Shechinah

The term shekhinah is from the Hebrew root word meaning "to dwell" and was originally used to refer to G-d's presence among the people with no gender associations. In Jewish mysticism or Kabbalah, the shekhinah is given a distinctly female quality, often depicted as the divine feminine or feminine aspect of G-d, associated with attributes of love, compassion, justice, and healing. The Kabbalistic cosmology associates the shekhinah with the malchut or kingship, the lowest sefirah, and the intermediary between the upper emanations and the material world.

The Tanya (Likutei Amarim) explains the comment of the Sages that by cleaving to a scholar of the Torah, one is deemed by the Torah as if he had become attached to the very Shechinah. The Shechinah (divine presence) hovers over every ten Jews. Likewise, the Shechinah is with each individual who sits by himself and occupies himself in the Torah. The 613 commandments of the Torah are by and large active precepts, and they combine with the seven commandments of the Rabbis to total the numerical equivalent of keter ("crown"). When a person's heart breaks, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) rises from its fall. The indwelling of the Shechinah is when something merges into the light of G-d and its reality is completely dissolved in Him.

The abode of the souls of the righteous is in the world of Beriah, which is the abode of intelligent fear and love. The difference between the two is that in the world of Yetzirah only the middot of the blessed En Sof shine forth, namely the love of Him, and the dread and fear of Him. However, the souls are stationed in the hechalot and abodes of Beriah or Yetzirah, enjoying the effulgence of the Shechinah, the light of the blessed En Sof, which is united with the Ten Sefirot of Beriah or Yetzirah, it being the glow of their very Torah and service.

The Shechinah is the dwelling of G-d's presence which rested in the Holy of Holies and in all other places where G-d was present. It is similar to the soul of a human being that pervades all the organs of the body, yet its principal habitation and abode is in his brain. The aspect of the "revealed" light of G-d's infinite presence, dwelled where the Ark and Tables of the Decalogue were housed. The Second Temple did not have the Ark and Tables, so the Shechinah did not abide there according to the category of the Shechinah which used to abide in the First Temple.

The Shechinah is the manifestation of the general stream of vitality and animating the worlds and creatures within. It is called the "world of manifestation" and is the source of the light of En Sof. Each individual thing is given a particular light and vitality from the Shechinah, which is why it is figuratively called the "mother of the children" and the "community of Israel." However, the Shechinah itself cannot be received by the worlds without a "garment" to screen and conceal its light, which is the Torah and its commandments that are revealed to us and to our children. The light of the blessed En Sof is clothed in and united with the Supernal Wisdom, and the Shechinah came down and clothed itself in it in each world.

The Shekhinah is a term used in Jewish mysticism to refer to the divine feminine aspect of God, associated with love, compassion, justice, and healing. It is also connected to the lowest sefirah in Kabbalistic cosmology and is present wherever there are ten Jews gathered or when individuals study the Torah. The Shekhinah is the dwelling of God's presence and is the source of vitality for all creatures. However, its light cannot be received without the "garment" of the Torah and its commandments. The souls of the righteous reside in the world of Beriah and are united with the Shekhinah's light.