Partzufim
Partzufim or Partsufim, are "countenances" or "personas" of God described in the Zohar.
The terms used for partzufim appear in the following texts of the Zohar: Sifra de'Tzniuta, the Idra Rabba, and the Idra Zuta. The Idra Rabba describes a divine being composed of three partzufim: Arikh Anpin, the “Long-Faced One” or “Slow to Anger”; Zʿeir Anpin, the “Small-Faced One” or “Short-Tempered”; and Nukvah, the feminine aspect of the Divine. Although one can observe expression of certain sefirot in the partzufim, the Idra Rabba makes no attempt to bring these two paradigms into alignment. The Idra Zuta describes five partzufim, the aforementioned three and two additional ones Abba and Imma, forming an “inner” divine “family” within the Godhead.
The symbolic language of the Idrot entered mainstream Kabbalah after their adoption by Isaac Luria. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the partzufim are reconfigured arrangements of the ten sefirot, the divine attributes or emanations. Each partzuf is thus a configuration of disparate entities into a harmonious unit. Their full doctrinal significance emerged in Lurianic Kabbalah in the 16th century concerning The World of Chaos and The World of Rectification. The Lurianic system describes the dynamic relationships between personas, which interact. The higher partzufim clothe themselves within the lower ones as a soul is in a body.
Lurianic system
In Lurianic Kabbalah, the Four Worlds of our created existence are arranged in a stable form, through the reconfiguration of the original sefirot into partzufim. Their reformation as partzufim in the World of Rectification begins tikkun olam, cosmic repair. As a result of the collapse of the World of Chaos, sparks of holiness were lost or exiled in the three lower Worlds. The human, whose soul reflects the harmonised order of the partzufim, rectifies the mundane world by redeeming the exiled sparks of holiness through Torah study and performance of mitzvot.The first realm to exhibit this new arrangement is the mature form of Atziluth, the World of Emanation, therefore also called the World of Rectification. This follows on from the Shevirah "Shattering" of the sefirot vessels in the World of Chaos, the initial, unstable form of Atziluth. In Tikun, the sefirot evolve into the harmonised partzufim, new arrangements where they can unite. The World of Chaos is characterised by abundant light and weak vessels, as the ten sefirot act independently as absolute forces, causing it to collapse. The World of Rectification is characterised by lower lights in strong vessels, as through the partzufim the sefirot inter-relate to absorb the illumination from Chaos. The task of humanity becomes the rectification of the fallen sparks of Chaos, the concealed sublime origins of lower Creation, latently active in their exiled state. The messianic goal is the union of the original great illumination of Chaos within the mature vessels of Rectification, revealing the ultimate divine essence of both.
Anthropomorphism of the ''partzufim''
As Medieval Kabbalists never tire of stressing the unity and non-plurality in the concept of the sefirot, so Luria stressed the metaphorical nature of the partzufim. They are Divine "faces", manifestations of the Godhead, alternative aspects through which God manifests Himself, and do not imply any plurality in God. As Shimon bar Yochai recounts in the Zohar:Primary and secondary partzufim
The ten sefirot develop into five or six primary partzufim, which further develop into pairs of Male and Female secondary partzufim. The male principle in Kabbalah metaphorically denotes outward/emanator/giver, and the female principle denotes inward/receiver/nurturer, similar to the female process of pregnancy to nurture subsequent emanation. The terminology and system of partzufim describes detailed and specific aspects of Divinity, their nature and function discussed in Kabbalah.Primary partzufim
The fundamental primary partzufim and the sefirot they develop from are:- Ancient of Days/Atika Kadisha, supreme "earliest/oldest" inner dimension of Keter Will
- Arich Anpin - "Long Face/Extending Patience", infinitely extending downwards source of divine compassion in Keter Will
- Abba - "Father", Chokmah illumination of Wisdom insight, root of intellect on the "right" of the sefirot
- Imma - "Mother", Binah intellectual Understanding nurturing pregnant emotions, on the "left" side of the sefirot
- Zeir Anpin - "Small Face/Short Patience", Son, 6 sefirot emotions that shattered, born from Imma on "left" side
- Nukvah - "Female" of Zeir Anpin, Daughter, Malkuth reign in Feminine Shekhinah, born from Zeir Anpin on "left", man reunites
Full array of ''partzufim''
| Sephirah: Unstable separated forces | Partzufim: Stable harmonised reconfigurations | Secondary Partzufim: Particular Male/Female subdivisions |
| Above conscious: Keter | Ancient of Days Atika Kadisha Inner level of Keter-Delight Most primary earliest cause Arich Anpin Outer level of Keter-Will Descending Divine soul in Creation | Nukvah d'Atik Yomin Nukvah d'Arich Anpin |
| Wisdom: Chokhmah | Abba Ila'ah The power to spontaneously extract insight from the superconscious realm Yisrael Saba The power to subsequently direct insight into consciousness Abba The combination of Abba Ila'ah and Yisrael Saba | Both partzufim of Chokhmah are male. For their female counterparts see primary partzufim of Binah |
| Understanding: Binah | Imma Joined influence with Abba-Father Nurturing development Tevunah | Both partzufim of Binah are female. For their male counterparts see primary partzufim of Chokhmah |
| 6 Emotional Attributes: Chesed Gevurah Tiferet Netzach Hod Yesod | Zeir Anpin Youthful of Days Revealed Ben Groom seeking unity with Nukvah Torah study/Written Torah/Sun/tree of life Revelation of Divine transcendence-Tetragrammaton "The Holy One Blessed be He" | Both partzufim of Zeir Anpin are male and have their female counterparts in Nukvah Yisrael The face that looks up Yaakov |
| Active Emotion: Malkuth | Nukvah/No"k d'Zeir Anpin Receiving Bat Bride seeking unity with Zeir Anpin Prayer/Oral Torah/Moon/tree of the knowledge of good and evil Immanence-Elohim Shekhinah-Indwelling Divine Presence | Both partzufim of Nukvah are female and have their male counterparts in Zeir Anpin Leah Rachel |
Both of the secondary, male and female partzufim of Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin exist within the same configuration. There are therefore only 10 distinct secondary partzufim, and consequently the secondary partzufim of Keter do not have particular names, unlike the secondary partzufim of the other sefirot.