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Imah Built the Woman from Lights and Judgment

Zeir Anpin shoved the severities off his back. Nukvah was built from what he refused. Below, Adam slept through the surgery and woke to a face.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. What She Carried Out
  2. Severity Pushed to Her Back
  3. Face to Face After the Side
  4. Leah's Eighteen and the Outer Kingdom

Imah turned her face away from Zeir Anpin, and the lights that had lived in him went with her like tools taken from an unfinished house. The upper mother did not slam a door. She simply left, and the space he occupied cooled.

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What She Carried Out

In her going she took mochin, the mental lights that had been his, and she also wore, like layered clothing, the lower measures of Abba, the father configuration: Netzach, Hod, Yesod, strength that finishes what wisdom begins. She was not fleeing empty. She was transporting a building plan.

From that load she began to arrange Nukvah, the female counterpart who had not yet stood complete. Construction is the word the masters use, not romance. Nukvah is built. She is fitted. She receives what can be given and what is pushed away.

Severity Pushed to Her Back

Chessed, loving-kindness, leaned toward Zeir Anpin as if to fill the gap Imah left. He would not hold every force. On his back lived Gevurot, severities, judgments that do not smile. He shoved them off. They did not fall into nowhere. They were given to Nukvah.

So she was first made from the left side of the system, from restriction and measure, while he kept the right hand of expansion. The first shape of the feminine in this telling is not soft by default. It is strong enough to hold what the masculine would not keep against his own spine.

Because of that gift of backs and leftovers, she stood apart from him at first. Separation was not punishment. It was architecture. Two faces cannot meet until both have edges.

Face to Face After the Side

Later they turned. The language is plain and hard: face to face. Nukvah was then built in front of him, not only from what had been discarded. The verse the masters bind to this turn is the building of the woman from the side taken from Adam, then brought to him (Genesis 2:22). Side first. Presentation second. Harmony is a second draft.

The human story and the partzuf story braid here without apology. What happens above in configurations of light is told again in bone and garden. Eve is not an afterthought in this reading. She is the place where rejected severity becomes a vessel that can stand opposite mercy and not dissolve.

Leah's Eighteen and the Outer Kingdom

Another thread names Leah as kingdom stacked on kingdom. Eighteen aspects of Leah rise from Abba and Imah, from Malkhut flowering out of Malkhut, from lights of smallness and greatness that overlap while one set enters and the other has not fully left. The outermost Leah is the one that matters most. The inner ones serve her.

That outer face is the one the world actually meets. Hidden layers support her, but the kingdom that shows is the one that has already walked through both immaturity and maturity of mind. When the king in the parable is said to have eighteen, the count is not a harem list. It is the full set of faces a completed structure can wear without tearing.

Imah's departure, Nukvah's hard first body, Leah's outer crown: three ways of saying the feminine is not a spare rib alone. She is a construction site where lights, judgments, and kingdoms learn to stand.

In the garden below, Adam slept through the surgery and woke to a face. In the worlds above, no one slept. The work of turning took as long as it takes for left to become a partner of right without either side pretending the other was never severe.

KabbalahCreationEveLeahSefirot
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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Asarah Perakim LeRamchal 5:4Asarah Perakim LeRamchal

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

Even in the highest realms of Kabbalah, the interactions between the divine emanations, the Sefirot (the divine emanations), can be just as intricate.

A particularly fascinating passage from Asarah Perakim LeRamchal, a foundational text by the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (known as the Ramchal). It's a little dense, but stick with me.

So, imagine Imah, the archetypal Mother, moving away from Zeir Anpin, often associated with the divine Son. When she departs, she carries with her mochin – illuminations or mental constructs – that originally belonged to Zeir Anpin. And, intriguingly, the NEHI (Netzach, Hod, Yesod (Foundation)) – the lower attributes – of Abba, the archetypal Father, are also "clothed" within her. It’s like she's carrying blueprints and building materials, all rolled into one!

These elements – the mochin of Zeir Anpin and the NEHI of Abba – then come together to construct Nukvah. She is essentially arranged and built through their combined influence.

Now, things get even more interesting. As Nukvah is being formed, Chessed, the attribute of Loving-kindness, is drawn towards Zeir Anpin. But Zeir Anpin also has Gevurot, forces of Severity or Judgment, residing on his "back." He pushes these Gevurot away. Where do they go? You guessed it: they are given to Nukvah! These "back parts" of Zeir Anpin are transferred to her, causing her to initially separate from him.

Think of it as Nukvah being initially built from the "leftover" or rejected aspects of Zeir Anpin. As a result Nukvah is first constructed from the left (associated with judgment and restriction), while Zeir Anpin is associated with the right (mercy and expansion).

But the story doesn’t end there. They eventually turn to face each other, and Nukvah is then built "in front of" Zeir Anpin. This signifies a crucial shift towards harmony and direct relationship.

And here’s where it all comes together with a verse from Genesis (2:22): "YHVH ELOHIM built the woman from the side that he took from Adam and presented her to Adam."

The Ramchal, through this passage, offers a deeply symbolic understanding of creation and relationship. Nukvah isn’t just an afterthought. She is actively constructed through a dynamic interplay of forces, originating from both the masculine and feminine aspects of the divine. She receives both the light and the strength to contain the darkness, resulting in a complete and powerful being.

The initial separation and the subsequent turning face-to-face… Doesn’t that resonate with our own experiences? The challenges, the growth, the eventual coming together in a more complete and harmonious way?

Perhaps this ancient Kabbalistic text can offer us a new lens through which to understand not only the cosmos, but also ourselves and our relationships. A reminder that even in separation, there is the potential for profound connection and ultimately, a shared building of something beautiful and new.

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Asarah Perakim LeRamchal 7:7Asarah Perakim LeRamchal

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

Asarah Perakim LeRamchal turns to Kingdom of Leah.

The Ramchal explains that the eighteen aspects of Leah originate from the realms of Abba (Father) and Imah (Mother), two fundamental aspects of the Sephirot, the emanations of the Divine. But how exactly?

First, we have the Malkhut (Kingdom, or manifestation) of Abba in its rightful place, and the Malkhut of Imah external to it. That gives us two. Then, the Malkhut of Abba sprouts from the Malkhut of Imah and illuminates outward – that’s three. Next, the Malkhut of Imah sprouts and emerges from itself, then sprouts from the body of Zeir Anpin (the Impatient One, representing the masculine aspect of the Divine) and illuminates outwards. Now The Ramchal stresses that the outermost Leah is the most important, and all the others are subordinate to her.

Things get even more intricate. Zeir Anpin, sometimes abbreviated ZA, possesses four Mohin of Gadlut (Greatness, or maturity) and four Mohin of Katnut (Smallness, or immaturity). That gives us eight aspects of Leah. But wait! As the Mohin of Gadlut begin to enter, the Mohin of Katnut haven’t fully left yet. This gives us another eight.

We're almost there! Two more aspects are added: one of Katnut and one of Gadlut, resulting from the multiplication of lights. According to the Ramchal, these are the eighteen "wives" permissible to the king.

Okay, let’s unpack this a little. What does it all mean? This isn't about advocating for polygamy. Instead, it's a symbolic representation of the complex interactions within the divine realm. The "king" here isn't a literal earthly ruler, but rather a metaphor for a spiritually elevated individual, perhaps even a representation of the Divine itself. The "wives" represent different aspects of divine energy and influence, all working in harmony.

These intricate details reflect the Kabbalistic understanding that the divine is not a simple, monolithic entity, but a complex interplay of different forces and attributes. The numbers, the relationships between Abba, Imah, and Zeir Anpin – they all paint a picture of a dynamic, ever-evolving divine reality.

So, the next time you encounter the idea of multiple wives for a king in Jewish tradition, remember that it’s not just a historical oddity. It's a window into a rich, symbolic world of Kabbalah, where everything points to the profound complexity and beauty of the divine. And hopefully, you'll feel a little more equipped to explore these esoteric ideas with a sense of wonder and understanding.

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Asarah Perakim LeRamchal 3:1Asarah Perakim LeRamchal

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

This isn't some physical being, of course, but a powerful emanation. MAH’s job? To sift through the wreckage, the shattered pieces of the kelim (vessels) from the primordial shattering. It's like cosmic recycling on a grand scale!

From these remnants, MAH fashions five partzufim (a divine configuration) (the divine configurations). Now, partzufim – think of them as divine faces or personas. They’re configurations of the sefirot, the divine attributes. And above them all sits ATIK, formed from the highest aspects of MAH, specifically the Keter (Crown) of MAH, half of the Keter of BEN, and what remained after that.

Then comes ARIKH ANPIN, or "Long Face," a term for divine patience and forbearance. This partzuf is created from the Hokhmah (Wisdom) of MAH, half of the Keter of BEN, and again, what was left over. It’s a careful, precise process, almost like divine surgery.

Next, we have ABBA (Father) and IMAH (Mother), formed from the Binah (Understanding) of MAH, the Hokhmah and Binah of BEN, and the remnants belonging to them. These are the archetypal parents, the source of all creation.

Then there's ZA (Zeir Anpin), or "Small Face," representing the six sefirot from Hessed (Loving-Kindness) to Yessod (Foundation), the emotional attributes. ZA comes from the VAK (the six extremities) of both MAH and BEN. And finally, we have NOUKVAH (Female), constructed from the Malkhut (Kingdom) of MAH and BEN.

So, how are these partzufim actually repaired or arranged? It all happens through the interplay of masculine and feminine energies, through doun (maïm doukhin and maïm noukvin, masculine and feminine waters). These are the forces that drive creation and restoration. The Ramchal explains that this process unfolds through zivug (union), ibour (gestation), leidah (birth), and gadlut (growth).

This Kabbalistic view suggests that even after shattering, there's a path to repair, a way to piece things back together through divine interaction and the balancing of energies. And perhaps, on a smaller scale, we can apply this to our own lives, finding ways to heal and rebuild after our own personal "shatterings."

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