Body (Kabbalah)

The term guf, body, essentially has three meanings in kabbalistic literature. The first is the vessel for the supernal light. Just as the physical body is a vessel for the soul, so too vessels of all kinds and on all levels of reality are called bodies (while the lights within them are called neshamot, souls). Second, “body” can refer to the central and important aspect that defines each level. The third meaning of “body” is in the context of the structure of a partzuf: the sefirot of Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet, or sometimes Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod, contained in the partzuf are called the body of the partzuf, in contrast to the first three sefirot contained in the partzuf – Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina – which are considered the head of the partzuf.