For the Sake of the Unification

The underlying assumption throughout the Bible - and subsequently in Jewish thought - is that this world is in a state of spiritual disconnect.

The Kabbalists articulate this condition through numerous metaphors, and this idea can be plainly seen throughout the Jewish liturgy at various times, including through the daily prayers. For example:

For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Divine Presence, with fear and love and love and fear, to unify the Name of Yod Heh with Vav Heh with a complete unity,... ¹

For those familiar, this short statement conceals many truths! Some questions we might ask;

• What does it mean to unify the Name, Yod Heh with Vav Heh?
• Why are we in an apparent state of disunity?
• How did this happen, and what does this mean for us?

In answering these, we will better understand the importance of personal and global events, and also how we might best invest effort to bring repair.

5 Worlds and the Soul

Jewish cosmology recognizes that there are (5) worlds, (olamot). In cascading order, they are; Adam Kadmon, Chochmah, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Assiyah.

Where Adam Kadmon² represents the highest, most spiritual and closest to the Creator, Assiyah is the lowest world, the most occluded world in which we are predominantly tapped into.

Each of these worlds correspond to one of the (5) levels of the Soul³. In this frame, think of these worlds as dimensions or levels of consciousness; when aligned, these comprise a unified whole. When misaligned, there is disconnect between these levels, and our consciousness becomes fractured and limited.

An analogy: Imagine a building with many floors. When the elevator is no longer functioning, one must take the stairs, that is to say, a more labor-intensive means of getting to the next level.

Before elevators existed, the Kabbalists viewed this through the metaphor of a ladder. With humans at the base of the ladder, the spiritual upper worlds stood at the top. Each rung represents a new world, or a dimension we must strive to access. Jesus also hinted at this tradition in the Gospel of John⁴.

The Divine Name

Here is where it gets more interesting; because there are (5) worlds and (5) soul levels, these ideas are often represented by groupings of the Sefirot. In addition, each corresponds to a letter of the Divine Name (Y-K-V-K).

In a redeemed world, these would all be unified and cohesive - whole - but they are not. Something happened.