Abba, lit., “father”: According to the Kabbalists, a display of Heavenly forces that resembled the Sephirah (the Godly light) of chochmah.
Adam Kadmon, “supernal man”: An extremely exalted spiritual universe. It is a display of Godliness that is the Heavenly root and source for the parts of man.
Adar: The last month of the Jewish calendar. During Adar Jewry celebrates the hidden hand of Divine Providence and the holiday of Purim.
A-do-n-ai: The name of God that denotes His mastery and rule.
Afar, lit., “dirt”: The element of earth or solids.
Aggada: The Talmudic passages that contain legends, philosophy, and Biblical homilies.
Ahavah, lit., “love”: An amplification of chesed (kindness, giving), the desire to extend oneself into someone else.
Aish, lit., “fire”: The element of fire or energy.
kelippos Ezekiel penetrated to see the Divine and His chariot.
Aiz: A goat. Often perceived as a satanic image.
Aleph (א): The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
Alma de-isgalya, lit., “the revealed world”: The realm of the seven lower statements of creation. It is the dimension of reality where the seven lower Sephiros (Godly lights) are somewhat apparent.
Alma de-iskasya, lit., “the hidden world”: The realm of the first three statements of creation that correspond to the first three Sephiros.
Alma de-prodah, lit., “the world of separation”: The domain of evil, for evil emerges from disconnectedness.
Alufo shel olam: A phrase for God denoting the fact that he is the first of the world.
Amalek: An ancient nation that sought to destroy the Jews (see Exod. 16:8-16). They attacked the weakest members of Israel, the elderly and infirm, before the Jewish nation arrived at Sinai to receive the Torah. Haman was a member of this nation (see Esth. 3:1), and he tried to annihilate world Jewry during the reign of Achashveirosh.
Anan kaved, lit., “heavy cloud”: One of the kelippos that Ezekiel had to penetrate before he could see the Divine and His chariot (See Ezekiel 1). Arich, lit., “long”: Long face; a name the Kabbalists use to denote the Sephirah of keser, “essential will.”
Aseres Ha-Dibros: The Ten Commandments.
Asha”n: An acronym of the Hebrew words for the three dimensions: space (olam), time (sha’ah) and person (nefesh).
Asiyah, lit., “physical action”: The lowest of the four supernal universes, which is attached to the physical realm.
Asur, lit., “tied, tied up”: Forbidden.
Atik, lit., “ancient”: The ancient one. The Kabbalists used this name to refer to the grandfather-like love that God displays through his attribute of keser, “essential will.”
Atzilus: The highest of the four supernal universes that is “next to”(eitzel) unlimited Divinity.
Aveirah, pl. aveiros: A sin.
Avodah, lit., “work”: Service to God, such as sacrifices and prayers. Also a section of prayers and supplications traditionally recited on Yom Kippur that recalls the sacrificial service to God that the High Priest would perform in Jerusalem’s temple.
Avraham: The Hebrew name for the Biblical Abraham, the father of the Jewish people.
Ayin: Nothingness. The Sephirah of keser, “essential will,” is sometimes called ayin.
Baal Shem Tov (also known by the acronym Besht): Rabbi Israel of Mezhibuzh (born in Okup, Ukraine in approximately 1698). The title means “Master of the Good Name.” He started the Chasidic movement in order to inoculate Jewry against the ravages of secularism.
Baal Tzefon: An Egyptian idol that symbolized a hidden and intransigent opposition to Israel and Judaism (see Exod. 14:2).
Barchi Nafshi: A phrase which King David wrote five times in his psalms, meaning, “My soul shall bless” (God).
Bas, lit., “daughter”: The Kabbalists call the revelation of the Sephirah of malchus, “humble kingship,” the daughter of wisdom, intuition, and understanding.
Bechinah: An aspect of, a comparative or relative value.
Be’er Sheva: The city of Beersheba, Israel. Literally, “the well of seven.”
Beinoni (pl. beinonim): An intermediate person, an individual who can achieve spiritual perfection in deed, speech, and thought but who will always have a virulent urge for sin.
Beis Ha-Mikdash: The Temple in Jerusalem. It was first built by King Solomon, son of King David, approx 950 B.C.E. Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, 586 B.C.E. The second Temple was built approx. 538-515 B.C.E., and destroyed by Titus and the Romans in 70 C.E. The Temple was the nexus between Heaven and earth. The rules of space were suspended within its walls. All spiritual blessings for the world would flow through it, and it revealed the seven lower bounded lights of God (the seven lower Sephiros).
Beis Lechem: The Biblical city of Bethlehem, Israel.
Ben, lit., “son”: According to the Kabbalists, feelings that are derived (the son of) wisdom and understanding. These derived emotions are the six lower Sephiros: chesed (giving), gevurah (restraint), tiferes (harmony), netzach (dominance), hod (empathy), and yesod (perfect balance), often known collectively by the acronym Chagat Nehi.
Bereishis: “In the beginning,” the first word in the Torah. It also refers to the first statement of creation, which was a level of Godliness that transcended articulation.
Beriah, lit., “creation”: The second highest of the four supernal universes, where human thoughts are formed.
Besht: See Baal Shem Tov.
Binah: Understanding, the ability to understand one matter from another, the mental capacity to comprehend details.
Be-sheim kol Yisrael, lit., “In the name of all of Israel”: The last line of the unification prayer, traditionally recited prior to the fulfillment of a religious precept. It attaches the individual to the heavenly world of Adam Kadmon where all Jewish souls are bound together in unity.
Chabad: An acronym for chochmah (intuition), binah (understanding), and da’as (internalization), the three highest Sephiros. Within man these Godly lights became the three components to intellectual thought and comprehension, which is greatly stressed in the Tanya and by the Lubavitch Chasidim.
Chagat Nehim: An acronym for chesed (giving), gevurah (restraint), tiferes (harmony), netzach (dominance), hod (empathy), yesod (perfect balance), and malchus (kingship), which are the seven lower Sephiros, and within man represent the seven primary emotions.
Chai: Animal life, the third highest class of existence after domeim (rocks) and tzome’ach (plant life).
Chametz: Leavened dough, its ingestion and possession are prohibited during the Passover holiday.
Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah: Three prophets who were exiled by Nebuchadnezzar prior to the fall of Jerusalem’s first Temple (See Daniel 3). When the Babylonian regent erected an idol and demanded that all bow to it, these brave Jews refused and were thrown into a lit furnace. A miracle occurred, and they emerged out of the flames unharmed.
Chanukah candles: Candles lit during the eight-day festival of Chanukah to commemorate the miracle of the Temple’s candelabrum burning for eight days on one day’s jar of oil.
Chasidus: The Jewish movement and school of religious thought that was started by Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov.
Chayah: The part of the human soul that parallels the world of atzilus. This part of the soul is total attachment to God. It is beyond a person, and it is sensed in the feeling of absolute union with holiness, when vessel and light become one.
Chazir: A pig.
Chesed: The Heavenly attribute of generosity and giving.
Chetzyo la-Hashem, lit., “half of it for God”: This Talmudic phrase teaches that half of the festival holiday should be dedicated to God.
Chetzyo lachem, lit., “half of it for you”: A Talmudic phrase that declares that half of the festival holiday is for human enjoyment.
Chevron: The Biblical city of Hebron, Israel.
Chomer: Matter, a vessel that is influenced by its tzurah, “form.”
Chomrius: Materialism.
Davar Kelali: An all-encompassing entity. It is a microcosm that contains minute amounts of the essences of many items, moments, or people. Shabbos, Jerusalem, and righteous individuals are examples of this concept.
Derash: The analytical meaning of the Torah text.
Deveikus: Attachment to God; a connection with Heaven that is so strong that through it one leaves the physical dimension and becomes attached to infinity.
Dibbur: Speech.
Dibros: Commandments. The Aseres Ha-Dibros are the Ten Command- ments.
Din, lit., “justice”: The Heavenly Sephirah of gevurah, “strong restraint.”
Domeim: The lowest class of existence, which includes water, stones, and earth.
Eden: The Garden of Eden.
Eliyahu Ha-Navi: The Biblical prophet Elijah. He directed Israel to a life of faith and ascended to Heaven in chariots of fire while still alive. He periodically reappears on earth to save the Jewish nation from dangers, and he will be the harbinger of the final redemption. Also called Eliyahu Ha-Tishbi.
Elul: The sixth month of the Hebrew calendar and commonly a time of repentance and introspection, immediately preceding Tishrei.
Emunah: Faith in God.
Eser kisrin de-misaavusa: The ten crowns of impurity; ten powerful forces of sin, evil, and spiritual filth which counteract the ten forces of holiness that emerged from the ten Sephiros.
Esrog: The citron fruit, which Jews ritually shake during the holiday of Sukkos along with the lulav (palm frond), hadasim (myrtle) and aravos (willow), based on Lev. 23:40.
Eved Ivri: A Jewish slave, whose term usually did not exceed six years. However, if at the end of six years he would insist on remaining in his master’s home, then he would remain a slave until the year of Jubilee (Yovel).
Gehinnom: Hell, the opposite of the Garden of Eden.
Gematria: The homiletic device of numerology. Two words that seem disconnected might have the same numerological value, indicating a hidden connection.
Gilgul: Reincarnation.
Gog and Magog: The nations that in the future will battle Israel in the final war before the coming of the Messiah (see, e.g., Ezekiel 38-39).
Gumra de-isha: Aburningember. Theconsonantsofthisphrasearesimilar to the word Gemara, the part of the Talmud written after c. 200 C.E.
Hispashtus: Spreading, the movement of spreading out.
Halachah: Traditional Jewish law.
Ibbur neshamah: Soul impregnation, when the spirit of a soul enters a living individual to inspire him to greater levels of Torah knowledge and Mitzvah fulfillment.
Ikvasa di-meshicha: The heels of Messiah; the generation that will precede the ultimate redemption, which will hear his footsteps, and in comparison to other eras, is as unfeeling and coarse as a human heel.
Imma, lit., “mother”: The name the Kabbalists use to describe revelations of the Heavenly force of binah (the understanding of details).
Kalem: Embarrassment and cessation of existence.
Kapparah, taharah: The two elements of Yom Kippur, the day of atone- ment; atonement from the punishment due to misdeeds (kapparah) and purification of the spiritual filth of sins (taharah).
Kaved: The liver.
Keli (pl. keilim), lit., “vessel”: Filters that partially obscure the spiritual lights so that they might be appreciated by mortal man.
Kelippah (pl. kelippos) lit., “shell, peel, husk”: In mystical terminology, symbols for evil, such as tragedy, illness, misfortune, evil desires, and sins.
Kelippas Nogah, lit., “the shell of light”: A veil of light surrounding the holy sparks, which contains items that can, under the proper circumstances, become holy.
Keser, lit., “crown”: The Godly light of the first Sephirah; the Heavenly will to create a world and teach Torah to Israel. The love, pleasure, and desires of this will are beyond rational comprehension, hence it is symbolized by a crown, which sits atop the head, above the place of logical thought.
Ketores, lit., “incense”: A combination of eleven spices burned in the Temple to produce a special smell, and offered to the Almighty on the inner altar.
Ketz, lit., “end”: The date of redemption.
Kiddush, lit., “sanctification”: One of several prayers recited over wine on the eve of Shabbos or holidays to acknowledge its holiness, and again during the daytime.
Kinneres: The Sea of Galilee, a lake in Northern Israel that abuts the city of Tiberias. It is shaped like a harp, and mystically it leads all the oceans in song.
Kinor: A harp.
Koach ha-galgalim: The force of the spheres, which according to the ancient astronomers was believed to be a hidden physical force that caused the planets to rotate.
Koach ha-moshech, lit., “the force that attracts”: Gravity, the force that attracts physical items to each other.
Koach mah: (1) The force of something. (2) The force of nothing. (The multiple meanings are based on the two meanings of mah: “what,” and “nothing.”)
Korbanos: Animal sacrifices that were offered to God.
Lag Ba-Omer: The thirty-third day of the omer count. It is the birthday and day of passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
Lechah Dodi: A prayer composed by the sixteenth-century Kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, traditionally recited Friday nights to accept the holiness of Shabbos.
Lechem: Bread.
Lechimah: Battle, struggle.
Le-Sheim Yichud: The Prayer of Unification, traditionally recited prior to fulfilling any religious precept. A declaration of intent by the one reciting it that he is about to perform a Mitzvah for the sake of unification, to combine God with the Jewish people and other-worldly holinesswiththe Divineessencethatishiddenwithinphysicalcreation. Its final words are be-sheim kol Yisrael, “for the sake of all Israel.”
Lev: The heart.
Ma’aseh mitzvah: An act of Mitzvah.
Machpelah, lit., “cave”: The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron where Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah are buried.
Machshavah: Pure thought.
Makkifin: Worlds and levels of soul that are so Heavenly and exalted that most men cannot fully internalize them, which hover above man and envelop him with ethereal light and inspiration.
Malach, lit., “messenger”: An angel.
Malchus, lit., “kingship”: The Sephirah of humble kingship.
Malkos: Lashes. According to Jewish law if a Jew flagrantly violates a Biblical commandment in the presence of two witnesses who warned him not to perform the sin, the court may punish the guilty by lashing him thirty-nine times.
Mashgiach: A spiritual guidance counselor to boys in a yeshivah. Mashiach: The messiah.
Mayim, lit., “water”: Liquids; one of the four elements believed to compose everything in the world, along with eretz (earth, solid), ruach (wind, gas), and aish (fire, energy, electricity).
Medabber, lit., “speaking”: Human beings who have the ability to speak. The highest rank of existence above domeim (rocks), tzome’ach (plants), and chayah (animals).
Melech: King.
Merkavah la-Shechinah: A chariot of the Divine Presence, a righteous individual whose behavior reflects Godly holiness on which the Almighty’s Glory resides.
Mesiras nefesh: Self-sacrifice.
Mesorah: The glorious chain of transmitted Torah wisdom.
Middos, lit., “measurements”: The seven measured emotions of man. See Chagat Nehim.
Midrash: A collection of homiletical interpretations of Biblical verses.
Migdal Eder: A place in Israel, mentioned in Gen. 35:21. It seems from Scripture that it is the vicinity of Bethlehem. Our forefather Jacob camped in the environs of Migdal Eder after he lost his wife Rachel, who was buried in Bethlehem. According to the translation of the second-century sage Yonasan ben Uziel, Migdal Eder is the place of the Messiah, as well as his name.
Mikveh: A ritual immersion pool. In Jewish law, some changes of status, such as conversion, repentance, and ritual purification require ritual immersioninapoolof 40 seah, approximately 200 gallons, ofpurewater.
Milah: Ritual circumcision.
Milchamah: War.
Mishkan: The Tabernacle, the mobile sanctuary Temple that God commanded be built for the Jewish sojourn through the Sinai Desert after the departure from Egypt (see Exodus 25-40).
Mishnah: The basic text of the Oral Law, written in the second century by Rabbi Judah the Prince.
Mitzvos: The commandments of God to the Jewish nation, whose fulfillment attaches man to God and refines man’s body and soul.
Mitzvos aseh: Positive commandments, Godly commands of behaviors a Jew must perform.
Mitzvos lo ta’aseh: Negative commandments, Godly prohibitions that a Jew may not commit.
Moach (pl. mochin): The mind. See mochin. Mo’adim: Jewish holidays.
Mochin, lit., “minds”: The three intellects, which have been categorized as chochmah (intuition), binah (understanding) and da’as (internalization); or keser (will), chochmah (intuition), and binah (understanding).
Musar: A category of Jewish thought focused on ethical refinement and character development.
Muttar, lit., “released”: permitted, especially in reference to an object or an act permissible according to Jewish law.
Nafash: He rested.
Nefesh: The lowest level of soul, attached to the body and expressed through sacred acts.
Nefesh Elokis: The Godly soul, a piece of God that He has placed within man to animate and inspire.
Nefesh ha-bahamis: The animal soul, the source for the biological life of man, the root of his natural urges and proclivities.
Ner ma’aravi: The Western candle of the menorah, the Temple’s Cande- labrum, which would always remain lit, and towards which all other flames would miraculously turn.
Neshamah: The highest level of soul most men might internalize, concentrated in the mind and experienced through pure, abstract thought.
Neshamah kelalit: An all-encompassing soul, an individual to whom all other souls are connected, to receive Heavenly blessings when Divine gifts.
Neshimah: Breath.
Neta Revai: The fourth-year fruit of a tree in Israel, which must be eaten in Jerusalem, or else exchanged for money which must be spent on food to be eaten there.
Nisan: The first month in the Jewish calendar, which heralds the onset of spring, and is a time of Divine blessings. It is also the month when the Jewish nation departed Egypt.
Nitzotz (pl. nitzotzos), lit., “spark”: A particle of Divine light and Godly life.
Nogah: A glow or sheath of light; the fourth of the four major kelippos. See Kelippas Nogah.
Ohel Mo’ed: The Tent of Meeting, where God would communicate with Moses.
Olam: World, universe. (Related to he’elam, “hidden,” and ne’elam, “unknown.”)
Olam ha-kissei: The universe of God’s Throne; the universe of Creation (beriah).
Olam katan: A miniature universe; mankind, whose spiritual makeup is a of the universe’s soul parts.
Or, lit., “light”: Often used to refer to soul-like entities. See also Or Ain Sof, Or penimi, or makkif.
Or Ain Sof: The Infinite Light.
Or penimi, or makkif: An inner light; an enveloping light. “Or makkif is a light that does not appear gradually. It does not appear in a form that corresponds to the capabilities of the recipient. Since it is so high the recipient cannot internalize this light, and it hovers above his understanding. Or penimi is a light that appears gradually; it is limited to correspond with the capabilities of the receiver. For example, consider a teacher who would like to impart to his student a very deep thought. If the teacher limits his presentation of the concept, if he translates the abstract principle into parables and real life anecdotes and thus teaches his student, it is an or penimi. If the teacher simply relates to the student the depths of the abstract principle as he, the teacher, comprehends it, the student will not grasp the idea, and it will be an or makkif. Or makkif is a light that surrounds an individual, yet it is too bright for internalization and comprehension.”479Razei Ha-Bosem pg. 33, s.v. or makkif.
Orlah: (1) The first three years’ growth of a tree in Israel. Fruit of an Israeli tree from the first three years of its existence. It may not be eaten and must be destroyed. (2) The skin that is removed during ritual circumcision.
Osiyos mischalfos: Interchangeable letters.
Oveid Hashem: One who is working for Heaven.
Pachad Yitzchak, lit., “the fear of Isaac”: According to the Torah, the Being that Isaac feared (Gen. 31:42).
Parashah: Section, especially a weekly Torah reading.
Pardes: An acronym for the four methods of Biblical interpretation: peshat (the simple meaning), derash (the homiletical meaning), remez (the hinted meaning), and sod (the hidden meaning).
Pasach Eliyahu, lit., “Elijah began”: A key lesson of Kabbalah that Elijah the prophet taught Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his disciples.
Periah: The part of ritual circumcision in which the mohel lifts a piece of skin to reveal the circumcision.
Peshat: The literal and most simple interpretation of the Torah text.
Pesukei de-Zimra, lit., “verses of praise”: The section of morning prayers before the blessings of Shema, containing Psalms praising God, which enables prayers to rise heavenward.
Pintele Yid: The little piece of a Jew that remains in the heart of even the most estranged descendant of Abraham.
Pirkei Avos: The Mishnaic tractate Ethics of the Fathers, which deals primarily with ethical teachings and homilies.
Purim: A Jewish holiday celebrating the downfall of the wicked Haman who sought to annihilate the Jews.
Rasha (pl. resha’im): A sinner, a sinful individual.
Rasha gamur: A thoroughly wicked individual.
Rasha she-eino gamur (also rasha ve-tov lo): A wicked individual who possesses an advocate for holiness.
Remez: The hinted meanings of the Torah text.
Reshus ha-rabbim, lit., “the public domain”: A symbol for the realm of evil, caused by disconnection and detachment, places containing many disconnected individuals.
Reshus ha-yachid, lit., “the private domain”: The realm individual privacy of holiness. Just as in a private home there is one owner, in holiness there is unity of purpose and mind. The realization that relative to God there is no power and that God owns the entire created world is the foundation of ethical behavior.
Rosh Chodesh, lit., “the head of the month”: The beginning of each month on the Jewish calendar, and considered to be a minor festival.
Roshei teivos: The first letters of words, used as homiletical tool for uncovering hidden meanings in Biblical passages, similar to gematria.
Ruach, lit., “wind”: (1) The element of air, one of the four elements believed to compose everything in the world, along with eretz (earth, solid), mayim (liquid), and aish (fire, energy, electricity). (2) The soul that is the source of emotions and speech, above nefesh and below neshamah.
Ruach se’arah, lit., “stormy wind”: One of the kelippos that Ezekiel had to penetrate before he could see the Divine and His chariot (See Ezekiel 1).
Saraph: A fiery angel.
Seder hishtalshlus: The order of evolutionary descent; the process of drawing from the spiritual to the physical, in which pure spiritual light devolves to a progressively lower levels of light until the physical emerges out of a much limited spiritual entity.
Sephirah (pl. Sephiros): Any of the ten limited lights of Divinity which God used to create the world, and are the sources for all of creation. Since man was created in the image of God, man contains within his personality abilities that parallel the ten Sephiros. Other creatures only have similarities to one or two of the Sephiros.
Shabbos: The Sabbath.
Shad-dai: The name of God indicating that He sets limits to His world.
Shalosh kelippos ha-teme’os: The three impure shells; the three categories of items that contain sparks of holiness that are irredeemable by man: a stormy wind, a heavy cloud, and ever igniting fire (see Ezek. 1:4).
Shalsheles: A chain.
Shavuos: The Jewish holiday that celebrates the receipt of the Torah at Sinai.
Shechinah: (1) The Divine Presence. (2) The Sephirah of malchus, “humble kingship.” (3) The yoke of Heaven.
Shefa, Shefa Eloki: An overwhelming and ever increasing flow of Divine energy.
Shefa Chaim: A heavenly flow of life.
Shema: The Jewish prayer beginning with, “Hear, O Israel, God the Lord is our God, the Lord is One” (Deut. 6:4), which Jews recite to declare their faith and accept upon themselves the sovereignty of Heaven.
Shemiras ha-bris, lit., “preserving the covenant”: Safeguarding the connection between man and God and man and his spouse by ensuring that there is no misuse of seed.
Shemoneh Esreh, lit., “eighteen”: The silent devotional prayer, which originally contained eighteen blessings.
Sheva kefulos, lit., “the seven doubles”: The seven emotions of man that can appear in a holy or unholy form. See Chagat Nehim.
Shevua: An oath.
Shiras Ha-Yam: The Song of the Sea (Exod. 15:1-19), which the Jews sang after God miraculously split the Red Sea to enable Jews to cross on dry land.
Shiur Komah, lit., “the measure of height”: A phrase referring to a complete complement of forces and abilities.
Shlit”a: An acronym for she-yichyeh le-yamim tovim arukkim, “May he live many more years of a long and good life.”
Simchas Torah: A Jewish holiday on the last day of Sukkos, celebrating the completion of reading the Torah.
Sitra achra, lit., “the other side”: The realm of materialism, selfishness, and evil, so called because it is the backside of holiness.
Sod: The secret meanings of the Torah text.
Sukkah: A temporary booth that Jews reside in for the seven days of the Sukkos holiday.
Sukkos: A seven-day holiday beginning on 15 Tishrei, which celebrates the harvest, the Divine Providence that protected Israel in its Desert sojourn after it left Egypt, and is a time to pray for rain and water. Its special rituals include waving the four species, lulav (palm frond), hadasim (myrtle), aravos (willow) and esrog (citron); dwelling in the sukkah for seven days; and in the times of Jerusalem’s Temple, pouring water libations on the altar.
Tefillah: Prayer
Tefillin: Phylacteries, leather boxes which adult Jewish men don daily to remind themselves of the Exodus from Egypt and their commitments to God.
Teshuvah: Return; repentance; the process of return to God and one’s innermost self.
Tikkun: Rectification of soul, fulfillment of life’s mission.
Tikkun ha-kelali, lit., “the general rectification”: The ten chapters of Psalms (16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, and 150) whose recital can cause a general and all encompassing rectification.
Tishrei: The seventh Jewish month, which contains the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos.
Tzaddik: A holy, righteous individual.
Tzaddik gamur (also, tzaddik ve-tov lo): A completely righteous person. According to the Tanya, an individual who does not possess an evil urge and is only attracted to holiness.
Tzaddik she-eino gamur (also, tzaddik ve-ra lo): An individual who is mostly, but not completely, righteous.
Tzafon: North.
Tzafun: Hidden.
Tzefuni, lit., “hidden”: The hidden evil urge.
Tzimtzum: Constriction or self-limitation.
Tzome’ach: Plant life; the second lowest class of existence, above domeim
(rocks) and below chai (animal life).
Tzurah: Form, soul, inner character.
Yaakov: The name of the Biblical Jacob.
Yechidah: The highest level of soul, the unique essence of man, above nefesh, ruach, neshamah, and chayah. The part of the soul that is inextricably attached to God; the source of an inner advocate for sacred behavior. This advocate can never be fully silenced.
Yesh me-ayin: Creation ex nihilo, something created from nothing.
Yesh mi-yesh: Creation ex materia, something formed out of a preexisting matter.
Yetzer hara: The desire for evil deeds, feelings, and thoughts.
Yetzer tov: The desire for good deeds, feelings, and thoughts.
Yetzirah: The spiritual universe of formation, below beriah and above
asiyah. It is the place where emotions are real.
Yirah: Fear.
Yiras Shamayim: Fear of Heaven. Yitzchak: The name for the Biblical Isaac. Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement.
Yom she-kullo Shabbos: A day that is all Shabbos, specifically the Messianic era.
Yom Tov: A religious festival.
Yovel: Jubilee, the fiftieth year, when servants would return home and ancestral lands would return to their original possessors.
Ze’ir, lit., “small”: Small face, another name for the Kabbalistic concept of ben.
Zemirah: (1) Pruning. (2) Song (pl., zemiros).