> **The Shekhinah as the Tree of the Sefirot** > > The attempt to gather the entire system of the sefirot into the Shekhinah reaches its peak in an ecstatic homily where the traditional symbol of the Tree of the Sefirot is transformed into a rich and magnificent image of the Shekhinah as an all-encompassing entity. > > The image of the tree became the central symbol of the divine system from the time of _Sefer ha-Bahir_, which views the tree as a symbol of all the sefirot, arranged "one above the other." The homily before us takes this well-known and fundamental image and recasts it as the figure of the Shekhinah. Kabbalistic homilies typically assign each component of the tree to a specific sefirah: the fountainhead of the tree is identified with _Binah_ or one of the sefirot above it; the body of the tree is associated with _Tiferet_ or _Yesod_; the fruits of the tree are most often linked to _Yesod_; and the garden in which the tree is planted is generally identified with _Malkhut_. The author of _Tikkunei Zohar_, however, chooses to condense the layered structure of the sefirot within the Shekhinah itself, connecting her to each and every element of the tree’s image. She is the fountainhead, the source, the root, the branches, and the fruit. In this vision, the Shekhinah actualizes the entire system, following the known structure of the sefirot. > > One should also note the innovation of the author of _Tikkunim_ in the details of these correspondences. The root and source of the tree are typically symbols of the higher parts of the sefirotic system, whereas _Malkhut_ is usually identified with the garden, beginning with _Sefer ha-Bahir_. Here, however, the root itself is identified specifically with _Malkhut_: "And she is the root of the tree from the side of the final letter _He_ (את ה' תתאה)," thus linking not only the 'lower' parts of the tree to the Shekhinah but also its highest elements[^1]. > > The author of _Tikkunim_ emphasizes the fullness of the Shekhinah and her apotheosis in representing the entire sefirotic system, including the upper sefirot and even _Keter_. This also highlights her special connection to the _Ilat ha-Ilot_ (the Cause of Causes)...(_Biti Roi, Ahavat ha-Shekhinah_, pp. 73–74). --- [^1]: Note from Shaiya. Biti interprets "the root of the tree" here as the higher sefirot. This makes sense because usually the root of the tree, which is pictured as upside down so that its root is in the sky while its canopy is on the earth, is associated with the higher sefirot. However, in this image, the "source of flow" of the tree is associated with the higher sefirot, and the root is associated with the final Heh of YHVH, which is usually associated with the lower sefirot. So I think that it in this image, we may be meant to think of the actual earth as the place that the tree is rooted, making the root of the tree a symbol of the lower sefirot.