About Jewish Bohemian Books by
Dovid Krafchow
Essays Emet the Film Videos Cabalistic
News
Question? Ask Here
FAQs
Contact
Tohu and Tikun

Clearly stated throughout the Torah is the concept of two worlds; generally this is understood to mean the physical world and the spiritual world, but that simple explanation breaks down once entering into the realm of the Oral Torah. Much like Newtonian physics which looks at the universe as if it is a moving mechanism and the Einsteinium physics which plays with the curves in time and space, the idea of two worlds permeates creation.

The Cabala speaks about two worlds beyond spiritual which are the prototypes for life on planet earth derived from the planet Mars. In the ancient tongue earth is called Tavel; when a human being is sexual with an animal is called by the name Tavel—meaning the earth is the place where the animal body and the human soul merge and takes on a new type of life—human being. The earth is the pinnacle point in the world of Tikun/Fixing whereas the planet Mars called Ztia/Dry is the physical manifestation of the previous world Tohu/Chaos.

The animal is derived and hewn out from Tohu/Chaos, but the human being is derived from Tavel/Earth also known as Tikun/Fixing. The animal in Hebrew is called Behama made from two words Bahem/In them and Mah/What It as if to say within the animals is the power to question; when combined with the human spirit known by the term Adom has the gematria of 45 Mah/What adds humility. In the Torah Moshe exclaims Mah Anocnu/What Are We? A phrase depicting the essence of humility,

The Cabala explains that the animals from Tohu needed to be subdued and weakened in order to harness their energy. It is the human being in the world of Tikun/Fixing that uses and even eats the animal since the human being is fitted with the essential Mah/What—seen in the gematria of Adom-45; the number 52 is the gematria of Behamah/Animal and both numbers, 45 and 52, are found within he four numbers hidden within the YHVH—the other two numbers: 63 the essence of the animal is followed by 72 the essence of the human being.

We find these numbers at play during this juncture in history as the world of chaos and war crests and subsides giving way to order through service and humility as the human being on planet earth after 6000 years of history overcome and subdue the animal instinct to survive at any cost. It is the human being who understands life’s purpose to be more than self satisfaction and it is the human being who can understand the profundity of our time.

When the human being convinces the animal upon whom he rides that life is more than the fulfillment of physical pleasures and needs then, and only then, does he become a complete human being. It is the animal which makes us strong and gives us an appetite for life. Without the animal, the human being is weak; without the human the animal is left without choice or mercy—together, animal and human, change the world.

back to top