Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Chochmah
חכמה
Chochmah (wisdom)
The first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it.
The word חכמה also means wisdom in the ordinary sense (a person’s intelligence, Torah wisdom, “chochmah yedi’a” of created beings). It means the Sefirah when the text writes בחי׳ חכמה, ח״ע / חכמה עילאה, חכמה דאצילות, אבא, כח מ״ה, or pairs it with Keser, Binah or the yud of Havayah.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1, ¶18The ayin above Chochmah precedes all hishtalshelus and cannot be grasped; Chochmah, “found from ayin,” is the beginning of revelation, hinted at by the yud, a single point, after a prior concealment (“darkness first, then light”).
רק החכמה שמאין תמצא הוא ראשית הגילוי
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 5, ¶4Chochmah comes into being from Or Ein Sof only through many contractions, as a small glow like the hair growing from the skull; it is the beginning of comprehension, but hidden, like lightning flashing in the mind, and Binah spreads it out.
הנה היו״ד הוא בחי׳ חכמה כח מ״ה שהיא בחי׳ הצמצום שאינה אלא בחי׳ נקודה
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12, ¶8Chochmah is utter bittul (“and we are mah”), so the Infinite rests in it; Binah is “yesh,” the broadening of understanding, while Chochmah is the depth of the idea, still concealed.
כי א״ס אינו שורה אלא בבחי׳ חכמה להיותו בחי׳ ביטול
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶1Keser is above the ten Sefiros; the chain of Atzilus begins from Chochmah. Chochmah is the root of Atzilus, since Tohu broke by becoming “yesh” and is repaired by becoming “ayin” through Chochmah, koach mah.
והתיקון הוא להיות אין והיינו ע״י החכמה כח מה
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6, ¶10Chochmah of Atzilus is called Abba, source and beginning of revelation; Malchus, the “daughter,” can rise and arouse from below only as far as Chochmah, as speech derives from Chochmah.
חכמה דאצי׳ נק׳ אבא שהוא מקור וראשית הגילוי ראשית ההשתלשלות
Stated differently
Whether delight (taanug) is revealed in Chochmah (Eden) or only first in Binah
ועדן הוא בחי׳ חכמה ושם מתגלה תענוגEden is Chochmah and delight is revealed there: though not felt in Chochmah in itself, it shines in it through the novelty of the insight’s appearing; the essence of delight is higher still.
כי עדן הוא חכמה שם עדייחן אין התענוג בבחי׳ גילוי ועיקר הגילוי הוא בתבונהEden is Chochmah, but there the delight is not yet revealed; its revelation is chiefly in Tevunah, as a person’s delight comes at the end of understanding an idea.
בחי׳ עדן מקור התענוג כי בבחי׳ חכמה עצמה לא ניכר שום תענוג רק בגילוי החכמה בהשגה בינהChochmah is Eden, the source of delight, yet in Chochmah itself no delight is felt; it is felt only when Chochmah is revealed in the comprehension of Binah, called the higher Gan Eden.
Discussed by
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Devarim vol. 2, p. תקמד
The Tzemach Tzedek first says delight is revealed chiefly in Binah, since hidden insight gives no felt pleasure, then asks about ‘a river goes out of Eden’ and answers that the source of delight is in Chochmah, though it is grasped, and so called revealed, only in Binah.
אך הענין הוא דעיקר ומקור העונג הוא בחכמה דוקא אלא שאינו מושג לנשמות לפי שהחכ׳ הוא למעלה מההשגה
Further in Chassidus
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shemos vol. 3, p. תתנח
The Tzemach Tzedek describes Chochmah as a point and a flash of insight, a kind of ‘seeing’ before Binah’s contemplation expands it, and identifies it with the yud of Havayah, whose flow reaches further down than Binah’s.בעוד הענין בבחי׳ חכמה שבנפש שהיא כנקודה וכברק המבריק על שכלו קודם שנמשך בהתבוננות והרחבה
The Tzemach Tzedek · Sefer HaLikkutim, letter Ches (Chochmah), p. שעד
Explaining why the Or Ein Sof rests chiefly in Chochmah, the Tzemach Tzedek calls it koach mah, a grasp of bittul with no ‘something’ of comprehension, which belongs to Binah.שהחכמה הוא בחי׳ כח מ״ה והוא בחי׳ השגת הביטול ושם אין כלל אף בחי׳ ההשגה והבנה שההשגה הוא בחי׳ יש והוא בחי׳ בינה
The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat (new ed.), vol. 1 (Tishrei–Cheshvan), p. קפט
The Rebbe explains ‘Chochmah comes from nothing’: revealed Chochmah is ‘found’ from a hidden source that stays concealed, unlike Chochmah’s own point, which passes into Binah as ‘a point in its palace’.והחכמה מאין תמצא שהמשכת חכמה הגלוי׳ מחכמה סתימאה היא בדרך מציאה, ועד שבחי׳ חכמה סתימאה לגבי חכמה הגלוי׳ נקראת בשם אין
Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1, ¶18Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 5, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12, ¶8Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4, ¶16Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6, ¶10
Where it appears
In 1,698 paragraphs of 356 maamarim: part of the language of nearly every page.
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.