Tiferet ( ''Tip̄ʾereṯ,'' in pausa: תִּפְאָרֶת ''Tip̄ʾāreṯ'', lit. 'beauty, glory, adornment') alternatively Tifaret, Tiphareth, Tifereth or Tiphereth, is the sixth sefira in the

kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...

. It has the common association of "

Spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

", "

Balance Balance may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...

", " Integration", "

Beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

", "

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s", and "

Compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...

Description

In the

Bahir ''Bahir'' or ''Sefer HaBahir'' (, ; "Book of Clarity" or "Book of Illumination") is an anonymous mystical work, attributed to a 1st-century rabbinic sage Nehunya ben HaKanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the wor ...

it states: "Sixth is the adorned, glorious, delightful throne of glory, the house of the world to come. Its place is engraved in wisdom as it says 'God said: Let there be light, and there was light.'" Arthur Green. ''A guide to the Zohar'' Tiferet is the force that integrates the sefira of

Chesed (, also Romanization of Hebrew, Romanized: ) is a Hebrew language, Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is fr ...

("Kindness") and Gevurah ("Strength", also called Din, "Judgement"). These two forces are, respectively, expansive (giving) and restrictive (receiving). Either of them without the other could not manifest the flow of Divine energy; they must be balanced in perfect proportion by balancing compassion with discipline. This balance can be seen in the role of Tiferet, wherein the conflicting forces are harmonized, and creation flowers forth. Tiferet also similarly balances Netzach and Hod. In that case, Hod can be seen as the intellect whereas Netzach is seen as emotion. The Name of God associated with Tiferet is Adonay Eloah. The Archangel of this sphere is

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

. Malakhim (messengers) are the Angelic order associated with Tiferet, and the planetary/astrological correspondence of Tiferet is the sun. The qlippa of Tiferet is represented by the demonic order Thagirion. The symbol associated with this sphere is a majestic King. Tiferet also occupies a place on the middle pillar and can be seen as a lower reflection of Kether, as well as a higher reflection of Yesod and Malkuth. Tiferet relates to the Sun, and as such, it takes a central place in the lower face of the Tree of Life, much in the same manner that the Sun is at the center of the Solar System. It is not the center of the universe, as one could perhaps argue Kether to be, but rather it is the center of our local astronomical system. Nonetheless, it is the Sun that gives light and life, even though it did not create itself. Tiferet can be seen as a metaphor for these same attributes. Tiferet is unique amongst the Sephirot as it is connected to all the other Sephirot (except Malkuth) via the subjective paths, be they conscious or less conscious. Its position down the center between Keter and Yesod indicates to many Kabbalists that it is somewhat of a "converting" Sephirot between form (Yesod) and force (Keter). In other words, all crossing over the middle path via Tiferet results in a reversed polarity. The law of conservation, valid both for energy and mass, tends to corroborate this – in all cases of energy transmutation, as it may happen in the transmission of gifts and goods from parents to their children, a sacrifice is necessary so a new form may be born. Tiferet is the middle of the tree. Five Sefirot surround it: above are Chesed at the right (south) and Gevurah at the left (north), and below are

Netzach Netzach () is the seventh of the ten sefirot in the Jewish mystical system of Kabbalah. It is located beneath Chesed ('loving-kindness'), at the base of the "Pillar of Mercy" which also consists of Chokmah ('wisdom'). Netzach generally transla ...

at the right, Hod at the left, and

Yesod Yesod (Hebrew: יְסוֹד ''Yəsōḏ'', Tiberian: ''Yăsōḏ'', "foundation") is a sephirah or node in the kabbalistic Tree of Life, a system of Jewish philosophy. Yesod, located near the base of the Tree, is the sephirah below Hod and ...

directly below. Together these six are a single entity, ''Zer Anpin'', which is the masculine counterpart of the feminine sefira Malkuth. In certain contexts, Tiferet alone represents all the sefirot of Zer Anpin, so that the entire tree appears with only five sefirot: Keter, Chochmah, Binah, Tiferet, and Malkhut. In both the Jewish and Hermetic trees of life, Tiferet has eight paths, leading (counterclockwise) to Keter (through Daat), Binah, Gevurah, Hod, Yesod, Netsach, Chesed, and Chokmah. Tiferet can be also a variation of the word "Tifarah" and in Modern Hebrew used in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

is translated as "Glory" (from God – "

Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...

, Adonay).

References

External links

Lessons in Tanya

Kabbalah 101: Tiferet
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629031939/https://www.aish.com/spirituality/kabbala101/Kabbala_15_-_Tiferet_Beautiful_Synthesis.asp , date=2021-06-29 Sefirot Kabbalistic words and phrases

Description

References

Further reading

External links