In the Kabbalah, the structure of the world is represented by the Tree of Sefirot. According to the Kabbalah of Information, the Sefirot are the families of concepts in the informational space. The first three Sefirot – Keter, Chochma, and Binah – represent the analytical concepts of will, wisdom, and understanding. The concepts Gevura and Chesed are actual tools responsible for the creation or destruction of anything that exists, i.e., information.
According to the Kabbalah of Arizal, the Creation began with the act of Tzimzum. It was a giant leap from absolute uncertainty about G-d in His Essence (Ein Sof – ‘Not Finite’) to certainty. It was an act of the creation of information. Let’s consider it in detail.
In the Kabbalah, the concept of Chesed means ‘unlimited lovingkindness’; in physical terms, ‘unlimited expansion’. The concept of Gevura means ‘might, judgement’; in physical terms, ‘unlimited constriction’.
On this ground I can postulate that:
- Unlimited Chesed leads to the creation of uncategorized information.
- Unlimited Gevura leads to the absolute destruction of information.
Any kind of categorized information in Creation is the result of the interplay between the concepts Chesed and Gevura.
In order to understand it in detail, let’s consider the process of Tzimtzum.
Arizal writes: ‘Know that before any emanations were emanated or any creations created, there was one simple supernal Light that filled all existence. There was no empty ‘place’, not empty ‘space’, or void. All reality was filled with this simple Light Without End [Ohr Ein Sof – Hebrew]. There was no category of ‘beginning’ and no category of ‘end’. All was one, unified, simple, undifferentiated, ubiquitous and homogenous. Infinite Light, called “Ohr Ein Sof”’.
Here we have the state of unlimited Chesed – uncategorized information.
Continuing of the quote: ‘When it arose in His simple Will to create worlds and emanate emanations, to bring to light the perfection of His Actions, His Names and His Attributes – which was actually the purpose for creating all the universes, He constricted His Infinite Essence away from the center point of His Being, that is, from the very center of His Light. He thus constricted that Light, distancing it to the extremities around this center point leaving a vacated space and hollow void’.
We can consider it as an act of limited Gevura.
‘Behold, after this constriction, which resulted in the creation of a “vacated space” and “hollow void” in the very midst of the Infinite Light of Ein Sof, there was a “place” for all that was to be emanated (World of Atzilut), created (Beriya), formed (Yetzira), and completed (Asiya). He then drew forth a single, straight Ray from His Infinite Surrounding Light into the vacated space. This Ray descended in stages into the vacated space. The upper extremity of this Ray touched and was drawn forth from the Infinite Light of Ein Sof and extended down but not all the way to the bottom extremity. It was through this Ray that the Light of Ein Sof was drawn down and spread out below. Into this vacated space He then emanated, created, formed and made all the worlds. Through this Ray, which serves as a constricted conduit, the outpouring Supernal Light of Ein Sof spreads forth and flows down into the universes that allocated within that Space and Void.’
Here we have a limited act of Chesed.
In my view, the description of Tzimzum given above clearly shows that the creation of any categorized information is the result of the interplay between the concepts of limited Chesed and Gevura.
In the Torah we read (Genesis 1:1): ‘In the beginning created G-d [Eloh-m in Hebrew]’. Eloh-m is one of the Names of Ein Sof representing the quality of Might, Judgement – Gevura. The renowned commentator of the Torah Arieh Kaplan noted that it is possible to read the abovementioned passage from the Torah in the following way. ‘In the beginning (He) created Eloh-m.’ Here ‘He’ means Ein Sof; Eloh-m, in my view, means Gevurot.
We can assume that in our universe, the physical concept of Gevura could be represented by the force of gravity, strong nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force of attraction. The concept of Chesed could be represented by the electromagnetic force of repulsion and kinetic energy.
We can apply these ideas to the analysis of the physics of Black Holes.
To purchase Eduard Shyfrin’s book ‘From Infinity to Man: The Fundamental Ideas of Kabbalah Within the Framework of Information Theory and Quantum Physics’ please click here. To purchase Eduard Shyfrin’s book ‘Travels with Sushi in the Land of the Mind’ please click here.