The Seven Crises of the World of Chaos
We have spoken about the seven general crises in life, which correspond to the seven kings of the World of Chaos, who are represented in the Bible by the seven Kings of Edom who reigned and died. Their deaths represent the shattering of the seven emotive sefirot of the World of Chaos. Let’s recap these crises and their correspondence with each of the emotive sefirot and the seven kings:
- Nervous breakdown is the shattering of knowledge (da’at), corresponding to the king Bela ben Be’or.
- Sense of alienation, a lack of love, is the crisis of loving-kindness (chessed), corresponding to the king Yovav Ben Zerach from Batzrah.
- Trauma of harm leading to paranoia is the crisis of might (gevurah) and corresponding to the king Chusham from the land of the Teimani.
- Social isolation, the feeling of “I have no place in the world,” is the crisis of beauty (tiferet), corresponding to the king Hadad Ben Bedad.
- Crisis due to failure, the feeling of being unsuccessful and a schlimazel (a loser), corresponds to victory and acknowledgment (netzach and hod), which in the World of Chaos are one sefirah and corresponds to the king Samla from Masrekah.
- A family crisis, be it peace in the home or other family issues corresponds to foundation (yesod) and to the king Saul from Rehoboth-on-the-river.
- A crisis caused by existential emptiness and meaninglessness corresponds to kingdom (malchut) and to the king Ba’al Chanan ben Achbor.
The Transition
Following the seven kings—who represent a crisis that is followed by a psychological breakdown—comes the eighth king, Hadar, who is married to Meheitavel about whom the Torah does not write that he died. Thus, Hadar represents the transition from the World of Chaos to the World of Rectification (tikkun), following the general formula that “In the beginning darkness and afterwards, light.” The same principle applies when considering the idiom “Hod and Hadar.” The word hod is related to self-inflicted trauma, as in “My glory [hod] has turned into a weapon of destruction”; this refers to the Shattering of the Vessels, death, and burial, which are all associated with the attribute or sefirah of hod (which we usually translate as acknowledgment). Subsequently, the restoration occurs with hadar, referring to King Hadar, and in the dictum that “In the beginning darkness and afterwards light,” with the words “and afterwards light.”
The beginning of the rectification is the belief that it is possible to return to the state before the breaking ("Hadar" also means return), but the goal is new growth and progress that are better than what was before the crisis. The essence of the previous state, which shattered exists only in the memory of the past, which is not meant to return. Thus, the breakdown is a transitional stage, a link connecting the past to the future that is to come.
The Key that Includes Six
The first crisis, the breaking of the sefirah of knowledge (da’at), is the general principle that includes all the other crises and their source, so much so that one of the meanings of the term knowledge in Hebrew is breaking. We must therefore reinterpret the language of the Zohar that da’at is "the key that includes six." The usual interpretation is that da’at encompasses all six emotions of the heart, the six aspects of the Small Countenance (Ze’er Anpin), the partzuf that includes the attributes of the heart. However, for our purpose, we must interpret that the first king Bela ben Be’or, who corresponds with da’at, includes all the six kings that follow him and who too represent a crisis that leads to a shattering. In other words, the entire secret of the shattering, i.e., the existential type of crisis is found in the sefirah of knowledge (da’at). The power to experience rectification and growth following such a crisis emanates from the sefirah of crown—the root of da’at—and following the verse, “His name is Tzemach, and from underneath himself, he [i.e., the Mashiach] will grow.”
One of the explications for the correspondence between Bela ben Be’or and the sefirah of knowledge notes the similarity between his name and that of Balaam ben Be’or, the non-Jewish prophet who was hired to curse the Jewish people as they were approaching the land of Mo’ab. Balaam describes himself as “one who has knowledge of the Most High.” Balaam is considered the nemesis of Moses, who is the da’at of all of Israel. This is learnt from the verse, "A prophet like Moses did not arise again in Israel," which the sages analyze as meaning that in Israel there was no prophet like Moses, but among the nations of the world, there was, and he was Balaam. Adding another dimension to this correspondence is that Balaam’s prophecy contains the most explicit prophecy in the Torah about the Mashiach, whom we have said represents the increased post-traumatic growth that stems from the crown.
The Crisis of Da’at and its Rectification
Another way to understand the sefirah of da’at is that it is self-consciousness. The crisis that leads to shattering begins as an excessive sense of self-awareness, a sense of ego, which in the case of the Seven Kings of Edom is described as “I will control.” This excessive egocentricity eventually leads to an existential crisis in the psyche.
In the crisis of da’at, which we identify as a nervous breakdown, the conflict that is at the center is experienced as “I against myself,” and under the surface it is a conflict between one’s intellect and one’s emotions. For this conflict to lead to a breakdown, both the intellect and the emotions must be unstable. The unstable intellect is exactly this unstable sefirah of da’at and the unstable emotions are those that lack nullification and lowliness, making both the intellect and the emotions examples of the World of Tohu, the World of Chaos. The rectification extends from recognizing the true source of one’s ego, an injunction known as “know where you came from.”
From this crisis, the following crises stem—be they caused by some foe who opposes me, or because I oppose and find myself opposing someone else (the crises found in loving-kindness through acknowledgment), or that both I and someone else are up against each other (in the crisis of foundation), that I feel that God is against me (in the crisis of kingdom). Rectification and growth occur when one is able to transform the feeling that was opposing me is actually helping me. This is also the secret of the Torah’s description of Eve as literally “a helper opposite him.” King Hadar, who did wed, came to realize that what might seem to be opposition from his spouse, is actually the most important help he has ever received, all meant by God to direct his future growth and success.
The House of Jacob—the World of Rectification
Until now, the contemplation has been on the kings of the World of Chaos, the shattering that preceded rectification, and on King Hadar, who represents the beginning of the transition from chaos to rectification. However, the true proprietor of the World of Rectification is Jacob. Therefore, we must contemplate how the crises appear in his life and how from them the House of Israel grew into a family, and later—out of the trauma of the descent to Egypt and the exile there—into the Nation.
