Chochmah (חכמה) — Wisdom

Core definition

Chochmah, "wisdom," is the second of the ten sefiros and the first of the intellectual triad ChaBaD (Chochmah, Binah, Da'at). In the human model it resides in the head alongside the other intellects [31654/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 2779]. Its defining trait is that it is ayin — "nothingness": it stands above comprehension, to the point that it may never come to comprehension at all [31671/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 1362]. Although, in practice, every point of chochmah usually spreads into comprehension and understanding in Binah, what is drawn from Chochmah to Binah is "only a small illumination" of the original [31671/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 1363–1364]. Scripture therefore calls the whole of creation its product: "kulam b'chochmah asita" — "You made them all in wisdom" (Tehillim 104:24) — the coming-to-be of the created through Havayah's name, "Havayah b'chochmah" (Mishlei 3:19) [31654/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 3539–3541].

How the Rebbeim develop it

The Rebbeim repeatedly return to Chochmah's paradox: it is the flash of insight before thought, the point that precedes elaboration. The transition from Chochmah to Binah is described as movement from ayin to yesh — "the level of the ayin of chochmah comes to comprehension in Binah, which is from ayin to yesh" [31671/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 519]. The same discourse explains the mechanics: because the ayin of Chochmah is above hasagah (comprehension), only its chitzoniyut — its externality, "what can come to comprehension" — can be worked through, and for that "much time is needed," whereas the essence is grasped "in one moment" [31671/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 1474–1475].

This is why Chochmah is paired with sight. "It is known: seeing is chochmah's aspect" — de'ra'iyah hu b'chinas chochmah — as in "vayar reishit lo" (Devarim 33:21) [31654/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 1367–1369]. Sight grasps a whole in a single instant, without the piecemeal process of hearing and understanding; that instantaneous apprehension is Chochmah's signature.

The Zohar (Balak 193b) is cited for Chochmah's further epithet, "the beginning of the supernal concealed point" (shitusa d'nekudah ila'ah stima'ah), with the "revealed chochmah" identified as the chochmah of Atzilus [31678/maamar_055 :: עב׳ 322–324]. Chazal's reading of the letter alef — "aluf chochmah," the champion of wisdom (Shabbos 104a) — is likewise expounded as referring to this revealed chochmah [31678/maamar_055 :: עב׳ 325]. In the order of revelation, "the main revealed powers are from chochmah downward" [31671/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 1088], marking Chochmah as the gateway through which the supernal becomes perceptible.

Chochmah also stands in structural dependence on Da'at: "all chochmah and binah's depth, length, and breadth is dependent specifically on da'at's depth" [31654/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 1905]. And it has a counterpart in the order of unholiness: there is "the chochmah of kelipah, opposite the chochmah of kedushah" [31671/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 18].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Sources