Editing Kabbalah (section)

==== Ten Sephirot as process of ethics ====
[[File:Shefa Tal.png|thumb|In the 16–17th centuries Kabbalah was popularised through a new genre of ethical literature, related to Kabbalistic meditation]]

Divine creation by means of the Ten Sephirot is an ethical process. They represent the different aspects of Morality. Loving-Kindness is a possible moral justification found in Chessed, and Gevurah is the Moral Justification of Justice and both are mediated by Mercy which is Rachamim. However, these pillars of morality become immoral once they become extremes. When Loving-Kindness becomes extreme it can lead to sexual depravity and lack of Justice to the wicked. When Justice becomes extreme, it can lead to torture and the Murder of innocents and unfair punishment.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

"Righteous" humans (''tzadikim'' plural of [[Tzadik]]) ascend these ethical qualities of the ten ''sephirot'' by doing righteous actions. If there were no righteous humans, the blessings of God would become completely hidden, and creation would cease to exist. While real human actions are the "Foundation" (''[[Yesod]]'') of this universe (''[[Malchut]]''), these actions must accompany the conscious intention of compassion. Compassionate actions are often impossible without faith (''Emunah''), meaning to trust that God always supports compassionate actions even when God seems hidden. Ultimately, it is necessary to show compassion toward oneself too in order to share compassion toward others. This "selfish" enjoyment of God's blessings but only in order to empower oneself to assist others is an important aspect of "Restriction", and is considered a kind of [[Golden mean (philosophy)|golden mean]] in kabbalah, corresponding to the ''sefirah'' of Adornment ([[Tiferet]]) being part of the "Middle Column".{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, wrote ''[[Tomer Devorah]]'' (''Palm Tree of Deborah''), in which he presents an ethical teaching of Judaism in the kabbalistic context of the ten ''sephirot''. ''Tomer Devorah'' has become also a foundational [[Musar literature|Musar text]].{{sfnp|Laenen|2001|p=164}}