|: the second emanation [chochmah]

 

Chochmah

 ”Knowing who you are is an act of Wisdom.”

(The above quote is from an interesting book entitled A Wish can Change Your Life, by Gahl Sasson and Steve Weinstein, available at Amazon.com)

Chochmah is the second Sefirah and embodies the beginning of growth, or wisdom.  It is most commonly referred to as symbolic of wisdom, but this sefirah has more than one meaning.  Chochmah also symbolizes the revelatory power of consciousness.  We could call this intellect, but it’s much more than that.  Chochmah corresponds to the flash of intuition, or insight within the soul, and in the tzelem Elohim (semblance, likeness, or image of G-d), it signifies the right hemisphere of the brain.  Scientific studies have discovered that the seat of identity from which a person recognizes him or herself is linked directly to the right brain.

 According to the Zohar, the word Chochmah is broken down into two Hebrew terms:  koach and mah.  Koach denotes possibility or potential, and Mah implies a thing that is, or what is.  Accordingly, Chochmah means the potential of what is, or of what will be (aka potential being).  And again, because none of the sefirot act or function independently, we should remember that Chochmah emanates (or radiates) from Keter.  Consequently, its relation to all the other Sefirot, is primarily one of wisdom, or the sudden, brilliant flash of intuition in its highest form of emet, or truth.