In a podcast I watched recently, the following words distilled one of the most profound themes of Kabbalah into a few sentences.

“The human body is a representation of God’s name. The essential name of God is Yud and Hei and Vav and Hei (יהוה). So if you look at the human body, the head is like a Yud, the top of the body is like a Hei, the torso is like a Vav, and the legs are like a Hei. So you literally, your body is a Yud and Hei and Vav and Hei.

So when the man and woman get together, we say that the man’s head is like the Yud, and the woman’s body is like a Hei, and then the man’s organ is like a Vav, and the woman’s organ is like a Hei, which it is. So when the man’s organ enters, we’re bringing together the Vav and Hei of God’s name.

We’re bringing together Kudsha Brich Hu uShechintei, which means HaKadosh Baruch Hu, God’s masculine aspect, brought together with the feminine aspect, which is the Shechinah, represented by the final Hei of God’s name.”

Behind this concise account lies a tradition of interpretation and mystical reflection developed over many centuries. Its point of departure is the verse of creation in the first chapter of the Torah.

ויברא אלהים את האדם בצלמו בצלם אלהים ברא אתו זכר ונקבה ברא אתם

“God created the human being in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1, 27)

Kabbalah does not regard this verse as figurative language. Job’s declaration, “from my flesh I shall see God,” is read with the same seriousness. The body is the projection of the divine order upon the earthly plane, and the key to that projection is the four letter Name, יהוה.

The upright human form reflects the letters of this Name in its very shape. The head, resting like a single point, corresponds to the Yud. The upper body, broadening through the shoulders and arms, corresponds to the Hei. The torso, extending vertically, corresponds to the Vav, and the legs, opening once more below, correspond to the second Hei. Simple as it may appear, this reading based on the form of the letters carries a significant claim. Every person who stands upright bears the Name within their own being, whether or not they are aware of it.

Each letter holds its own layer of meaning. The Yud is the smallest letter of the alphabet, scarcely more than a point. According to Kabbalah every letter begins with a point when it is written, and thus all the letters are understood to derive from the Yud. Its numerical value of ten indicates that the ten sefirot are contained within that point before they become manifest. It is deeply fitting that the Yud corresponds to the head, the seat in which thought has not yet become........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)