Lesson 4 – Human Influence on the Divine

Unit 1 – Human Influence on the Divine Realm– Introduction

Welcome to our 4th lesson. Today, we will discuss Kabbalistic ideas

concerning human influence on the divine. In previous lessons, we discussed
the Kabbalistic theory of the sefirot. We examined a few of the major
paradigms with which the sefirot were described. We learned about the inner
dynamics of the divine system and the ways interactions between the sefirot
affect our world. As we saw, according to Kabbalists, a harmonious and
balanced relationship between the sefirot has a positive effect of our world.
Imbalance in the divine system, on the other hand, affects the world and
humanity in a negative way.
What are the reasons for these changes within the divine system that have
such dramatic effects on the world and on human destiny?
A major idea in most Kabbalistic schools is that human behavior is
responsible. According to Kabbalists, harmony – or disharmony – between the
sefirot, is dependent on human actions, especially performance of Jewish
precepts and rituals. Transgression of the commandments harms relations
between the sefirot, while proper observance of the Jewish religious way of
life enhances harmony and amends the divine system.
The belief that proper religious conduct has a positive influence on the divine
structure – and vice versa – has been a central notion in most Kabbalistic
movements from the Late Middle Ages to our days.
Modern academic scholars of Kabbalah refer to this idea as theurgy, a Greek
term that originally denoted rituals intended to evoke the Gods and invoke
their power. The Kabbalists, of course, did not use such a term. They referred
to this notion with the term tikkun. The word tikkun in Hebrew means
amendment, correction, rectification, or simply fixing something broken.
Tikkun implies that the damage or harm that occurred in the divine system –
mostly because of human misbehavior – can be fixed by positive human
actions. The way to fix the divine realm is, according to most Kabbalists,
observance of Jewish laws and normative ways of life – in Hebrew, halacha.
The halacha, which is based on the Talmud and its interpretation by later
rabbinic authorities, plays a central role in Jewish life and determines the daily
religious practice of observant Jews.
In this lesson we will examine how Kabbalists perceive the effects of human
behavior on the divine. We will describe some of the practices used by
Kabbalists to affect the divine system, and thus, ultimately, to bring
redemption to the divine and lower realms.
I will argue that the idea of human influence on the divine is central to
understanding the significance that Kabbalah has had for observant Jews
from the late medieval period to our time. The theurgical ideas in Kabbalah
explain, and ascribe importance to the halachic way of life, including the daily
observance of Jewish religious law. From this point of view, Kabbalah played
a conservative role within rabbinic Judaism in the late medieval and early
modern periods, and most Kabbalists at that time were part of the rabbinic
elite, or affiliated with it.

Unit 2 – Human Influence on God in the Bible and Rabbinic Sources

The idea that human beings can influence God, that is, cause damage to or
rectify the divine realm, may sound strange to some of you. Indeed, such a
notion is very different from modern (as well as some pre-modern) theological
perspectives, which regard the divine as a transcendent, perfect reality that
cannot be affected by human conduct.
Yet the notion that human beings can influence the divine is not unique at all.
It is prevalent in Judaism, as well as in many other cultures around the world.
The idea that God, or divine beings, are affected by the behavior of humans,
underlies many religious practices, which involve prayers, invocations,
offerings and sacrifices. In many of these practices, people ask something of
God in the hope of receiving their request. That means they believe that their
supplications or offerings have an influence on divine powers and can
influence and change divine behavior.
In the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Torah, the notion that sacrifices may
please God is very prevalent. But God is not only pleased by sacrifices. He is
pleased by proper moral human behavior, and is enraged when human
beings, especially the people of Israel, do not obey his commandments and
are not faithful to him.
The idea that the behavior of the people of Israel affects God in a positive or
negative way was developed in Rabbinic literature. This literature, which
includes the Talmud and the Midrashim, was written in Palestine and Babylon
between the third and six centuries and became foundational for later
Judaism. A fascinating story found in the Babylonian Talmud tells of the high
priest, Rabbi Ishmael, who met God in the inner sanctuary of the Temple
during the Yom Kippur service. According to the story, which is found in
tractate Brakhot, God asks the high priest to bless him. Yes, I did not make a
mistake – according to the story, it is God who is asking for a blessing from a
human being. The blessing the high priest offers God is “May your mercy
suppress your anger and your mercy prevail over your other attributes, so that
you deal with your children according to the attribute of mercy and limit your
strict judgment” (Brakhot 7a). The gist of the story is that God needs human
blessing in order to increase his mercy and overcome his anger and strict
judgment.
In another early Jewish homiletical text, Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, several
biblical verses are interpreted to show that when righteous people, or the
people of Israel as a whole, act according to the will of God, they increase the
power of God. Thus, for instance, the words of Moses, “Therefore, I pray, let
my Lord’s forbearance be great (Numbers 14:17) was interpreted as proving
that Moses’s prayer had the ability to increase the power of God’s mercy. On
the other hand, according to the rabbis, when the people of Israel disobeyed
God, they enraged him and thus weakened his power.

Unit 3 – Kabbalistic Theurgy

Kabbalists accepted biblical and rabbinic notions concerning the effect human
beings have on the divine. They adopted the idea that keeping the Jewish
commandments, or transgressing them, could respectively augment or
decrease the power of God. These notions appeared already in the first
Kabbalistic texts, and since then, they have become central in most
Kabbalistic schools. Kabbalists integrated and rephrased early Jewish notions
of God’s need for the commandments within their theories of the sefirot.
Through the generations, Kabbalists offered different perspectives on the
effect of human behavior on the divine system and explained the power of
humans to influence the sefirot in different ways.
A prevalent view in Kabbalistic literature is that positive human behavior
enables the flow of divine affluence from the upper sefirot to the lower ones,
and from there, to the lower realms. On the other hand, negative behavior
obstructs the flow of affluence between the sefirot, and from them, to the
lower world.
Such an idea was expressed, for instance, by the 13 th century Kabbalist
Joseph Gikatilla in his book Sha’arei Ora, the gates of light. Let us read a
passage from this book together:
You should know that the attribute “The Living God” [El Hai] which is
called “The Righteous One” (Tzadik) stands, observes, watches and
sees human beings. When it observes that human beings are engaged
in the Torah and commandments, and that they wish to purify
themselves and act in a pure and uncorrupted way, the attribute “The
Righteous One” spreads out and expands. It is filled with all kinds of
affluences and emanations from above, which it pours forth on the
attribute “My Lord” (Adonai), to give a good reward to those who hold
to the Torah and purify themselves … But, if, God forbid, human beings
defile themselves, and distance themselves from the Torah and the
commandments, if they perform sins, evil deeds and abuses, the
attribute “The Righteous One” stands, observes and watches their
deeds… Then, the attribute “The Righteous One” contracts, converges,
and departs upwards. All the channels and flows stop, and the
attribute “My Lord” is left by itself like dry land, devoid of any good
(Sh`arei Ora, p. 100)
The passage speaks about the effect human beings have on the divine realm
through their proper or improper behavior. Gikatilla refers in the passage to
two sefirot – the first is “The Living God” (El Hai) which is also called “The
Righteous One (Tzadik). The second is the attribute “My Lord”, in Hebrew,
Adonai, the term traditionally used when reading the ineffable name of God
aloud.
As you may remember, Kabbalists interpret different terms and names of God
as referring to different sefirot. “The Living God” and “The Righteous One” are
very common terms in Kabbalist literature for the ninth sefira, Yesod. The
attribute “My Lord” – Adonai, is a common term for the last, feminine sefirah,
Malkhut.
The passage describes the effect of human behavior on these two sefirot.
When human beings – and the author evidently thinks first and foremost of
adult male Jews – study the Torah, and observe the commandments, Sefirat
Yesod expands. Then it receives divine affluence from the higher sefirot and
transmits it to the lower sefirah Malkhut. From there, the divine affluence is
passed on to the lower realms and the people who study Torah and purify
themselves receive their reward.
According to Gikatilla, however, human beings can also have a negative
effect on the sefirot. When people do not follow the Torah and commit sins,
sefirat Yesod contracts and distances itself from sefirat Malkhut. When that
happens, the channels of the divine realm are blocked and the flow of divine
affluence from the upper to the lower sefirot is obstructed. The last sefirah,
Malkhut, remains barren and dry, and divine blessing cannot be transferred
from her to the lower realms.
As we just saw, Gikatilla claimed that positive human actions enable the flow
of divine affluence from the upper sefirot, to the last, feminine sefirah.
Although Gikatilla did not use explicitly erotic imagery, he was evidently
referring to the sexual union between the divine male and female sefirot. The
idea that proper human conduct enables sexual union between the sefirot
became very central in Kabbalistic literature, especially in the Zohar. The
Zohar often asserts that keeping the commandments and studying Torah
enables the union between Kudsha Brikh Hu and the Shekhina. Kudsha Brikh
Hu, the Holy one blessed be He, in Aramaic, refers to the upper male sefirot
(Tif`ereth, and the five sefirot surrounding it), and Shekhina, as you recall, is
the last sefirah, Malkhut. According to the Zohar, and other Kabbalists, while
proper human behavior enhances the harmony between the divine male and
female, human sin disrupts the relations between Malkhut and Tif`ereth. As
we have seen in the previous lesson, when such disruption occurs in the
divine system, the divine male is seduced by the demonic feminine power,
Lilith, and the divine female, is corrupted by the Satanic Samael.

Unit 4 – Lurianic Theurgy: Uplifting the Divine Sparks

The idea that human beings can affect the union between the male and
female components of the Divine is also very prevalent in Lurianic Kabbalah.
As you recall, the Lurianic Kabbalah was developed by R. Isaac Luria and his
followers in Safed, in upper Galilee in the 16th century. Lurianic Kabbalah
introduced another theurgic concept concerning the effect of human behavior
on the divine – the notion of the raising of the divine sparks. Let me explain
this novel idea. In the previous lesson, we discussed the Lurianic narrative of
the formation of the lower realms as a result of the “breaking of the vessels.”
According to Lurianic Kabbalah, during the process of emanation, the lower
seven sefirot could not stand the power of the light of the En-Sof that flowed
within them and their vessels broke. The broken vessels fell from the divine
realm to the bottom of the empty space (called “tehiru”), that had been
created through the contraction of the En-Sof, through the process of zimzum.
The shards of the fallen broken vessels, called kelipot - husks, formed the
lowest, material world, olam ha-’asia, the world of making. The material world,
in which we live, is constituted not only of the shards of the broken vessels,
but also of some sparks – nitzozot in Hebrew – of the divine light. If you
recall, following the breaking of the vessels of the lower sefirot, most of the
divine light returned upward to sefirat Binah, which did not break, but some of
the divine light adhered to the shards of the broken vessels and fell down with
them to the bottom of the tehiru. Hence, our world consists not only of the
broken shards of the sefirot, but also retains some sparks of the light of the
En-Sof.
According to Isaac Luria’s disciples, the goal of humanity is to uplift the divine
sparks form our world and separate them from the husks. The way to do that
is by following God’s commandments. Adam, the first human being, was
created for this mission. Yet, he disobeyed God’s commandments and
committed a sin. The mission entrusted to him had to be continued by his
offspring, and was entrusted to the Jewish people. According to Lurianic
Kabbalah, if the Jews fulfilled their mission and observed God’s
commandments properly, they would succeed in uplifting the divine sparks
from the material world, separating them from the kelipot, and thus repairing
the damage caused by the breaking of the vessels. If they succeeded in their
mission, they would redeem the lower world, vanquish evil, and rectify the
divine realm.

Unit 5 - The Effect of Jewish Ritual on the Divine Realm

As we have seen, Kabbalists depicted several ways in which human beings

can affect the divine realm
1. They can enable or disrupt, the flow of divine effluence from the upper to
the lower sefirot (and from there, to the lower worlds)
2. They can enhance or damage the union between the male and female
sefirot
3. They can uplift (or neglect to uplift) the divine sparks that were scattered in
our world following the breaking of the vessels.

Kabbalists composed many books that explained the ways in which different
prayers and commandments affect the divine realm. Writing about the impact
of Jewish rituals on the sefirot became a central Kabbalistic literary genre.
From the early 13th century, Kabbalists explained Jewish practices such as
the daily prayer services, observance of the Sabbath and the Jewish
Holidays, the Jewish dietary laws, and the study of the Torah, as having the
power to rectify the divine realm. According to Talmudic tradition, there are
613 commandments that correspond to the 248 limbs and 365 tendons in the
human body. The Kabbalists, as you recall, postulated a correspondence
between the human body and the divine structure. Hence, some Kabbalists
declared that the fulfillment of a commandment positively affected both the
human and divine limb that corresponded to the commandment.
Transgression of a commandment, on the other hand, harmed the
corresponding part of the human and divine body. Thus, for instance, an early
14th century Kabbalistic text on the reasons for the commandments, says:
When a person fulfills a commandment, he sustains the upper limb, as
well as the lower limb. There are 248 commandments that correspond
to the 248 limbs. And if a person committed a sin with his eye, or
transgressed a commandment that is related to the eye, it is as if he
had put a blemish on the upper eye (Ta`amei ha-Mizwot, Maier’s
edition, p. 428).
Kabbalists believed it was important to be aware of the theurgic significance
of fulfilling a commandment, and recommended declaring this before the
performance of ritual activity. From the 16th century, Jewish Kabbalists recited
a special formula before praying or practicing a religious act. This formula,
which was accepted in many Jewish communities, is “Leshem Yihud Kudsha
Brikh Hu ve-Shekhintei” – “For the sake of uniting the Holy One Blessed be
He, and his Divine Presence”. This declaration emphasizes that the prayer or
commandment will be performed in order to unite the sefirot and restore the
harmony between Tif`eret, symbolized by the term “The Holy One, Blessed be
He” (Kudsha Brich Hu) and Malkhut, “The Divine Presence” (Shekhina).

Unit 6- Kabbalistic Rituals – Tikkunim (Amendments)

In the early-modern period, and possibly before that, some Kabbalistic circles
created special rituals intended to enhance the rectification of the divine
system. These rituals, which were conducted on special occasions and mostly
involved prayers and the study of Jewish religious texts, were called Tikkunim
– amendments. Many of these practices were adopted by the Jewish public at
large and are still practiced today.
As I mentioned in the first unit of this lesson, the term “Tikkun” has many
meanings in Hebrew, including to embellish, improve, rectify, or amend. The
sages of the Talmudic period used the term “Tikkun Olam,” rectification of the
world, to denote social or religious repair.
In the Kabbalah, as we have seen, the term “Tikkun” was used to denote the
repair, or restoration of harmony to the divine realm. Since the early modern
period, the term has also denoted Kabbalistic rituals aimed at accelerating the
repair of the divine realm, as well as the texts that prescribe such rituals.
One of the first and most prevalent Tikkun rituals is Tikkun Leil Shavu`ot,
performed on the eve of Shavu`ot, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. Tikkun
Leil Shavu`ot is first described in the Zohar. The Feast of Weeks, which
celebrates the day that God gave the Torah to Israel on mount Sinai, was
understood in the Zohar as signifying the union between Tif`eret and Malkhut,
the divine bride and bridegroom. According to the Zohar, the bridesmaids of
Malkhut are the Kabbalists, who are called, “sons of the bride’s palace”. The
Zohar recommends that Kabbalists stay awake all night and prepare the bride
for her marriage – adorning her with their study of the Bible, Midrash, and
Kabbalah. I would like to cite a beautiful passage in the Zohar:
“Rabbi Shimo’n sat and studied the Torah during the night that the
bride unites with the bridegroom. We have learned that all the friends,
the sons of the bride’s palace, must spend the whole night that
precedes the day in which the bride will stand under the canopy with
her husband with her. They should rejoice with her in the
embellishments (tikkunim) in which she adorns herself by studying
Torah – from the Pentateuch to the Prophets and from the Prophets to
the Scriptures, as well as homilies, and secrets of wisdom. Because
these are her embellishments and adornments … the next day, she
enters the wedding canopy with them, and they are called the sons of
her canopy” (Zohar 1, 8a).
We do not know if the Zohar describes a ritual that was already practiced
among Kabbalists at the time of its composition in the late 13th century. Yet,
since the early 16th century, we have known of circles of Kabbalists who
practiced such a ritual and studied the whole night of Shavu’ot, calling this
practice Tikkun Leil Shavu’ot. In a few cases, Tikkun Leil Shavu’ot was also
the occasion of supernatural revelations. We will discuss such revelations in
the next lesson. From the 17th century, special texts were printed that
prescribe the exact order of study during the Tikkun. The practice of Tikkun
Leil Shavu’ot as a night of study is still preformed today, and in recent years it
has gained renewed popularity. Yet many of those practicing it today are not
aware of the original Kabbalistic significance of this custom.
Following Tikkun Leil Shavu’ot, many other Tikkun rituals were established.
Some of them are practiced during special hours, holidays, or occasions. One
of the most important Tikkunim, is Tikkun Hazot, the midnight Tikkun, which
was established by Lurianic Kabbalists in Safed in the 16th century. Tikkun
Hazot commemorates the destruction of the temple and the exile of the
people of Israel. It is divided into two parts, one, dedicated to the matriarch
Rachel, who signifies sefirat Malkhut, and the second to Le’ah, who signifies
the divine mother – Binah.
Other Tikkunim were practiced on holydays, as well as on special occasions,
such as the night before a child’s circumcision.
Another type of Tikkun developed in the circle of Isaac Luria was dedicated to
the repentance of specific sins. The intention of this kind of Tikkun was to
rectify the damage caused by the sin to the upper realm as well as the soul of
the sinner. Some of these Tikkunim were intended to rectify the sexual sin of
extracting seamen in vain – a sin considered especially harmful by Kabbalists.
Tikkun ceremonies consist mainly of the recitation of prayers and verses from
the bible, as well as passages from the Zohar. Some Tikkunim also include
symbolic practices, such as sitting on the floor as a sign of mourning, as in the
case of Tikkun Hazot. Other Tikkunim include the practice of combining the
letters of the various names of God (such as the tetragrammaton, the name
Adonai, and the name Eheyeh). Such practices, called Yichudim –
unifications – were introduced by Isaac Luria and were intended to enhance
the union between the divine elements that correspond to the names of God.
Combination of the names of God, through mental imagination in order to
affect the corresponding elements in the divine realm was practiced by some
Kabbalists during regular prayers too. Such practices, which are called
“intentions of prayer”, in Hebrew, Kavanot Tefilah, became central in some
Kabbalistic circles in the later early-modern and modern period.
Various Tikkunim are still practiced today by Kabbalists as well as the wider
public. The most prevalent one, as I mentioned, is Tikkun Leil Shavu’ot.
Nonetheless, the original theurgic significance of the Tikkunim is sometimes
forgotten and their intention is perceived today as directed towards personal
or social improvement rather than the rectification of the divine realm.
Unit 7- Practical Kabbalah
As we have seen in this lesson, Kabbalists ascribed great power to human
beings. They believed they had the power to affect the divine realms and
influence, positively or negatively, the relations between the sefirot. Through
their influence on the wellbeing and harmony of the divine, human beings
were also thought to have an indirect effect on the situation in the world. As
we saw in the previous lesson, disharmony in the upper realms was seen as
causing damage in the lower realms. The rectification of the divine world
through the fulfillment of the commandments and the practice of tikunim and
yichudim positively affected the lower realms, and hastened redemption.
Kabbalists also believed in the power of human beings to directly affect the
material world. Through the use of divine names and the invocation of angels
and demons, they asked for knowledge and inspiration, love, prosperity,
health and protection. Practices of invocation, the use of divine names, and
the making of amulets, which are sometimes identified by scholars as Jewish
magic, were common in Jewish tradition from ancient times. Since the late
medieval period, experts in the use of divine names were called ba’alei shem,
Masters of the Name. Kabbalists adopted and developed such practices, and
named them “Practical Kabbalah”.
In contrast to the theurgical practices discussed in the previous units, practical
Kabbala was not intended to influence the divine realm, but rather, to achieve
material and spiritual goals, and to protect against evil powers. These goals
were to be achieved by invoking angels and demons, and using the power of
the divine names, such as the name of 42 letters, and the 72 names of God.
Traditions surrounding the use of such names had been prevalent since the
Talmudic period. Important Kabbalists further developed them in the late
medieval and early modern periods. While the use of practical Kabbalah was
very prevalent (and still exists today), some Kabbalists, first and foremost
Isaac Luria, objected to it, and regarded it as potentially dangerous.
Nonetheless, in later period, Isaac Luria was also considered a master of
practical Kabbalah, and Kabbalistic amulets were ascribed to him.