Chokhmah

For the album by Nena, see Chokmah (album).

The Sefirot in Kabbalah
The Sefirot in Jewish Kabbalah
	Category:Sephirot

Chokhmah (Hebrew: חָכְמָה) is the Biblical Hebrew word rendered as "wisdom" in English Bible versions (LXX σοφία sophia, Vulgate sapientia).

The word occurs 149 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. It is cognate with the Arabic word for "wisdom", ḥikma حكمة (Semitic root ḥ-k-m). Adjectival ḥakham "wise" is used as a honorific, as in Talmid Chakham (lit. "student of a sage") for a Torah scholar, or Hakham Bashi for a Chief Rabbi.

The Talmud, Shabbat 31a, describes knowledge of the Talmudic order of Kodshim as a high level of wisdom, chokhmah. In the Kabbalah, Chokhmah is the uppermost of the sephirot of the right line (kav yamin, the "Pillar of Mercy") in the Tree of Life. It is to the bottom right of Keter, with Binah across from it. Under it are the sephirot of Chesed and Netzach. It commonly has four paths going to Keter, Binah, Tiferet, and Chesed (some kabbalists, such as Isaac Luria, also attributed a path between Chokhmah and Gevurah).

According to kabbalah, chochmah color is blue-black, meaning something that come up from no-thing.

Hebrew Bible

Further information: Sophia (wisdom)

Proverbs personifies Divine Wisdom, which existed before the world was made, revealed God, and acted as God's agent in creation (Prov 8:22–31 cf. 3:19; Wisdom 8:4–6; Sir 1:4,9). Wisdom dwelt with God (Prov 8:22–31; cf. Sir 24:4; Wisdom 9:9–10) and being the exclusive property of God was as such inaccessible to human beings (Job 28:12–13, 20–1, 23–27). It was God who "found" wisdom (Bar 3:29–37) and gave her to Israel: "He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men." (Bar 3:36–37; Sir 24:1–12).

As a female figure (Sir. 1:15; Wis. 7:12), wisdom addressed human beings (Prov. 1:20–33; 8:1–9:6) inviting to her feast those who are not yet wise (Prov. 9:1-6). Wisdom 7:22b-8:1 is a famous passage describing Divine Wisdom, including the passage: "For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty: therefore can no defiled thing fall into her. For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets." (Wisdom 7:25–27). Solomon, as the archetypal wise person, fell in love with Wisdom: "I loved her, and sought her out from my youth, I desired to make her my spouse, and I was a lover of her beauty." (Wisdom 8:2).

It is likely some ancient Jews literally believed in the existence of Chokhmah as a second creator, and as an angel or angel-like being.

Kabbalah

According to the Bahir: "The second (utterance) is wisdom, as is written: 'Y-H-W-H acquired me at the beginning of His way, before His deeds of old' (Prov 8:22). And there is no 'beginning' but wisdom."

Chokhmah, the second of the ten sefirot, is the first power of conscious intellect within Creation, and the first point of 'real' existence, since Keter represents emptiness. According to the book of Job, "Wisdom comes from nothingness". This point is both infinitely small, and yet encompasses the whole of being, but it remains incomprehensible until it is given shape and form in Binah.

The name of God associated with Chokhmah is Yah. Its associated opposing qliphah is Ghagiel.

Chokhmah appears in the configuration of the sefirot at the top of the right axis, and corresponds in the tzelem Elokim ("the Divine image") to the eyes, even word "eyes" have various meaning in kabbalah or right hemisphere of the brain.

Chokhmah is also called Fear, 'because it has no measure of boundary, and therefore the mind does not have the power to grasp it'. The book of Job states 'Behold the fear of God is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding' (Job 28:28).

In the Zohar Chokhmah is the primordial point which shines forth from the will of God and thus, is the starting point of Creation. All things are still undifferentiated at this point and only become intelligible at Binah. The word Chokhmah is read in the Zohar (Numbers 220b) as koach mah, "the power of selflessness", or, alternatively, as cheich mah, "the palate of selflessness". "The power of selflessness" implies not only the attribute of selflessness itself, but the great creative power that selflessness entails. "The palate of selflessness" is the soul's ability to "taste" Divinity by virtue of one's state of selflessness, as is said (Psalms 34:8): "Taste and see that God is good." In general, the sense of sight relates to Chokhmah (the lightning-flash referred to above). From this verse we learn that there is an inner, spiritual sense of taste in Chokhmah that precedes and arouses the sense of sight.

In Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's commentary on the Bahir he says "Wisdom (Chokhmah) is therefore the first thing that the mind can grasp, and is therefore called a 'beginning'." Chokhmah has 2 faces, one facing keter above, and the other overseeing the over sefirot. Therefore, to emulate this Sefira, one aspect should be in communion with his Creator in order to increase his wisdom, and the other should be to teach others the wisdom that the Holy One has endowed him.

The angelic order of this sphere is the Aralim, ruled by the Archangel Raziel. The opposing Qliphah is represented by the demonic order Gaghiel, ruled by the Archdemon Beelzebub.

Modern occultism

According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the name of God associated with Chokmah is Jehovah, the archangel that presides over it is Raziel, the order of angels that reside in it are the Ophanim (the wheels), the Heaven of Assiah associated with it is called Mazloth, implying the fulfillment of destiny, and the mundane chakra associated with it is the Zodiac.

In Aleister Crowley's Liber 777, Chokhma is represented as The Four twos of the Tarot, Illuminating, Thoth, Vishnu, Joy, Odin, Uranus, Athena, God the Father, Man, Amaranth, Lingam, Hashish, Phosphorus, Musk, and Yang (not a complete list).

See also

• Chabad
• Hakham
• Hikmah
• Holy Wisdom
• Sophia (wisdom)
• Tales of the Abyss

References

Works cited

• The Bahir. Translated by Aryeh Kaplan. Aronson. 1995. ISBN 1-56821-383-2.
• Cordovero, Moshe (1993). The Palm Tree of Devorah. Translated by Moshe Miller. Targum Press. ISBN 1-56871-027-5.
• Crowley, Aleister (1986). 777 and other Qabalistic writings of Aleister Crowley. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728-670-1.
• Godwin, David (1994). Godwin's Cabalistic Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to Cabalistic Magick. LLewelyn Worldwide. ISBN 978-1-56718-324-5.
• Green, Arthur (2004). A Guide to the Zohar. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4908-4.
• Kaplan, Aryeh (1995). Meditation and Kabbalah. Jason Aronson. ISBN 978-1-56821-381-1.
• Regardie, Israel (1970). The Golden Dawn. Llewellyn Worldwide. ISBN 0-87542-663-8.

Further reading

• Fortune, Dion (2000) [1935]. The Mystical Kabbalah. Samuel Weiser. ISBN 1-57863-150-5.
• Rankine, David (2005). Climbing the Tree of Life: A Manual of Practical Magickal Qabalah. Avalonia. ISBN 978-1-905297-06-1.
• Regardie, Israel (1999) [1932]. A Garden of Pomegranates. Llewellyn. ISBN 1-56718-141-4.
• Samuel, Gabriella (2007). Kabbalah Handbook: A Concise Encyclopedia of Terms and Concepts in Jewish Mysticism. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-101-21846-4. OCLC 488308797.
• Waite, Arthur Edward (2007). The Holy Kabbalah. Cosimo Classics. ISBN 978-1-60206-324-2.

External links

• Basics in Kabbalah, The Ten Sefirot: Chochmah (inner.org)
• An Introduction to the Kabala (about.com)
• Kabbalah 101: Chochmah (aish.com)
• Lessons in Tanya (chabad.org)