How is the world created with Sephirot?

Rav Isaac Luria, who lived in Sefad, Israel, in the mid-16th century, developed a cosmology to describe how God created the world using the 10 emanations, or sephirot. Each of the sephirot are like the manifestation of God’s will, or ‘ratzon’ in the world. The names of the sephirot are as follows, but each name is need of a description to understand how God manifests his will in a particular way.

1. Keter- this means ‘crown’ in Hebrew and is the equivalent of ‘will’ or ‘ratzon.’
2. Chochmah- wisdom
3. Binah- understanding, which is different than wisdom
4. Chesed- loving kindness
5. Din- judgement
6. Tiferet- harmony or beauty
7. Netzach- victory
8. Hod- glory
9. Yesod- foundation
10. Malchot- kingship or sovereignty

Sephirot and Creation

I thought it might be fun to talk a little bit about some of the more well-known ideas in Kabbalah. We have all heard of the ‘sephirot’, and seen pictures of the charts which illustrate how the sephirot relate to one another, but what does it all really mean?

First off, it is crucial to always keep in mind that the 10 sephirot are not in any way, shape, or form 10 separate ‘gods.’ The sephirot can be best understood as godly ‘emanations’, or more clearly, ten different ways God reveals himself in this world. A good way to think about it is that God himself does not change but rather the ability, or way, to perceive Him is what changes.

More about sephirot later.

Rav Berg Translated the Zohar to English

You might not know this, but Rav Berg is the first person that translated the entire Zohar into English. Amazing! Without this translation we would all be forced to learn Aramaic in order to read the Zohar. Aramaic is a little used language today but used to be in much more wide usage many hundreds of years ago. Aramaic is a Semitic language related to both Hebrew and Arabic. While I'm on the subject I'll tell you the little I know about Aramaic. Some books of the Bible are written in Aramaic, including the books of Daniel, and Ezra. The Talmud is also largely written in Aramaic. More later.

Wedding blessings

The Kabbalah lists many blessings that one can attain, and using the light of one who who studies and teaches Kabbalah is extremely meaningful.

Rav Berg founded the Kabbalah Center, and he is considered by his adherents and followers to be a leading Kabbalist and Kabbalah teacher. At Youtube you can see him making the benedictions and doing some singing at a wedding.

I would advise going to Youtube to watch it.

Finally - Started!

It took me a while, but I have been very busy.
I bought a book by Rav Berg (check here), and have been reading it, before I take the risk of going to a lecture or two at the Kabbalah Centre. I am quite overwhelmed by all that is happening at work, so I need to dedicate some time to considering the content and meaning of the book.

Berg is Kabbalah Leader

Rav Berg, the founder and leader of the Kabbalah Center, which has grown to many cities around the US as well as internationally, is a Kabbalah Leader. Rav Berg studied with some of the greatest Kabbalistic masters of the contemporary age, and as Rav Berg himself testifies, he was appointed to continue the Kabbalist traditions, and he was also told to open the doors of the Kabbalah to the masses. This is quite interesting and revolutionary, as traditionally the Kabbalah was studied by a select few Jewish Kabbalists. The Kabbalah Centre opened the light of the Kabbalah to the masses and especially English speaking people.

Teaching Kabbalah

I have a very basic knowledge of what it takes to be able to decipher the Kabbalah texts. It isn't only a question of being able to understand the literal meaning of the texts, which aren't all written in English, but also a question of the concepts.

The Kabbalah Centers on many concepts that repeat themselves over again and without knowing these base concepts there is quite a bit you will miss.
The answer is to find a teacher - or Rav - who can lead you through the fundamental Kabbalah central concepts.