Kabbalah - The Seven Principles of Divine Service for Righteous Gentiles

The Nature of the Soul 

Every human soul possesses ten sefirot, or spiritual powers. The first three are intellectual, while the remaining seven relate to the emotions. The three powers of the intellect are the primary motivating force of the Divine element of the soul. The seven emotive powers are the primary motivating force of the soul's animal element.

For this reason, much of Jewish identity is based on the principle of "three." The Jewish People come from three patriarchs; in our prayers, we pray to "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." The priestly blessing is composed of three verses (three individual blessings). Our sages state: "Blessed be God, the Merciful One, who gave a threefold Torah [i.e., the Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings] to a threefold people [Priests, Levites, and Israelites] on the third month [Sivan] by means of three [Moses, Aaron, and Miriam]."

Though the principle of three is innate in the mind of the Divine soul of Israel, it is secondary to our absolute faith in God's essential Oneness, which transcends the power of the mind. By clinging to the wisdom of Torah, which links the mind of man to God, the Divine elements of the soul become fully conscious of the absolute One, as it is said: "Hear O' Israel, God is our God, God is One".

In the animal soul's innate state, the three intellectual powers serve the earthbound desires of the seven emotive powers. It is to correct this "upside-downedness" that the seven Noahide Laws were given.

For a non-Jew, spiritual "rectification" involves the refinement of the seven innate powers of emotion through a commitment to fulfill the seven Noahide commandments. The non-Jew's innate first nature is thereby transformed into a second, rectified nature, which enables him to "see through" the three uppermost levels of his soul and envision the "One." This (often sudden) perception causes the seven emotive powers to serve the three Divine powers, rather than the other way round. If a non-Jew neglects his obligation to observe his seven commandments, he remains unable to apprehend God's true unity, and his consciousness is apt to fall into idolatry, with its deluded worship of the "three," the stars, nature, yogis, the pantheon of "gods," money, etc. etc. In short, idolatry can be defined as the worship of anything or anyone other than the One True God.

The Seven Noahide Commandments 

As we said, the seven Noahide commandments correspond to the seven emotive powers of the soul. These, in turn, correspond to the seven major parts of the body.

That adultery is a perversion of love and murder is a perversion of might is obvious. Theft is a perversion of beauty, since beauty is the trait that enables one to relate to another with concern and consideration.

True faith in one G-d represents man's ultimate victory over evil (whose only real power is its ability to misdirect one's faith), and the gateway to eternity. The perversion of faith is idol worship. Blasphemy, the "partner" of idol worship, is a perversion of the soul's acknowledgment and expression of thanks to G-d.

While the first five and the last one of the Noahide commandments were given to Adam at the outset of creation, the sixth was first given to Noah after the Flood. The Torah refers to Noah as the tzadik ("righteous one"), the "foundation" (yesod) of his generation. The first 10 generations of mankind had been instructed by G-d to be vegetarian. After the Flood, G-d permitted Noah and his descendants to eat animal flesh in general, but forbade them to eat limbs amputated from a living animal, or to drink blood from a living animal.

The seventh Noahide commandment is the only positive one. It is the commandment to establish a legal system in order to judge those who transgress the previous six commandments, and in this way to regulate and rectify society. This commandment corresponds to the power of malchut ("kingdom"), for law is the foundation of any kingdom. As our sages say, "the law of the kingdom is the law to be obeyed." Malchut receives input from the other powers of the soul, as it is said: "All the rivers [the six powers] flow into the sea [malchut]." In the body of man, malchut corresponds to the mouth, whose function is to direct and control society.

When these seven commandments are arranged in the sefirotic structure familiar to students of Kabbalah, we have:

 The Seven Principles of Faith

Each of the seven Noahide laws possesses an inner dimension. These are the seven principles of faith and Divine service to which we shall now turn our attention.

To begin with, we must take note of a general tenet. The tikun, or "rectification," of the world is dependent upon how the non-Jew relates to the Jew. A non-Jew cannot be a righteous gentile if in his heart he feels no affinity for God's People, multitudes of good deeds and fine character traits notwithstanding. If a non-Jew hates Jews to the extent that he is sworn to destroy them, the Torah considers him part of the nation of Amalek, the archenemy of Israel, whom the Jewish People are commanded to annihilate.

When a non-Jew possesses a sense of affinity towards Jews, he merits inspiration from the source of the soul of Israel. He becomes motivated to be a good person in all relations with his fellow man, and to devote his life to the service of God. The rectification of the non-Jewish world in general depends upon the inspiration and insight it receives from the Jewish People in its role as "a nation of priests."

One can always extract a "spark" of good from evil. For example, the major non-Jewish religion of Western culture believes in an individual Jew, and worships him as God. This is certainly a great transgression of the fourth Noahide commandment. Nonetheless, within this evil context we can perceive an element of good. The true rectification of the non-Jewish world will come when it recognizes the Divinely ordained purpose of every Jew--to enlighten the world and bring about universal peace and prosperity. The non-Jew will then be drawn, in love, to the Jew. With an existential feeling of shiflut ("lowliness") with regard to the Jewish People (who in their own consciousness represent the epitome of lowliness before God and man) the world will acknowledge the yoke of the kingdom of heaven as expounded in the Torah. It will then merit true insight.

The following discussion of the seven spiritual principles of faith and Divine service for the non-Jew will shed light on his dependence on the soul of the Jew for rectification. The initial function of each principle is to elevate the consciousness of the non-Jew to a higher level. Together with the elevation of his consciousness comes a greater ability to express free will.

Each of the seven emotive powers of the soul enumerated above--lovingkindness, might, beauty, victory, splendor, foundation, and kingdom--itself possesses an inner dimension. They are (respectively): love, fear, mercy, trust, sincerity, truth, and humility. We will now see how each of these relates to a state of consciousness, a principle of faith and Divine service.

Love--Continual Re-creation 

It does not require superhuman intelligence or insight to realize that God created the universe. No entity creates itself.

The human mind is, however, time-bound, and the act of creation appears to have occurred in the remote past. From that moment on, it appears as though the universe, with its fixed total amount of energy and matter, has evolved naturally--only its forms undergo change; there is no new input of energy.

Consciousness of the Divine begins with the recognition of continual re-creation. Were God not actively involved, as it were, in creating the world anew every instant, the entire universe would revert to primordial nothingness.

To understand continual re-creation is to experience the infinite love felt by God for each and every being. And so it is said: "The world is built from lovingkindness."

The archetypal soul of love in the Torah is Abraham. In fact, the letters of his name in Hebrew [Avraham] may be permuted to spell the Hebrew word for "creation" [hibaram].

A non-Jew who recognizes that his very existence and the existence of all reality is continually dependent upon God's infinite love, which in essence is identical with the soul-root of the first Jew, is drawn in love to the Jewish People. Of this it is said that Abraham (together with his wife Sarah) "made" or "created" righteous gentiles.

The word "to create" in Hebrew [barah] is closely related to the word for "good health" [bari]. As God continually re-creates the universe, He continually heals it. To be aware of continual re-creation is to draw Divine healing power into one's being. Such awareness, whether for the Jew or the non-Jew, heals one and gives one the power to heal others.

The beginning of a non-Jew's rectification is his recognition of continual re-creation.

"All is in the Hands of Heaven Except for the Fear of Heaven" 

As mentioned above, a non-Jew possesses free will inasmuch as he can choose to keep or ignore his seven commandments. But in a larger sense, there is only one choice to be made. From the saying of our sages that "all is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven," we understand that man's free will relates specifically to his fear of Heaven.

In a sense, this precept pertains to the Divine service of the non-Jew in particular. There are two similar verses in Psalms that begin with the phrase, "Serve God...." One reads: "Serve God in joy..."; the other reads: "Serve God in fear...." Our sages interpret the verse "Serve God in joy" as addressing, in particular, those who are already God's People. The verse, "Serve God in fear" addresses those who are currently gentiles. It is important to realize that the ladder of faith can be climbed by every human being; ANYONE whose soul moves him or her to do so can become a Jew, one of God's People, a living part of "the son of God."

There are many levels of fear or awe of God. For the gentile, the most basic level--the one which motivates him to refrain from sin--is fear of punishment. For the Jew, the most basic fear is the fear of God as omnipotent King of the universe. Whereas both levels relate to God's power to decree life or death, the first does not focus on the Almighty King Himself, but solely on the threat of His punishment.

When the fear of the non-Jew connects to that of the Jew, he also becomes able to experience the King Himself, and turn to Him in awe. This is the essence of the power of free will in the soul of the non-Jew. The one and only choice that a person truly makes in life is whether or not to turn to God. Ultimately, a Jew turns to God in love, the love of a son for his father. A non-Jew first turns to God in fear, the fear of a servant for his master. Nonetheless, it is the fear in the Jewish soul that elevates the fear of the non-Jew.

The greatest example in the Bible of a non-Jewish society turning to God is the account of the repentance of Nineveh, recorded in the book of Jonah. Jews read this story at the high point of the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It was a Jewish soul, the soul of Jonah, that became a tool in the hands of God to arouse a multitude of non-Jewish souls to turn to Him in sincere repentance. It appears from the text that the inhabitants of Nineveh were motivated by fear of punishment. However, after being inspired by Jonah, and hearing of the miracle that he experienced, they in turn experienced a sense of awe for the God of Israel.

Mercy -- God Performs Miracles

At the beginning of creation, God saw that if He created a universe in which each individual is judged exactly in accordance with the merit of his deeds and intentions, the universe could not exist. He therefore combined the attribute of mercy with the attribute of judgment, and with both--mercy before judgment--created the world.

The natural order of creation reflects Divine judgment; Divine mercy is expressed in the form of miracles, defined as a superseding of the strict laws of nature. God's mercy is to all His creations, as is said in Psalms: "God is good to all, and His mercy extends to all His creatures."

As explained above, continual re-creation is an act of Divine lovingkindness. The fixed laws of nature, which function within created time and space, reflect the Divine attribute of might and judgment. The fundamental "law" of Divine judgment is referred to as "measure for measure." In His infinite mercy (the inner dimension of the Divine attribute of beauty), God makes the supernatural realm manifest.

Recognizing God's attribute of mercy, His desire and power to change the flow of nature (not merely in response and in proportion to the merits of man), arouses a desire in the heart of man to turn to Him in devoted worship.

In the idiom of our sages, prayer is referred to as "[beseeching] mercy." We pray that God miraculously heal the sick, provide for the poor and bless the barren with children. We pray for the clarity of mind and heart to know God, and to be able to emulate His ways.

Our sages teach us that the way to arouse God's mercy is to emulate His attribute of mercy, to empathize with one's fellow man and shower compassion upon him. In their words: "Whoever shows mercy to others will be shown mercy from Heaven."

By contemplating history, both past and present, a non-Jew will surely see the wonder of God's mercy toward His children Israel. Even in times of destruction and exile, the torch of the Jewish People has never been extinguished (as the laws of nature would dictate). By contemplating this phenomenon, the non-Jew connects to the Divine attribute of mercy in his worship.

In our prayers we depict the Mashiach ("Messiah"), who will bring salvation to the entire world, as "a beggar beseeching mercy at the doorstep." By recognizing God's attribute and deeds of mercy to all (and especially His mercy and miracles to Israel), the non-Jew connects to the soul of the true savior of mankind.

Victory (Trust)--Self Transformation 

In serving God, the ultimate victory in the soul of man is the triumph of one's good inclination over one's evil inclination. To the extent that one is victorious in this spiritual battle, he merits a metamorphosis of being.

Though the Torah does not require that all non-Jews convert fully to Judaism, it does require that they undergo a semi-conversion in order to become "righteous gentiles." Non-Jews must accept the seven Noahide laws conveyed to mankind by Moses, the servant of God, in the Torah. They thereby become transformed, and acquire a greater level of free will, as described above.

With regard to the righteous gentile, the Torah states: "and he shall live with you." He may live in the land of Israel, and it is incumbent on the People of Israel to provide for his welfare.

As with all the spiritual powers of the soul, victory possesses an inner dimension. This is the power of trust in God, and the sense of self-confidence born of the realization that God continuously provides each person with the spiritual resources necessary to rectify his behavior and character traits, and thus transform himself into a virtually new being.

Victory is the "branch" of loving-kindness. In Divine service, loving-kindness corresponds to the consciousness of continual re-creation. Victory is made achievable by the sense that it is always possible, and never too late, for one to rectify and transform one's self.

Victory follows the three previous states of consciousness--love, awe, and mercy. After experiencing God's love for him (to create him anew every second), one turns to Him in awe (the hallmark of manifest free will), and comes to recognize His mercy. The greatest miracle wrought by God is His gift to man of potential rectification (the attribute of victory).

Here as well, the non-Jew takes his lead from the Jew. The "victory" of the Jew entails the "climbing" of the levels inherent in his animal soul, and the merging of these levels with the energy source of his Divine soul. Initially, the animal soul of the Jew comes from what is referred to in Kabbalah as the "intermediate shell"--that state of being which possesses a mixture of good and evil. As the non-Jew undergoes the semi-conversion process necessary to become a righteous gentile, he ascends from his spiritual imprisonment within the "three impure shells" to become identified with the "intermediate shell." He thereby becomes similar in some ways to the "secular" side of the Jew. (For this reason, the Jewish nation is commanded to sustain him.) Were he to convert in full, he would acquire the holy, Divine soul of Israel itself.

Sincerity--"I am Abraham's Servant" 

As mentioned above, every Jew is a "son" of God, whereas a non-Jew is intended to be a "servant" of God. Although a Jew in essence is always a son, when he is without this status (by not manifesting the essence of his Divine soul), he is also referred to as a servant. Though in relation to Jewish consciousness this is definitely a fall, in relation to creation as a whole, it serves a positive purpose. As we have seen, the Jew must show the way to the non-Jew. When a Jew demonstrates the status of "servant," he inspires the non-Jew to rise to the same level, and thus to become a servant of God.

The consciousness of servitude is identified in Kabbalah with the Divine attribute of splendor, whose inner dimension is sincerity. In sincerity, one stands before one's master in total submission of self and absolute commitment of will. This sincere state of submission creates an aura of splendor that encompasses both master and servant.

Sincerity is the "branch" of awe. When the non-Jew learns submission and commitment from the Jew, he comes to serve God with both awe and joy simultaneously.

Victory and splendor--trust and sincerity--act as "partners," as explained above. For the non-Jew, they represent two forms of "conversion." Victory corresponds to either full conversion to become a full-fledged Jew, or to the semi-conversion process required in order to become a righteous gentile as defined by Torah. Splendor corresponds to the "conversion" to a trustworthy servant of God by commitment to serve the Jewish People.

The classic example in the Torah of a gentile servant who merits conversion is Eliezer, the Canaanite servant of Abraham. Due to his total dedication to his master, Abraham placed him over his entire household. In his sincere and absolute devotion to the will of Abraham, Eliezer merited to have left the realm of "curse" and enter the realm of "blessing." This is clearly a rectification, in particular, of the Noahide prohibition with regard to "blasphemy," which, as we have seen above, corresponds to the attribute of splendor or acknowledgment.

Eliezer proclaimed: "I am Abraham's servant." He did not refer to himself by his proper name, for he had reached such a level of consciousness that he possessed no independent identity.

As mentioned above, a large percentage of the non-Jewish world worships an individual Jew. The non-Jewish world must come to recognize that all Jews are sons of God. The non-Jew must strive to help God's children fulfill their purpose--to bring redemption to the world. Only then will the true Mashiach reveal himself.

Truth--Divine Providence 

Our sages refer to the Divine attribute of "truth" as the "seal" of God in creation. Just as an artist signs his name on a painting, so does God "sign" Himself on every element of reality with the attribute of truth. This Divine "signature" is the eternal impression of God's presence and providence. Truly, God and His providence are omnipresent.

God creates the world with love. He works miracles with mercy. He makes His presence and providence known to creation with truth.

We are taught that Divine providence--the "eyes" of God--watches over and determines the immediate and long-term fate of even the tiniest element of creation. It is Divine providence which gauges and regulates the pulse of life within every living being, endowing life with continuity.

There are two levels of awareness with regard to Divine providence. One is the recognition of God's concern for the fate of each of His creations. The second is the infinitely greater recognition of how the individual fate of each and every creature advances God's universal purpose. Every event in the cosmos--from the microcosm to the macrocosm--is intricately intertwined. They all contribute to the fulfillment of God's ultimate purpose: "to make for Him a dwelling place below." It is only when this--the lowest--level of reality recognizes the transcendent light that permeates the universe, and thus becomes a part of that light, that God's presence can come to "dwell" among us.

In Psalms we find: "Your judgments reach into the abyss, to man and animal You will bring salvation, God.

Lowliness -- A Home for God

One way of understanding the difference between a Jew and a non-Jew is to think of a Jew as a giver, and a non-Jew as a receiver.

All stages of the creative process--the evolution of worlds one from another, the interaction between them, and their ultimate unification--depend upon the dynamic of giving and receiving. The will to give and the will to receive are the two most fundamental cosmic forces.

The will to give is the "male" principle in creation, while the will to receive is the "female" principle. The will to give is portrayed in Kabbalah as a convex projection. The will to receive is portrayed as a concave receptacle.

To realize that one is an empty vessel is to experience existential lowliness, the inner dimension of the Divine attribute of kingdom, the seventh and final of the emotive attributes of the soul. As the "conclusion" of all emotive experience, the sense of lowliness implies total dependence on the benevolence of God.

God's ultimate desire in creation is that our state of reality--the lowest--become a "dwelling place" for Him, a home in which His absolute essence may be revealed, as stated above. In the soul, lowliness is the state referred to as that "home."

It is the "vacuum" of the empty vessel that arouses and draws into itself the "projection" of the giver. Deep in the unconscious of the giver is a recognition that the origin of the receiver "precedes" (in God's essence) his own.

All souls long to ascend from "animal" to "man"--to take hold, as it were, of God's "signature," as represented by Israel, "God's first-born son." It is the receiver who arouses from below (while remaining below) the will of the giver to descend and enter the "home" created for him.

It is thus the ultimate purpose of the non-Jewish world to make this world a pleasant "home," a worthy abode for the Jewish People to enter and bless. Thereby, the giver and the receiver will connect and the Divine Presence will descend to illuminate lower reality.

We thus conclude with the thought that the rectified relation of Jew to non-Jew is a partnership, almost like the partnership of husband to wife. The wife, serving as a devoted helpmate, thereby expresses her existential lowliness and dependence on her husband, while the husband, sensing that the ultimate origin of his wife's soul precedes that of his own, thus displays his own existential lowliness and dependence on his wife.

God Himself is the "third partner" of every marriage; it is by His power that the marriage becomes consummate and fruitful.

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