before God to create reality,[1] from the supernal spiritual Worlds to, in particular, the lower physical World beneath, which we inhabit and is the lowest of all possible Worlds. Of the four, the deepest reason—the only reason that touches upon God’s very essence—is one whose origin is in the Midrash: “The Holy Blessed One desired to have a dwelling among the lower beings.”[2]
“As the Glory of Man is to Dwell in a House”
Belief that God has a desire to create the world corresponds to the sefirah of beauty (tiferet), as will be explained. The inner dimension of beauty is the attribute of mercy or compassion. God’s essential Name, Havayah, is known as the “Name of compassion,” and thus among the Names that are sacred (i.e., may not be erased), it is the one that corresponds to the sefirah of beauty. Indeed, it is natural that the most essential name should reflect the principle of faith in the most essential reason for the creation of the world. The connection between beauty (tiferet) and Creation is further alluded to in the verse, “As the beauty of man is to dwell in a home”[3] (כְּתִפְאֶרֶת אָדָם לָשֶׁבֶת בָּיִת).
The Center of the Center
The sefirah of beauty is situated at the central point of the central axis of the sefirot, thus it is the center within the center.[4] Its inner experience is one of compassion, and it mediates between loving-kindness and might. As we saw in a previous installment in this series, loving-kindness is the origin of the continuous renewal of Creation. From might originates the order of descent of the Worlds, known as Seder Hishtalshelut, which refers to successive levels of concealment of Godliness (the word “world” in Hebrew stems from concealment) all the way down to the physical and material world, the lowest and darkest with respect to Godliness. Each stage in this descent serves to further hide the connection between the Creator and His desire to create the world, and the coming into being of the world at the end of the process. Regarding the attribute of mercy or compassion, which lies on the central axis of the sefirot (and the central point within it, as above) it is said, “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn.”[5] In other words, God’s light, or revelation, breaks through the darkness of lower reality and reveals to all eyes His will to have His Presence dwell in the deeds of the lower beings.
“And Make for Me a Sanctuary”
One of the most well-known images associated with the sefirah of beauty is that of the middle crossbeam that held together the walls of the Tabernacle. The middle crossbeam, and by association the sefirah of beauty, is described in the Torah with the words, “the middle crossbeam runs within the boards, passing from end to end.”[6] The notion that beauty runs from end to end stresses that there is no friction or deviance associated with this sefirah and its inner aspect of compassion. Practically, this means that beauty does not lean to any side, right or left, love or awe. Unlike the two sefirot loving-kindness and might, which lay to its right and left, beauty and compassion do not intensify as love—the inner aspect of loving-kindness—does, nor do they recoil like awe—the inner aspect of might. It allows for the unhindered flow, as it were, between the arousal of mercy within the one exercising compassion and the actualization of compassion within the deed of kindness towards another.
As beauty functions in the interaction between souls, so it ascends to the supernal crown to draw from there the Divine will and pleasure that it will reveal in the dwelling place of holiness below, specifically in the sefirah of kingdom, which appears through the Land of Israel, the holy city of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Holy Temple, and the Holy of Holies. Although, one cannot feign to “contain” God in any way or fashion, for as King Solomon stated at the inauguration of the First Temple, “the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, much less this house,”[7] nonetheless, God Himself chose to dwell below—to reveal His very essence and being “in thick haze,”[8] in the house His children built for Him in this lower world specifically. God commanded the construction of the Tabernacle and subsequently the Temple when He said, “They shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell among them.”[9] Ultimately, the principle of faith that the internal and essential craving of the Holy Blessed One attributes a craving (ta'avah, in Hebrew) as it were to God; and when it comes to a craving, there can be no counter-arguments, or “one cannot argue with a craving.”[10]
This principle of faith of the Torah’s inner dimension introduces a new perspective on Maimonides’ principle of reward and punishment. According to Maimonides,[11] the final reward for one’s service in life will be given in the World to Come, which unlike our world—called This World—is not a physical reality, because the ultimate reward is eternal and physical existence cannot be eternal. However, according to Kabbalah, specifically following Nachmanides’ view,[12] the World to Come, after the resurrection of the dead, is in this very physical world.[13] Fortunate is one who in his life in this lower physical world has prepared the ground and made ready the vessels for the dwelling of God’s very essence in this place, among the lower beings.
A House of Zevul
The Sages speak of seven firmaments,[14] which correspond to the emotive sefirot. The firmament corresponding to the sefirah of beauty is known as Zevul, meaning “abode”, and in it is the location of the heavenly Jerusalem and the heavenly Temple. The source for this identification is in the verse, “I have surely built a house of Zevul for You, a place for You to dwell forever.”[15] King Solomon constructed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem as a physical version of God’s heavenly abode.
Seemingly, this would indicate that God does not need a dwelling place below, because He already has one above. However, countless sources indicate that the Almighty has sworn not to enter the Temple above—His heavenly abode, as it were—until He enters the Temple below. These sources trace their way back to Hosea’s words, “For I am God, not a human; I am holy in your midst, and I will not enter the city.”[16] These words are offered as part of conciliatory words the prophet relates to the Jewish people. With this in mind, the rabbis explain
Rav Nachman said to Rabbi Yitzchak: What is the meaning of the words, “I am sacred in your midst, and I will not enter the city?” Because the sacred One is in your midst, that is a reason that He will not come into the city? He replied, “Rabbi Yochanan said as follows: the Holy Blessed One said: ‘I shall not enter the heavenly Jerusalem until I enter the earthly city of Jerusalem.’”[17]
An expanded version of this explanation including more context reads,
For from the day that the Temple was destroyed below, the Holy Blessed One says that He will not enter the heavenly Jerusalem until the Jewish people will enter the earthly Jerusalem, as it says, “I am holy in your midst, and I will not enter the city.”[18]
Though God could seemingly be content with His Heavenly, non-mundane abode above, He craves to dwell within the House of Zebul, the Temple constructed by His people below and even ignores the possibility of dwelling supernally so long as He does not have a dwelling place below.
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[1]. We reviewed these reasons for Creation in Wonders, issue 123 (Sukkot 5785). See Sod HaShem LiYerei’av, pp. 203-211.
[2]. Tanchuma, Naso 7:1, and is explained at length in the Tanya, ch. 36.
[3]. Isaiah 44:13.
[4]. In fact, one of the explanations of the Arizal’s statement that the contraction of God’s infinite revelation (or light) occurred in its central point, is that this statement refers to the sefirah of beauty (tiferet).
[5]. Isaiah 58:8. The Hebrew for “shall break forth” (יִבָּקַע) is a permutation of the letters of “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב). Jacob is the patriarch considered the archetypal soul and the chariot of the sefirah of beauty (tiferet) and its inner experience, mercy
[6]. Exodus 26:28; see Zohar 1:224a and other places.
[7]. 1 Kings 8:27.
[8]. Ibid. v. 12.
[9]. Exodus 25:8.
[10]. The Alter Rebbe of Chabad was asked by a student about the reason for Creation and the difficulties they raise, because any reason or explanation for why God created reality implies that God had some sort of deficiency before Creation, since the reason for creation would be the fulfillment of that deficiency. The Alter Rebbe finally told him the essential reason: “the Holy Blessed One craved a dwelling place among the lower beings.” The student still asked: if so, before the world was created, His craving was unfulfilled! The Alter Rebbe replied: “One cannot argue logically with a craving.”
[11]. Hilchot Teshuvah 8:1-2.
[12]. Sha’ar HaGemul, ch. 5.
[13]. Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh 17.
[14]. Chagigah 12b.
[15]. 1 Kings 8:13.
[16]. Hosea 11:9.
[17]. Ta’anit 5a.
[18]. Zohar 1:231a.
