Schvirat ha-Kelim

With Schvirat ha-Kelim ( Heb. שבירת הכלים 'breaking the vessels'), the Lurian Kabbalah describes the breaking of the Sephiroth vessels as part of the process of creation or the creation of the world.

The world creation process according to the Lurianic Kabbalah began tzimtzum , the contraction of the self- En Sof , followed by Lichtemanation in the resulting free space (Ha'azala). While the vessels of the first three Sephiroth Keter , Ḥochmā and Bina were able to absorb the light normally, the vessels of the other Sephiroth intended to limit the light broke. Part of the light streamed back, while another part sank down with the broken pieces into the material world. This down lower spark of divine light were in the primordial abyss ( TEHOM Rabba ' ) to "life forces" for the costs incurred from the shards of the vessels qliphoth (, shells') and the resulting from them "counter-world of evil and demons ." This break “creates a spatial-quantitative division of the light and at the same time sets a stop, return and subsequent new emanation point for the emanation process”.

There are three explanations for the breakage of the vessels. One sees it as an inevitable consequence of defects in the “world of points”, a second does not understand it as a “primordial 'malheur' as in Gnosis ”, but as a necessary “means for the production of evil, whose existence is free Decisions of will [...] made possible and wages and punishment justified ”. In the third “the rupture of the vessels” is e.g. Partly interpreted in the sense of a radical monistic integration of evil, namely as a necessary act (a) to excrete the Dîn roots in God himself and (b) to clean the 'vessels' of 'waste' ”. They are "systematically not harmonizable", but reflect the problems associated with the existence of evil for Luria and his contemporaries.

After the rupture of the vessels, the Sephiroth had to be reorganized through a new ray of emanation from Adam Qadmon's forehead . The result are the five partzufīm 'faces' for structuring the Sephiroth:

'Arîk-'anpîn' the long-suffering 'or ' Attîqā qaddîšā 'the holy old man': Sephira I
Abbā 'the father': Sephira II
Immā 'the mother': Sephira III
Ze'ir 'anpin ' the angry ',' impatient ': Sephira IV-IX
Rachel 'the daughter': Sephira X

The five figures that have now been created can be found from now on in all four worlds : the world of emanation ( 'ătzīlūt ), the world of creation ( bərīɁā ), the world of formation ( yəṣīrā ) and the world of action ( ʕăśīyā ) and emanating from them the five souls of the organs and body parts of Adam ( Nefeš 'the spirit', Rūaḥ 'the wind', Nəšāmā 'the soul', Ḥayā 'the life' and Yəḥīdā 'the uniqueness'). Every human soul is a spark ( niṣōṣ ) of the souls of Adam. Due to the fall of man, however, there was a mixture of the sparks of good with the sparks of evil (the Qlīpōt ), whereby the people of Israel received the purest souls, the non-Jews the remaining souls. So it happens that all souls contain a share of good and evil, which is only canceled by the coming of the Messiah. Until then, the souls wander through the bodies of humans and animals as well as inanimate objects ( Gīlgūl 'reincarnation'). Man is faced with the task of correcting the blemish by highlighting the sparks that have sunk down and thus contributing to the restitution of creation.

A purified soul that has neglected some religious duties can be sent back to earthly life and merge with another soul ( Ibbur ) in order to achieve a reparation. A malignant amalgamation ( dibbuk ) is also possible.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Isaac Luria . In: Gerhard Müller: Theologische Realenzyklopädie . Volume 16: Idealism - Jesus Christ IV . Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter 1987, p. 306.
^ Karl-Erich Grözinger: Jewish thinking . Theology · Philosophy · Mysticism . Volume 2: From Medieval Kabbalah to Hasidism . Frankfurt / Main: Campus Verlag 2005, p. 623.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Johann Maier: History of the Jewish religion . Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 1972, p. 472.
^ Karl-Erich Grözinger: Jewish thinking . Theology · Philosophy · Mysticism . Volume 2: From Medieval Kabbalah to Hasidism . Frankfurt / Main: Campus Verlag 2005, p. 641.
↑ Peter Szynka: Religious traces in the work of Saul Alinsky D. (1909-1972) . To the beginnings of community organizing in the history of ideas . In: Franz-Michael Konrad: Social Pedagogy in Transition . Historical sketches . Münster: Waxmann Verlag, p. 149.

[tre16-1] Isaac Luria . In: Gerhard Müller: Theologische Realenzyklopädie . Volume 16: Idealism - Jesus Christ IV . Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter 1987, p. 306.

[2] Karl-Erich Grözinger: Jewish thinking . Theology · Philosophy · Mysticism . Volume 2: From Medieval Kabbalah to Hasidism . Frankfurt / Main: Campus Verlag 2005, p. 623.

[maier472-3] Johann Maier: History of the Jewish religion . Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 1972, p. 472.

[4] Karl-Erich Grözinger: Jewish thinking . Theology · Philosophy · Mysticism . Volume 2: From Medieval Kabbalah to Hasidism . Frankfurt / Main: Campus Verlag 2005, p. 641.

[5] Peter Szynka: Religious traces in the work of Saul Alinsky D. (1909-1972) . To the beginnings of community organizing in the history of ideas . In: Franz-Michael Konrad: Social Pedagogy in Transition . Historical sketches . Münster: Waxmann Verlag, p. 149.