{{Short description|Term in the Jewish mystical tradition}} {{Hatnote|1="Ma'ohr" (luminary), "Kli" (vessel), "[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Makkif&redirect=no Makkif]"{{efn|1=e.g., ["makkif" is] mentioned in -- and "linked to" from -- the last bullet point of the "Levels of divine service" sub-section of [this [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tanya_(Judaism)&oldid=1325627667#Levels_of_divine_service version] of] the article about Tanya (Judaism)}} (encompassing, surrounding), and "Shefa"{{efn|1=('''see''' [the explanation about "Shefa" in] the introductory part of this article)}} ("flow" or pleanty) redirect here. For vessels in the Talmud, see Keilim. <br />For other uses, see Ohr (disambiguation) and KLI.}} {{Multiple issues| {{more citations needed|date=March 2016}} {{Sources exist|date=August 2024}} }} {{Kabbalah}} '''Ohr''' ({{langx|he|אור|ʾor|Light}}, plural: {{lang|he|אורות}} ''ʾoroṯ'') is a central Kabbalistic term in Jewish mysticism. The analogy to physical light describes divine emanations. '''Shefa''' "flow" ({{lang|he|שפע}} ''šep̄aʿ'') and its derivative, '''hashpaʾa''' "influence" ({{lang|he|השפעה}} ''hašpāʿā''), are sometimes alternatively used in Kabbalah and medieval Jewish philosophy to mean divine influence, while the Kabbalists favour ''ʾor'' because its numerical value equals {{lang|he|ר״ז}}, a homonym for {{lang|he|רז}} ''rāz'' "mystery".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schochet |first1=Jacob Immanuel |author1-link=Jacob Immanuel Schochet |title=Mystical Concepts in Chassidism: An Introduction to Kabbalistic Concepts and Doctrines, 3d Revised Edition |date=1988 |publisher=Kehot Publication Society |isbn=978-0-8266-0412-5 |pages=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFvOPwAACAAJ |quote=The mystics have a special affinity for the term Or because its numerical value (gematriya) is equivalent to that of raz (mystery): "'Let there be light' (Gen. 1:3)-i.e., let there be Raz (Mystery; Concealment); for Raz and Or are one thing"; Zohar I:140a and ''Zohar Chadash'', Bereishit:8d; see Tikunei Zohur 21:53b, and cf. R. Moses Cordovero, Or Ne'erau (Fuerth,1701),111:ch.4.}}</ref> ''ʾOr'' is one of the two main Kabbalistic metaphors for understanding God, along with the other metaphor of the human soul-body relationship for the sefirot.<ref>''Mystical Concepts in Chassidism'', Kehot pub., chapter 1 "Anthropomorphism and Metaphors": (i Anthropomorphism, ii The Man-Metaphor, iii The Light-Metaphor)</ref>
==Image gallery==
<gallery> File:Tree of Life, Medieval.jpg|Latin translation of ''Shaare Orah'' שערי אורה "The Gates of Light", one of the most influential presentations of the Kabbalistic system, by Joseph Gikatilla in the 13th century<ref>Caption to this illustration on p.2 of ''Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction'', Joseph Dan, Oxford University Press</ref> File:Ancient shul in meron.jpg|Galilean Meron. "Nature" ''HaTeva'' is the numerical value of ''Elohim'', the name of immanent light. The Tetragrammaton transcendence creates through it. Kabbalistically, in Israel the concealment is less severe. </gallery>
==See also== {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * Ayin and Yesh * Deveikut * Divine light * Ein Sof * Emanationism * Essence–energies distinction * Nur Muhammad * Panentheism * Sephirot * Thirteen Attributes of Mercy * Tzimtzum * Uncreated Light * World of Light * Taiji (philosophy) }}
==Notes== {{reflist}} {{Notelist}}
Category:Jewish theology Category:Kabbalah Category:Sefirot Category:Hebrew words and phrases Category:Kabbalistic words and phrases Category:Light and religion