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Nukva

נוקבא

Nukva (the feminine: Malchus as partner of Z’eir Anpin)

Malchus of Atzilus as a partzuf: the feminine partner of Z’eir Anpin, built after it and from the gevuros; receiving from above, she gives to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah below.

The word נוקבא is Aramaic for “female.” As a proper term it names the partzuf of Malchus paired with Z’eir Anpin (זו״נ, “Z’eir Anpin and Nukva”); used relatively, as in "נוקבא לגבי מעלה" (Eikev 3:11), it describes Malchus as receiver relative to what is above it, while relative to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah it is "דכר,” the giver.

Where it’s explained

  1. Torah Ohr, Vaeira 5, ¶17The partzuf of Malchus, the Nukva, begins to be built after the birth of Z’eir Anpin, from behind it. That is her outer side, which descends to give life to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; her inner side, which does not descend, is built from the inner side of Z’eir Anpin and is called the bride of Moshe.אז מתחיל בנין פרצוף המל׳ שהיא בחי׳ הנוקבא כי היא מתחלת מאחורי ז״א
  2. Likkutei Torah, Reeh 9, ¶1Z’eir Anpin, love, called “son,” is mostly from the chassadim, while the Nukva is built from the gevuros, because Malchus descends into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, where there are kelipos; the gevuros keep the flow from reaching the outer forces, which have no bittul, except through contraction.בוניך בנין הנוק׳ הוא מהגבורות כי מלכות יורדת בבי״ע
  3. Likkutei Torah, Eikev 3, ¶11Malchus is feminine, a receiver, relative to what is above it, and masculine, a giver, relative to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, as a king receives and gives again. So there is a covenant of the masculine above, in Atzilus, and a covenant of the Nukva, through which bittul reaches the lower worlds.וזהו אמת ואמונה כל זאת בחי׳ נוקבא לגבי מעלה וקיים עלינו לגבי בי״ע היא בחי׳ דכר ומשפיע
  4. Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶13Malchus is not always a partzuf of its own. In the counting of the Omer, revelation from Binah to Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, Malchus is built as a partzuf by itself (seven weeks); in the journeys, an ascent in which Z’eir Anpin is included in Imma, they are not Z’eir Anpin and Nukva but only a vav, with Malchus only the vav’s “step outward” (pesiah l’bar) within these six middos.שז״א נכלל באימא ואז אינן זו״נ כ״א רק בחי׳ ו׳
  5. Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2, ¶4Souls drawn from the union of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva of Atzilus into Beriah generally become souls of Beriah through their birth from the Nukva. Malchus of Atzilus, which descends into Beriah, will rise higher, “a woman of valor, her husband’s crown,” even above Imma, through the sparks of Tohu she refines in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.שבחי׳ בת שהיא בחי׳ מל׳ דאצי׳ היורדת בבריאה תעלה ביתר שאת ולהיות אשת חיל עטרת בעלה

Stated differently

Whether the Nukva, Malchus of Atzilus, or Z’eir Anpin is the source of the worlds Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah

Torah Ohr, Terumah 3, ¶4ע״י הנוק׳ שהיא אימא תתאה שהוא מקור בי״ע שבאצי׳

Z’eir Anpin is the end point of the descent of Or Ein Sof, so that it may afterwards shine to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah through the Nukva, the “lower mother,” which is their source in Atzilus.

Likkutei Torah, Emor 2, ¶27לכך הם דוקא ממשיכים הכתר לנוק׳ שהיא מל׳ דאצילות מקור דבי״ע

The practical mitzvos draw Keser into the Nukva, Malchus of Atzilus, the source of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; this is a greater contraction than drawing Keser into Z’eir Anpin, which is not yet actually their source.

Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5, ¶15וז״א הוא מקור לעלמין דבי״ע שלכך ז״א נק׳ עולם

Arich Anpin, Keser, is the lowest level of the Emanator, while Z’eir Anpin is the source of the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and for this reason is called “world” (olam).

Discussed by

  • The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Devarim vol. 2, p. תריח

    The Tzemach Tzedek notes that Z’eir Anpin’s vessels descend into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, yet the Zohar calls those worlds the realm of the Nukva; citing Etz Chaim, he explains that Z’eir Anpin’s vessels there are only a glow, while Malchus of Atzilus descends in essence to become Atik of Beriah.

    כיון דסלקא מלה מכנס״י ולעילא כולא הוא דכר וכו׳ היינו ממל׳ דאצי׳ ולמעלה אבל בי״ע נק׳ עלמא דנוק׳ בדרך כלל

Further in Chassidus

  1. The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 2, p. תרעז

    The Tzemach Tzedek lays out the Nukva’s place in the order: she receives her mochin from Z’eir Anpin’s Netzach, Hod and Yesod, and draws from Abba and Imma themselves only through the ‘hairs’ (tzitzis), which goes beyond the order.עיקר ההשתל׳ הוא שנה״י דאימא נעשי׳ מוחין לז״א ונה״י דז״א נעשו מוחין לנוק׳

  2. The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim (bilti muga, new ed.) 5727, p. ו

    In Tik’u Bachodesh Shofar the Rebbe explains how Malchus is built as Z’eir Anpin’s partner, through the ‘sawing apart’ modeled on Adam and Chavah and through the gevuros, before and after that separation, using the Tzemach Tzedek’s and Rebbe Maharash’s teacher-and-student analogy.שבנין ספירת המלכות הוא ע״י ענין הנסירה, וכפי שמצינו בנוגע לאדם וחוה שהם בדוגמת ז״א ומלכות

Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.

Main sources

Torah Ohr, Vaeira 5, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Reeh 9, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Eikev 3, ¶11Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶13Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 39, ¶4Torah Ohr, Terumah 3, ¶4

Where it appears

In 219 paragraphs of 106 maamarim.

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.

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