- Keter (Crown)**
- Chochmah (Wisdom)
- Binah (Understanding)
- Daat (Knowledge)**
- Chesed (Kindness, Mercy)
- Gevurah (Justice, Discipline)
- Tiferet (Beauty, Harmony)
- Netzach (Eternity, Victory)
- Hod (Glory, Splendor)
- Yesod (Foundation)
- Malkhut (Royalty) or Shekhinah (feminine aspect of God's presence)
Yesod: יסוד Foundation, Bonding
Bonding is the ultimate emotional connection, fusing the lover and the beloved. It develops an everlasting union that lives on forever through the perpetual fruit it bears. Every person needs bonding to flourish and grow. It gives one the sense of affirmation and belonging, that “I matter, I am significant and important.” It establishes trust in self and others, instills confidence, and nurtures us to be ourselves. Yesod channels all 5 previous qualities into a constructive bond, giving it the meaning “foundation.” It completes the spectrum of the first 6 emotions, integrating them into a foundation for the structure of human emotional experience.
In the Kabbalistic schema, netzach and hod balance into yesod. If tiferet is the heart center, bringing together the various emotional energies to the core of inner balance, yesod is the sexual organ, bringing together the various productive energies to the place of generativity. ...
In some charts of the sefirot, yesod is simply the phallus, and in many Kabbalistic texts, it does function in this way. But the situation is actually more complicated. Sexually, yesod is the conduit between male and female energy, and as such includes both male and female genitalia. Think of it in terms of generation and procreation. Yesod is where the energies come together ... For a man, this can be understood as bringing together all the energies and projecting them out into the world. For a woman, it might be understood as bringing together all the energies so that their manifestation can be birthed.
Hopefully, it is clear that this sexual imagery is both metaphorical and actual. We use generative language in our common speech all the time: “the idea is gestating,” for example. And certainly, that applies to yesod as well. Yet microcosm reflects macrocosm; our experience of union reflects the structure of the universe.*
Inspiration, determination, and action: the two condition the third, sustain it, and allow what was once merely a thought to manifest into actualization.
But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
לְךָ֣ יְ֠הֹוָ֠ה הַגְּדֻלָּ֨ה וְהַגְּבוּרָ֤ה וְהַתִּפְאֶ֙רֶת֙ וְהַנֵּ֣צַח וְהַה֔וֹד כִּי־כֹ֖ל בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם וּבָאָ֑רֶץ
Yours, Y-H-V-H, are Gedula (Chesed), Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, and Hod—yes, All (Kol) that is in heaven and on Earth (Malchut);
וְאִלֵּין שִׁיתָּא יוֹמִין עִלָּאִין קְרָא פָּרִישׁ לוֹן דִּכְתִיב, (דברי הימים א כט) לְךָ יְיָ הַגְּדוּלָה וְהַגְּבוּרָה וְהַתִּפְאֶרֶת וְגו'. כִּי כֹל דָּא צַדִּיק. ... כְּלוֹמַר דִּיסוֹדָא דְעָלְמָא דְּאִקְרֵי כֹּל, אִיהוּ אָחִיד בְּתִפְאֶרֶת דְּאִקְרֵי שָׁמָיִם, וּבָאָרְץ
And this is the system of days, as we understand from the verse, "Yours, Y-H-V-H, are Gedula, Gevurah, Tiferet, etc.": "all (kol)" is Tzaddik (Yesod); ... which is to say that the foundation (Yesod) of the world is called kol, which is the unifier of Tiferet and Earth.
יְסוֹד הַיְסוֹדוֹת וְעַמּוּד הַחָכְמוֹת לֵידַע שֶׁיֵּשׁ שָׁם מָצוּי רִאשׁוֹן. וְהוּא מַמְצִיא כָּל נִמְצָא. וְכָל הַנִּמְצָאִים מִשָּׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ וּמַה שֶּׁבֵּינֵיהֶם לֹא נִמְצְאוּ אֶלָּא מֵאֲמִתַּת הִמָּצְאוֹ:
The foundation of foundations and firmest pillar of all wisdom is, To know that there is a First Being, that He caused all beings to be, and that all beings from heaven and earth, and from between them, could not be save for the truth of His Own Being.
Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 1:1
Rabbi Tamara Cohen
והטעם לג' פסוקים שקורין מכל פרשה בליל חג שבועות לפי שבשבעה שבועות ע"י ספירת העומר נתקנין ז' ספירות... ונשאר בחינת הכתר ונצח הוד יסוד וזה נתקנים בליל שבועות על ידי לימוד התנ"ך... ונפקא מינא למי שא"א לו להיות ניעור כל הלילה מאיזה סיבה לפחות ילמוד התנ"ך כדי להשלים התיקון.
The reason for the three verses that we read from each parsha on the night of the holiday of Shavuot is because during the seven weeks, seven sefirot are rectified through sefirat ha-omer…The Keter, and Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, remain and these are rectified on the night of Shavuot by learning Tanach…The practical implication of this is that someone who is unable to remain awake all night for some reason should at least learn the Tanach [segments of the tikkun] in order to complete the rectification [of the sefirot].
Malchut is a state of being rather than an activity. True leadership is the art of selflessness; it is only a reflection of a higher will. On the other hand, malchut manifests and actualizes the character and majority of the human spirit. When love, discipline, harmony, endurance and gratitude and properly channeled into the psyche through bonding, the result is malchut. It means knowing that you matter and that you make a difference; that you have the ability to be a proficient leader in your own right to contribute to this world. It gives you independence and confidence, a feeling of certainty and authority, of royalty in your heart.
body part- feet/ earth below our feet/ base of spine
biblical person- King David, Rachel, Moshiach (Messiah)
other symbols- Shabbat, the Sacred Orchard / Pardess
Shechinah/ Malchut is the final step when counting down the Tree of Life. On a personal level, it means integrating spiritual insights, bringing them down to earth, walking them into our lives. It's connected to the day of Shabbat and especially Friday night when kabbalisticaly we are said to enter the Orchard/ Pardess- eating and drinking in loving community. On a global level, it means a societal turning toward inter-connection and inter-being. The Kabbalists imagined the Shechinah as a compassionate feminine presence that chooses to live in exile (galut) with us, to comfort and guide us as we stumble and suffer from not living with more wholeness, love and awareness.
§ It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: Come and see how beloved the Jewish people are before the Holy One, Blessed be God. As every place they were exiled, the Shechina went with them. They were exiled to Egypt, and the Shechina went with them, as it is stated: “Did I reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt?” (I Samuel 2:27). They were exiled to Babylonia, and the Shechina went with them, as it is stated: “For your sake I have sent to Babylonia” (Isaiah 43:14). So too, when, in the future, they will be redeemed, the Shechina will be with them, as it is stated: “Then the Lord your God will return with your captivity” (Deuteronomy 30:3). It does not state: God will bring back, i.e., God will cause the Jewish people to return, but rather it says: “God will return,” which teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be God, will return together with them from among the various exiles.
כי המלכות היא הנטרדת עמנו, עולה עמנו ויורדת עמנו, נגאלת עמנו וגולה עמנו.
והיא הדבקה תמיד עמנו, לא תפרד בשום אופן בעולם. והיא השוכנת אתנו. אנו גורמין במעשינו יחודה או פירודה או רחמיה.
Moshe Cordovero, 16th c. Tzfat Kabbalist, Ein Yaakov
For Malchut (Shechinah) is the one who is expelled with us, ascending with us and descending with us. She is redeemed with us and exiled with us. She is the one connected to us always, never separated from us under any circumstance. She dwells with us. Our deeds cause her union or separation or mercy.