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| The Sefirot in Kabbalah | ||
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The Tree of Life | |
Chesed is one of the ten sefirot on the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It is given the association of kindness and love, and is the first of the emotive attributes of the sephirot.
Etymology and names
The Hebrew noun chesed (חסד) is typically translated as "loving-kindness", "mercy", or "grace". It appears frequently in the Hebrew Bible, denoting acts of kindness and compassion. The term Chesed is derived from the Hebrew root ח-ס-ד, which conveys the idea of loyal love or steadfast kindness. This root is used in various forms in the Hebrew Bible to describe the relationship between God and humanity, as well as the relationships among individuals. Chesed implies a sense of mutual obligation and care, extending beyond mere kindness to encompass loyalty and faithfulness.
A person who embodies chesed is known as a chasid (hasid, חסיד), one who is faithful to the covenant and who goes "above and beyond that which is normally required" and a number of groups throughout Jewish history which focus on going "above and beyond" have called themselves chasidim. These groups include the Hasideans of the Second Temple period, the Maimonidean Hasidim of medieval Egypt and Palestine, the Chassidei Ashkenaz in medieval Europe, and the Hasidic movement which emerged in eighteenth century Eastern Europe.
Description
Chesed, the fourth of the ten sefirot on the Tree of Life, is located on the right pillar, which is associated with mercy and compassion. As a sefirah, Chesed embodies the divine quality of unconditional love and benevolence, serving as a conduit for the flow of divine energy and grace into the world. The Bahir states,
What is the fourth (utterance): The fourth is the righteousness of God, His mercies and kindness with the entire world. This is the right hand of God.
The first three of the ten sephirot are the attributes of the intellect, while chesed is the first sephira of the attribute of action. In the kabbalistic Tree of life, its position is below Chokmah, across from Gevurah and above Netzach. It is usually given four paths: to chokmah, gevurah, tiphereth, and netzach (some Kabbalists place a path from chesed to binah as well.)
According to Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Chesed manifests God's absolute, unlimited benevolence and kindness.
Qualities
Ethical behaviour
In Moses ben Jacob Cordovero's kabbalistic treatise Tomer Devorah, the following are actions undertaken in imitation of the qualities of chesed:
- love God so completely that one will never forsake his service for any reason
- provide a child with all the necessities of their sustenance and love the child
- circumcise a child
- visiting and healing the sick
- giving charity to the poor
- offering hospitality to strangers
- attending to the dead
- bringing a bride to the chuppah marriage ceremony
- making peace between a person and another human being.
Textual references
In the Hebrew Bible
The word chesed occurs 248 times in the Hebrew Bible. In the majority of cases (149 times), the King James Bible (KJV) translation is mercy, following the Septuagint (LXX) eleos. Less frequent translations are: kindness (40 times), lovingkindness (30 times), goodness (12 times), kindly (five times), merciful (four times), favour (three times) and good, goodliness, pity (once each). Only two instances of the noun in its negative sense are in the text, translated reproach in Proverbs 14:34, and wicked thing in Leviticus 20:17.
In the Cloverdale Bible
The translation of loving kindness in KJV is derived from the Coverdale Bible of 1535. This particular translation exclusively uses chesed to refer to the benign attitude of YHWH ("the LORD") or Elohim ("God") towards his chosen, primarily invoked in Psalms (23 times), but also in the prophets, four times in Jeremiah, twice in Isaiah 63:7 and once in Hosea 2:19. While lovingkindness is now considered somewhat archaic, it is part of the traditional rendition of Psalms in English Bible translations.
In Western esotericism
The angelic order of this sphere is the Hashmallim, ruled by the Archangel Zadkiel. The opposing qlippah is represented by the demonic order Gamchicoth (or Gha'agsheblah), ruled by the Archdemon Astaroth.
See also
- Agape (Greek, Christianity)
- Divine love
- Hasid
- Ishq (Arabic, Islam)
- Jewish views on love
- Mettā (Pali, Buddhism)
References
- Botterweck & Ringgren (1974).
- ^ Elazar (2020).
- Matt (1995). sfnp error: no target: CITEREFMatt1995 (help)
- Bahir (1995).
- Green (2004), p. 30.
- ^ Cordovero (1993), p. 84.
- "Strong's H2617 - checed". Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- Harris, R. Laird; Archer Jr., Gleason L.; Waltke, Bruce K. "hesed". Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Vol. 1. p. 307.
The word 'lovingkindness'…is archaic, not far from the fullness of meaning of the word .
- Greenberg, Yudit Kornberg. Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions. Vol. 1. p. 268.
The Hebrew hesed (plural hasadim) is usually translated as "grace" or "loving-kindness", but sometimes also as "mercy" or "love".
Works cited
- The Bahir. Translated by Aryeh Kaplan. Aronson. 1995. ISBN 1-56821-383-2.
- Botterweck, G. Johannes; Ringgren, Helmer, eds. (1974). Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Vol. IV. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-2328-1.
- Cordovero, Moshe (1993). The Palm Tree of Devorah. Translated by Moshe Miller. Targum Press. ISBN 1-56871-027-5.
- Elazar, Daniel L. (2020). "Covenant as the Basis of the Jewish Political Tradition". Kinship and Consent: Jewish Political Tradition and Its Contemporary Uses. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-67778-2. Retrieved 25 October 2018 – via jcpa.org.
- Green, Arthur (2004). A Guide to the Zohar. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4908-4.
Further reading
- Berg, Michael, ed. (1999). The Zohar: Prologue, Beresheet A. Israel: Yeshivat "Kol Yehuda".
- Dan, Joseph, ed. (1986). The Early Kabbalah. Paulist Press. ISBN 978-0-8091-2769-6.
- Green, Arthur (2014). Keter: The Crown of God in Early Jewish Mysticism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-6460-7.
- Franck, Adolphe (1926). "Relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity". The Kabbalah: Or, The Religious Philosophy of the Hebrews. Translated by I. Sossnitz. New York: Kabbalah Publishing Company.
- Halevi, Z'ev Ben Shimon (1991). Introduction to the Cabala. Red Wheel Weiser. ISBN 978-0-87728-816-9.
- Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2010). "The Beginning of Occultist Kabbalah: Adolphe Franck and Eliphas Levi". Kabbalah and Modernity: Interpretations, Transformations, Adaptations. Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 978-9004182875.
- Mathers, S. L. MacGregor (1887). The Kabbalah Unveiled. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
- Regardie, Israel (1972). The Tree of Life. Samuel Weiser. ISBN 978-0877281498.
- Regardie, Israel (1999) . 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.
- Scholem, Gershom (1974). Kabbalah. Quadrangle/New York Times Book Company. ISBN 978-0-8129-0352-2.
- Tishby, Isaiah (ed.). The Wisdom of The Zohar: An Anthology of Texts. Translated by David Goldstein. The Littman Library. Three volume set.