Partzufim

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Partzufim or Partsufim (Hebrew: פרצופים, singular partzuf, Hebrew: פרצוף), are "Countenances" or "Personas" of God described in the Zohar.

The Idra Rabba describes a divine being composed of three partzufim: Arikh Anpin, the “Long-Faced One” or “Slow to Anger”; Zeʿeir Anpin, the “Small-Faced One” or “Short-Tempered”; and Nuqba, the feminine aspect of the Divine. The Idra Zuta describes five partzufim, the aforementioned three and two additional ones Abba (Father) and Imma (Mother), forming an “inner” divine “family” within the Godhead.

In Lurianic Kabbalah, the partzufim are reconfigured arrangements of the ten sefirot, the divine attributes or emanations. Each partzuf is thus a configuration of disparate entities into a harmonious unit. The names of the partzufim are derived from the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah. There, they are synonymous terms for the sefirot. Their full doctrinal significance emerged in Lurianic Kabbalah in the 16th century concerning The World of Chaos and The World of Rectification.

Medieval Kabbalah described the ten sefirot as divine channels that emanate from their source and descend in a linear progression. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero systemised the different medieval interpretations of the Zohar. Later, Isaac Luria recast Kabbalah into its second articulation.

Lurianism describes the dynamic relationships between personas, which interact. The higher partzufim clothe themselves within the lower ones as a soul is in a body. According to the Lurianic system, the linear scheme of sefirot precipitates the "shattering" of the World of Chaos. Their reformation as partzufim in the World of Rectification begins tikkun olam, cosmic repair. As a result of the collapse of the World of Chaos, sparks of holiness were lost or exiled in the three lower Worlds. The human, whose soul reflects the harmonised order of the partzufim, rectifies the mundane world by redeeming the exiled sparks of holiness through Torah study and performance of mitzvot.

In Lurianic Kabbalah, the Four Worlds of our created existence are arranged in a stable form, through the reconfiguration of the original sefirot into partzufim. The first realm to exhibit this new arrangement is the mature form of Atziluth, the World of Emanation, therefore also called the World of Rectification. This follows on from the Shevirah "Shattering" of the sefirot vessels in the World of Chaos, the initial, unstable form of Atziluth.

In Tikun, the sefirot evolve into the harmonised partzufim, new arrangements where they can unite. The World of Chaos is characterised by abundant light (Ohr) and weak vessels, as the ten sefirot act independently as absolute forces, causing it to collapse. The World of Rectification is characterised by lower lights in strong vessels, as through the partzufim the sefirot inter-relate to absorb the illumination from Chaos . The task of humanity becomes the rectification of the fallen sparks of Chaos, the concealed sublime origins of lower Creation, latently active in their exiled state. The messianic goal is the union of the original great illumination of Chaos within the mature vessels of Rectification, revealing the ultimate divine essence of both.

As Medieval Kabbalists never tire of stressing the unity and non-plurality in the concept of the sefirot, so Luria stressed the metaphorical nature of the partzufim. They are Divine "faces", manifestations of the Godhead, alternative aspects through which God manifests Himself, and do not imply any plurality in God. As Shimon bar Yochai recounts in the Zohar:

The ten sefirot develop into five or six primary partzufim, which further develop into pairs of Male and Female secondary partzufim. The male principle in Kabbalah metaphorically denotes outward/emanator/giver, and the female principle denotes inward/receiver/nurturer, similar to the female process of pregnancy to nurture subsequent emanation. The terminology and system of partzufim describes detailed and specific aspects of Divinity, their nature and function discussed in Kabbalah.

The fundamental primary partzufim and the sefirot they develop from are:

• Ancient of Days/Atika Kadisha, supreme "earliest/oldest" inner dimension of Keter Will (from Ein Sof)
• Arich Anpin - "Long Face/Extending Patience", infinitely extending downwards source of divine compassion in Keter Will
• Abba - "Father", Chokmah illumination of Wisdom insight, root of intellect on the "right" of the sefirot (Revelation)
• Imma - "Mother", Binah intellectual Understanding nurturing pregnant emotions, on the "left" side of the sefirot (Internalisation)
• Zeir Anpin - "Small Face/Short Patience", Son, 6 sefirot emotions that shattered, born from Imma on "left" side (Judgement)
• Nukvah - "Female" of Zeir Anpin, Daughter, Malkuth reign in Feminine Shekhinah, born from Zeir Anpin on "left", man reunites

The full array of primary partzufim and the secondary partzufim that develop from them:

Both of the secondary, male and female partzufim of Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin exist within the same configuration. There are therefore only 10 distinct secondary partzufim, and consequently the secondary partzufim of Keter do not have particular names, unlike the secondary partzufim of the other sefirot.

The 6 primary and 12 secondary partzufim are the basic harmonised Divine manifestations in the Four Worlds of created existence. More specifically however, within their interaction are numerous more particular aspects of Divinity, each denoting a differentiated expression. In the Idrot narratives of the Zohar, Shimon bar Yochai discusses profound manifestations of the partzufim. The Idra Zuta, traditionally ascribed to his day of passing from this world, the Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, is considered the deepest teachings of the Zohar.

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  The partzufim, 3 Reishin and 13 attributes - Tikunai Dikna from Cabala Denudata, 1684, by Knorr von Rosenroth. Jewish works avoid drawing personifications.

• Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah
• Isaac Luria

• inner.org, Glossary of Kabbalah and Chassidut Letter P
• inner.org, The Stages of the Creative Process from God's Infinite Light to Our Physical World. Includes detailed descriptions of particular partzuf manifestations
• koshertorah.com, "The Partzufim - The Sefirotic Faces" By Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok (Originally published in Panu Derekh #13)
• inner.org, "True Monotheism". Kabbalistic understanding of the absolute Unity of Divine Manifestations.