Shevirah
Shevirat ha-Kelim (Hebrew: שבירת הכלים, “Shattering of the Vessels”) is a pivotal event in Lurianic Kabbalistic cosmogony. After the initial divine contraction (Tzimtzum), God emanated light into primordial vessels to form the Sefirot. The vessels of the lower seven Sefirot were unable to contain the intensity of the divine light and shattered — scattering holy sparks (nitzotzot) throughout creation, now trapped within the Qlippothic shells of impurity.
Significance
The Shevirah is the Kabbalistic Nigredo: the cosmic catastrophe of fragmentation, the original “fall” from which all subsequent exile, suffering, and spiritual labor arise. It is also the precondition for Tikkun — the restorative gathering of the scattered sparks. Without shattering, there would be nothing to repair; without repair, the world would remain broken.
See Also
- Kabbalah — the mystical tradition of the Shevirah
- Tzimtzum — the divine contraction that precedes the Shevirah
- Tikkun — the repair that follows the Shevirah
- Sefirot — the divine emanations whose vessels shattered
- Qlippoth — the shells imprisoning the scattered holy sparks
- Nigredo — the alchemical parallel: cosmic dissolution
- Shekinah — the feminine presence exiled by the Shevirah
- Ein_Sof — the infinite source from which the light originated