Contemplating Sefer HaBahir

Journey Into Redemptive Consciousness

Monday, October 23, 2006

Tzemach & Immersive Hashra'ah

שנאמר ומלא ברכת ב' ים ודרום ירשה
Sefer HaBahir, verse 3 excerpt

Traditional interpretation: "Because it is written (Devarim 33:23): The filling is G-d's blessing possessing the Sea and the South."

ברכת has a gematria of 622 and a digit sum of echad. The value 622 represents the 620 mitzvot contained within the unity of keter, together with the "two companions who never separate" [1].

Derived from the root ברך meaning "power growth", it carries the same meaning as the name Tzemach, צמח which pertains to growth.

Combining these two "growing" words together and performing some creative permutations, we have the phrase sequence:

צב רם כח -> mobilize, elevate and bring to life, exert creative power

The above sequence corresponds dynamically to concept of hashra'ah, and to its associated levels of immersive creative power: ohr, chayut and koach.

Footnote:

[1] Zohar 3:4a; R' Yitzchak Ginsburgh, The Hebrew Letters (p. 49)