Basics of Terminology
It is thought that since Kabbalah researches the root characteristics
of the universe for basic categories of our world that transcend human
imagination such as space, time, and movement, scientists/Kabbalists
use abstract definitions as terminology. In fact, the actual state of
affairs in our science is completely opposite to the above opinion.
Kabbalah, being a practical method rather than a tool of research,
uses names, titles, and terms only on the condition of their genuine
correspondence to the objects and phenomena which they denote. There
is an iron rule that a researcher/Kabbalist follows: “Anything that has
not been attained cannot be designated by name”. The word attainment
itself as a term is derived from the concept existing in one of the
Kabbalistic texts “when your hand attains…”. This means that it is the
necessary level of knowledge defined as attainment, when there is a
correspondence of the feeling equalized to the reaction of the body.
Kabbalah refers to the levels of knowledge that do not correspond to
the given definition as comprehension, studying, and so forth.
At this point we should briefly touch upon the following question. The
problem of attainment also implies the question about the depth of
attainment: what exactly in the researched phenomenon, world, or
object is available for attainment, and what levels of its existence
will remain outside of the framework of any research?
From the most obvious examples of human contact with the environment,
it becomes clear to us that the depth of the person’s attainment is
limited by his needs. There are real, daily used forces and phenomena
such as physical fields and waves of which man has not yet attained
their essence. However, though not even cognizant of their essence, man
has learnt, researched and used their qualities and thereby given them
names. The names are given according to the perceptible manifestations of
an object, or even more accurately, according to their impact on man.
These words enter the everyday language and generate in everyone a
cluster of associations connected with the sum of manifestations of the
object. This may be limited due to what this particular man is familiar
with, personally or through hearsay. That is to say, this sum of
associations creates a sense of an object in a person.
This is the reality of anything that is defined by the reality of a
sum of impacts of a given object on the researcher’s senses. This is
true for the above reason and its researched manifestations as well as
for the impact of objects and bodies of our world that affect our five
senses. The knowledge of them is also limited by our familiarity with
their impact on us. The sum of reactions of our sensors to this
impact creates a complete and sufficient image of an object in our
perception despite the absence of knowledge about the inner essence
of a given object.
The same will be true regarding man’s self-knowledge. Everything the
person knows about himself is a superficial manifestation of some inner
essence with which he is unfamiliar.
In the process of studying the basics of a science, a person initially
fills the grand repository of terms with images taken from textbooks.
He believes these names to be the result of an impact of the
phenomena they define on the specialists who or devices that have
researched these phenomena. In the process of further advancement,
the reality of these terms passes on to a higher level as a result of
experiencing the influence of these factors through experimentation.
This principle is true for the researches of the worlds, Partzufim,
and Sefirot for whom the experienced influence of the Upper force,
called the light in Kabbalah, is a complete and sufficient basis for
naming every level of manifestation of this Upper force.
Therefore, one of the rules of Kabbalah states: “Everything subject to
assessment and deriving from the Upper force’s expression at the
different levels of nature completely satisfies the researcher’s
needs.” Thus, man never needs anything that is not in the nature of
the universe, which is a manifestation of the Upper force.
“The Language of Branches”
One of the conclusions from the aforesaid is that a researcher is
unable to give a name to the true material of elements of the first
system called the spiritual worlds. This is because our language is
an instrument of consciousness, which is born from a combination of
feelings and ideas. In turn, they are a result of the world’s
influence limited by the categories of space, time, and movement.
The research of scientists/Kabbalists has shown that the structure
of all spiritual worlds is exactly the same, the only difference being
in the “material”. The difference is in the state of the element of
reception in them determined by a greater or smaller degree of
remoteness from the state of equivalence with the Upper force.
Therefore, every following part is the manifestation of the Upper
force at a particular level of the qualitative remoteness from its
character, and being like the Upper force itself, it naturally
represents its purpose at this level. In this capacity the part of
the system (as joining of elements of reception and influence, i.e.,
the achieved goal), fully constitutes the Upper force for the lower
part, giving birth to it and completely defining all of its qualities.
The absolute identity of the higher level to the lower and its ability
to determine it are given by the scientists in the following or similar
sentences: “A grass-blade’s destiny strikes it from the Upper world
compelling it to grow and reach its purpose.”
All of this gave the scientists an opportunity to apply a special
system of signs called the “language of branches” for conveying the
information about the levels of creation that is beyond simple
description. Every word in this system is semantically bound to an
object or phenomenon of our world – the branch. To the person who
attained the level on which the cause of this object exists – the
root, it indicates the phenomenon or object of that level.
Such is the character of the language used by the
scientists/Kabbalists for conveying the information necessary for the
entire world. They pass it to one another, so that it could be used in
the future generations both orally and in written form. This language
is quite adequate, i.e., it fully satisfies the needs of everyone who
desires to study the universe and participate in the realization of its
purpose.
Thus, the integrated approach to the creation of terminology in
Kabbalah consists in the principle of the language of branches based
on the character of structure of the universe as the subject of this
science.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to give a full list of other very
important aspects of the Kabbalistic system of signs, such as conveying
information through graphical inscription of the Hebrew letters, or
through their numeric meaning, the so called Gematria. All of this is
studied in a separate course. However, for this article we need to
provide a concise glossary for some of the above-mentioned terms.
Our world
The complete and self-sufficient picture which is presented to our
“desire to receive” through the combination of the five senses and
consciousness generated by them.
Original cause (“The Creator”)
As it has been already mentioned, a phenomenon of influence, bestowal,
the nature of which has no analogues in the universe, and realization
of which is in a desire to receive, is referred to as the original
cause in Kabbalah. The phenomenon is achievable only by changing the
desire to receive with the help of a special method until it acquires
a form of influence and reaches a condition of equivalence of form.
Let us cite a few definitions of the Creator:
1. His nature is not an object of direct research because any research
is possible only if the law of similarity of properties is observed.
We can only research the effect of that law (it is known that one of
the accepted methods of research is that an object with a set of given
properties is exposed to some influence with unknown properties, which
we estimate by the changes in the properties of the researched
object);
2. His influence (the light) is constant, invariable; His state is
defined as absolute rest, because movement is a function of the state
of deficiency;
3. As a result of the act of creation, which left the receiving part
devoid of filling His influence is felt as desired and good;
4. The Creator is sensed as one possessing personal qualities, because
in the part of the universe that is most remote from Him, which is
defined by scientists as concealment of the original cause or of the
Upper Governance. The objects of the universe are aware only of their
personal qualities; therefore, they are projected onto the so-called
Reshimot, i.e., the residual effects of the primary state, which is
the world of Infinity.
Existence
This is the realization of the material of creation, called the
desire to receive, on different levels of proximity to the original
cause. The existence of the original cause is indefinable due to the
opposition of its properties to those of the researcher; only one or
another aspect of its influence can be defined.
The Goal
This is the necessary component of existence. With its apparent
assessed and transcendental objectivity of the goal, it is indeed a
carrier of the existential content and plays the role of the
determinative factor for the location on a certain level in the
hierarchy of the universe.
This World
It is defined as the feeling of extreme remoteness from the original
cause, of absolute inability of even minimal contact with it, while
realizing its existence and longing to reveal it entirely.
