A Word On 'The Tree Of Life'

The Tree Of Life is a mystical concept within the Kabbalah which is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world out of nothing. The Kabbalists developed this concept into a full model of reality, using the tree to depict a "map" of Creation. Some people believe the tree of life of Kabbalah corresponds to the Tree of Life mentioned in Genesis 2:9. The kabbalistic tree, which consists of ten Sephiroth, the ten "enumerations" or "emanations" of God, consists of three "pillars": The left side of the tree, the "female side", is considered to be more destructive than the right side, the "male side". Gevurah, for example, stands for strength and discipline, while her male counterpart, Chesed, stands for love and mercy. The "centre pillar" of the tree does not have any polarity, and no gender is given to it.