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Glossary of 
Kabbalah and Chassidut

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The Hebrew Letter of the Month:

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According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month has a:
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Introduction
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

 C

Chabad:
1. Chabad is an acronym for Chochmah--Binah--Da'at ("Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge"), the three sefirot associated which constitute the "intellect," (see Chagat, Nehi). 
 
2.The name of a branch of Chassidut founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, emphasizing the role of the intellect and meditation in the service of G-d,
 
Chafifah ("washing"):
The cleansing a woman must perform prior to immersion in a mikveh.
 
Chagat:
1. An acronym for chesed, gevurahtiferet ("loving-kindness, strength, beauty");
2. The second triad of sefirot, which together constitute the primary emotions (see Chabad, Nehi).
 
Challah ("Dough"):
Challah is braided loaves traditionally eaten at Shabbat and Festival meals.
 
Chanukah ("Dedication"):
Chanukah (also spelled: Hanukah) is the 8-day festival celebrating the rededication of the Temple after its defilement by the Greeks.
Chashmal ("electrum"):
Chashmal is a fiery radiance identified in the vision of Ezekiel as surrounding the Divine countenance seated upon the heavenly chariot; interpreted in Chassidic thought as the dynamic of "silent speech."
 
Chasadim:
Plural of chesed (second sense).
 
Chassid ("pious one," "kind one"):
An adherent to the teachings of Chassidut; specifically, the follower of a chassidic leader (Rebbe).
 
Chassidim:
Plural of chassid.
 
Chassidut ("Piety" or "lovingkindness"also called "Chassidism"):
1. An attribute or way of life that goes beyond the letter of the law.

2. The movement within Judaism founded by Rabbi Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tov, the purpose of which is to awaken the Jewish People to its own inner self through the inner dimension of the Torah and thus to prepare the way for the advent of Mashiach.

3. The oral and written teachings of this movement.

Chatoteret ("Hunchback"):
Chatoteret is the arch connecting the Hebrew letters vav and zayin into the form of the letter chet.
 
Chayah ("The living one):
Chayah, is the second highest of the five levels of soul. See soul.
 
Chayot ("Living beings"):
Chayot are the four-winged angels seen by Ezekiel in his vision of the Divine chariot. These angels occupy the world of Yetzirah.
 
Chayut ("Lifeforce"):
Chayut is the essential vitality of the soul.
 
Chedvah (Joy):
Of the many synonyms in the Torah for joy, chedvah appears as the first of a group of four which are seen to correspond to a four stage process of the manifestation of joy in the soul. The four are: Chedvah, gilah, simchah, sason.
 
Chedvah, from the root chad, meaning "sharp" or "unitary," describes the initial "point" of joy, which as a laser beam pierces through one's hitherto unelated state of consciousness.
 
Gilah, from the root gal, meaning "to reveal," describes the full revelation of joy as contained within one?s heart (as expressed by the frequent idiom in Torah: yagel libi--"my heart shall be joyous").
 
Simchah is the level of joy that "breaks out" of the confines of one?s inner consciousness to express itself in the motions of one's outer limbs (e.g. clapping or dancing). Of Simchah, it is said: "simchah breaks through all fences."
 
Finally, when one reaches the epitome of joy, his moment of ecstasy is referred to as sason, whose root sas, which can be read as shesh (six), refers in Kabbalah to the sixth emotion of the heart, the yesod or brit, which experiences the epitome of joy in the union of spirit and matter. (Of the brit it is said: "I am elated [sas] over Your sayings as one who discovers great booty" [Psalms 119:162]).
 
The four stages of this process correspond to the "four worlds" of joy (patterned upon the four worlds of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah).
Cherubim (from the word kruv, which means (from Aramaic)  "as a baby"):
1. The first place that the cherubim appear in the Torah is after Adam and Eve are evicted from the Garden of Eden. The cherubim assumed a fearful role at the entrance to the Garden--along with the fiery, turning sword--to ensure that Adam would not re-enter the Garden, eat from the Tree of Life and eternalize the primordial sin. In this context, the cherubim are a type of angel.

2. The Torah refers to two g
olden (baby-faced) cherubim sculpted atop of the Ark of the Covenant that sat in the Tabernacle's inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies. In dictating their design and arrangement, God tells Moses: "and their faces, each toward the other [lit., (like) a man toward his brother]." While the Holy Ark contains the Torah--God's eternal wisdom--His voice and ongoing directives emanate from between the joined wingtips of the two cherubim, who symbolize the consummate love of delights between God and the people of Israel. By appearing as male and female, the cherubim alluded to the Kabbalistic identification of transmitter and receiver as the male and female forces operating within reality.

Also see:
The Cherubim: Symmetrical Innocence in Union
Chesed ("Lovingkindness"):
Chesed is the fourth of the ten sefirot, and the first of the emotive attributes within Creation.
For further explanation see: The Divine Emanations--Chesed.

Chesed Chinum: ("undeserved chesed").

Cheshvan:
Chesvan is the eighth of the twelve months of the Jewish calendar.
For further explanation see "Living With the Times"--The Month of Cheshvan. Also see the Hebrew Months.
 
Chet:
Chet is the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
For further explanation see Alef-Beit Significances.
Also see: The Mystical Significance of the Hebrew Letters (including an image and audio pronunciation of each letter).
Chilufei Otiyot (interchanging of letters):
The term chilufei otiyot (lit. "the interchanging of letters") refers to any one of the alphabetic transformation systems described in the Kabbalah. Each system by itself is referred to as an alef-beit. In Sefer Yetzirah, 22 such alef-beits are described (as the logically ordered basis of all the two-letter subroots of the Hebrew language; see Rela she?arim). The six most common transformation systems are: Al-bam, At-bash, Ach-bi, Ayik-becher, Achas-beta, and At-bach.
See Alphabetic transformation.
 
Chochmah ("Wisdom"):
Chochmah is the second of the ten sefirot, and the first power of conscious intellect within Creation.
For further explanation see: The Divine Emanations--Chochmah.
Chupah ("canopy"):
The canopy under which the Jewish wedding ceremony takes place.
 
Cohen ("priest"; pl, Cohanim):
See Kohen
 
Confidence (bitachon):
"Confidence" is the spiritual state associated with the sefirah of netzach.
For further explanation see: The Powers of the Soul--Bitachon
Cubit:
Cubit is a unit of measure, variously identified as equivalent to 48 or 60 centimeters.
 
Crown (keter):
"Crown"  is the first of the ten sefirot.
For further explanation see: The Divine Emanations--Keter.
The material contained on this site has been prepared by Gal Einai Institute, a United States non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating and implementing the inner wisdom of the Torah--Kabbalah and Chassidut--as taken from the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh
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