Sefer Yetzira

▪ Hebrew literature

      (Hebrew: “Book of Creation”), oldest known Hebrew text on white magic and cosmology; it contends that the cosmos derived from the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and from the 10 divine numbers (sefirot). Taken together, they were said to comprise the “32 paths of secret wisdom” by which God created the universe. The book, falsely attributed to Abraham and thus sometimes called Otiyyot de Avraham Avinu (“Alphabet of Our Father Abraham”), appeared anonymously between the 3rd and 6th century AD, but interpolations were later added.

      The Yetzira developed the pivotal concept of the 10 sefirot (sefira), which profoundly influenced subsequent Judaism. The first group of four represented universal elements (the spirit of God, air, water, and fire), whereas the last group represented the six spatial directions. The sefirot and the letters of the alphabet were likewise correlated to parts of the human body, thereby making man a microcosm of creation.

      Medieval German pietistic Ḥasidism associated formulas of the Yetzira with the golem, a creature created by magic. Among the more important commentaries on the Yetzira were those of Saʿadia ben Joseph (882–942) and Isaac ben Solomon Luria (1534–72).

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