Ohr (אור): Divine Light
Let there be light. Light created by G-d.
A term, analogous to physical light, describing divine emanations and a metaphor for understanding God as well as using the sefirot to show the human soul-body relationships.
It features prior to TzimTzum in the following progression of the infinite essence of God:
- 000. Ayin (אין) Nothing
- 00. Ein Sof (אין סוף) Limitlessness
- 0. Ohr Ein Sof (אור אין סוף) Endless Light
This term is used more than Shefa שפע: flow and its derivative, Hashpaʾa (השפעה): influence because its numerical value equals ר״ז, a homonym for רז Rāz: mystery.
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Ohr (Hebrew: אור, romanized: ʾor, lit. ‘Light‘, plural: אורות ʾoroṯ) is a central Kabbalistic term in Jewish mysticism. The analogy to physical light describes divine emanations. Shefa “flow” (שפע šep̄aʿ) and its derivative, hashpaʾa “influence” (השפעה hašpāʿā), are sometimes alternatively used in Kabbalah and medieval Jewish philosophy to mean divine influence, while the Kabbalists favour ʾor because its numerical value equals ר״ז, a homonym for רז rāz “mystery”. ʾOr is one of the two main Kabbalistic metaphors for understanding God, along with the other metaphor of the human soul-body relationship for the sefirot.