Concepts & Terms
The technical vocabulary of Jewish mysticism. Each term below names a specific feature of the map — how the worlds came to be, how the soul moves between them, and what the work of a human life is for.
Kabbalah has developed a precise vocabulary across two thousand years. The same word can carry different senses in Zoharic, Lurianic, and Hasidic writing, and later teachers often adopted older terms and shifted their meaning. The entries below anchor each concept in its classical source and then track how the tradition has carried it forward.
Cosmology — How the Worlds Came to Be
The emanation narrative from Ein Sof through Tzimtzum, the light that issued into the vacated space, the shattering of the primordial vessels, and the ongoing work of Tikkun. These are the concepts that describe how the finite arose from the Infinite.
Adam Kadmon
אָדָם קַדְמוֹןAdam Kadmon
Ein Sof
אֵין סוֹףEin Sof
Kav
קַוKav
Ohr Chozer
אוֹר חוֹזֵרOhr Chozer
Ohr Ein Sof
אוֹר אֵין סוֹףOhr Ein Sof
Ohr Makif
אוֹר מַקִּיףOhr Makif
Ohr Pnimi
אוֹר פְּנִימִיOhr Pnimi
Ohr Yashar
אוֹר יָשָׁרOhr Yashar
Olam HaTikkun
עוֹלָם הַתִּקּוּןOlam HaTikkun
Olam HaTohu
עוֹלָם הַתֹהוּOlam HaTohu
Reshimu
רְשִׁימוּReshimu
Shevirat HaKelim
שְׁבִירַת הַכֵּלִיםShevirat HaKelim
Tikkun
תִּקּוּןTikkun
Tzimtzum
צִמְצוּםTzimtzum
Structure — The Architecture of Reality
The geometry of the Tree of Life — the three pillars, the three triads, the dialectic of something and nothing, of will and thought. How the ten sefirot organize themselves into a coherent whole.
Forces & Dynamics — Shells, Sparks, and Rectification
The counter-structures that appeared in the wake of the shevirah: the klippot (shells) that trap divine light, the sitra achra (other side), and the ongoing human work of raising sparks from their captivity.
Birur
בֵּירוּרBerur / Birur — 'clarification, sorting'
Ha'ala'at Nitzotzot
הַעֲלָאַת נִיצוֹצוֹתHa'ala'at Nitzotzot — 'raising of the sparks'
Klippat Nogah
קְלִיפַּת נֹגַהּQelippat Nogah — 'the glowing shell'
Klippot
קְלִיפּוֹתQelippot / Klippot (singular: klippah)
Nitzotzot
נִיצוֹצוֹתNitzotzot (singular: nitzotz) — 'sparks'
Sitra Achra
סִטְרָא אַחְרָאSitra Aḥra (Aramaic) — 'The Other Side'
Soul & Psychology — Reincarnation, Possession, Repair
The Kabbalistic anthropology — gilgul (transmigration), ibur (impregnation), dybbuk (possession), and the root of the soul that determines each life's task. The principle that descent serves ascent.
Dybbuk
דִּיבּוּקDibbuk / Dybbuk — 'clinging'
Gilgul
גִּלְגּוּלGilgul / Gilgul Neshamot — 'cycling of souls'
Ibur
עִבּוּרIbbur / Ibur — 'impregnation'
Neshamah Yeterah
נְשָׁמָה יְתֵרָהNeshamah Yeterah — 'the additional soul'
Shoresh HaNeshamah
שֹׁרֶשׁ הַנְּשָׁמָהShoresh HaNeshamah — 'root of the soul'
Tikkun HaNefesh
תִּקּוּן הַנֶּפֶשׁTikkun HaNefesh — 'rectification of the soul'
Yeridah L'tzorech Aliyah
יְרִידָה לְצוֹרֶךְ עֲלִיָּהYeridah L'tzorech Aliyah — 'descent for the sake of ascent'
Divine Names & Language
The Tetragrammaton, the 72 Names, the holy tongue itself. In Kabbalah, language is not a sign-system — it is the substrate of creation.
72 Names of God / Shem HaMforash
שֵׁם הַמְּפוֹרָשׁ / ע״ב שֵׁמוֹתShem HaMforash / Ayin Bet Shemot
Divine Name System
שֵׁמוֹת הָאֱלֹהוּתShemot HaElohut
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶהEhyeh Asher Ehyeh
Lashon HaKodesh
לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁLashon HaKodesh
Otiyot
אוֹתִיּוֹתOtiyot
YHVH / Tetragrammaton
יהוהYHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh)
Time & Cycles
Shemittot, yovel, and the sabbatical cosmology — the doctrine that time itself unfolds in worlds of seven, each with its own quality of revelation.
Key Terms — The Working Vocabulary
The concepts that appear everywhere in Kabbalistic and Hasidic writing — tzaddik, mashiach, shefa, bittul, mochin, ratzo v'shov, and the cluster of terms for reversal, attraction, and drawing-down that the Alter Rebbe systematized.
Bittul
בִּטּוּלBittul
Emunah
אֱמוּנָהEmunah
Hamshachah
הַמְשָׁכָהHamshachah
Hashgachah Pratit
הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִיתHashgachah Pratit
Iskafia
אִתְכַּפְיָאIskafia
Itapcha
אִתְהַפְּכָאItapcha
Kavanah
כַּוָּנָהKavanah
Mashiach
מָשִׁיחַMashiach
Mesirut Nefesh
מְסִירוּת נֶפֶשׁMesirut Nefesh
Mochin
מֹחִיןMochin
Mochin d'Gadlut
מֹחִין דְּגַדְלוּתMochin d'Gadlut
Mochin d'Katnut
מֹחִין דְּקַטְנוּתMochin d'Katnut
Ratzo v'Shov
רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹבRatzo v'Shov
Shefa
שֶׁפַעShefa
Simcha
שִׂמְחָהSimcha
Techiyat HaMetim
תְּחִיַּית הַמֵּתִיםTechiyat HaMetim
Teshuvah
תְּשׁוּבָהTeshuvah
Tzaddik
צַדִּיקTzaddik
Working Vocabulary, Not Dictionary
A concept in Kabbalah is not a definition but a handle on a territory. Tzimtzum is one word, but Isaac Luria and the Baal Shem Tov mean something different by it. Tikkun is one word, but Cordovero's ethical rectification and Luria's cosmic repair are not the same doctrine. The entries here trace how each term was used across periods rather than flattening them into a single textbook meaning.
Continue the Kabbalah path
The concepts describe the map. The sefirot and letters are the map itself. The practices are how you enter the territory.