Contrasting Women and the Sefira of Malchut

The tenth sefira is called malchut – “kingship”. It is the final one and the only one imbued with feminine energy¹. It is also known as “Nukvah”² and “Shechina”³ in the kabbalah, “nukvah” meaning “female”, and the Shechina being the manifestation of Hashem’s presence in this world, and the feminine dimension of Hashem. While all of the sefirot have analogues in this world, malchut’s analogies include Shabbat, the moon, and the womb. These three features have strong feminine connections, ostensibly linked to the feminine energy found in malchut.

When understanding the manifestations of the sefirot in our world, we can use the human body as a paradigm. Each sefira is represented by a different body type; chesed is the right arm, gevura is the left arm, and gradually all major parts of the body become connected to a spiritual attribute. Malchut is a bit different. Malchut is traditionally seen in three different spaces; the mouth, the womb, and outside of the body. 

While each of these positions opens a world of spiritual impact, let’s focus on the womb. The womb is only a feature of women, so why would a major spiritual attribute only be present in half of the population? It is the only sefira that is aligned with a body part that only one sex has. It would make sense that if these were the attributes which Hashem used to create the world, that He would only align them with body parts that both sexes contained. Moreover, the physical manifestation of malchut in this world is David HaMelech⁴, so it is not even represented by a woman. Clearly, malchut is present in both men and women, but the unique alignment of malchut and the womb is telling us that there is a layer of it that is unique to women, and this is manifest in a process that is, in kind, unique to women. 

According to the timeline of Creation, Shabbat was created last. This is not because it was the last thing on Hashem’s priority list, in fact, it was the first. Shabbat is commonly rendered as “last in creation, first in intention”. Shabbat was not created for the days of the week, rather the days of the week were created for Shabbat. Similarly, malchut is a ‘receiving’ sefira and was the final sefira to be created, completing this holy and spiritual arrangement.

The role of malchut is to receive light from the other sefirot and reflect it into the ultimate combination and emanation of Hashem’s light – a combination of shiflut (humility) and hitnasut (exaltedness). The womb, in comparison, receives seed and provides the environment for life to begin. Both of these developments involve taking the ‘raw’ constituents and transforming them into creations beyond natural expectation. Exaltedness and humility appear to be at odds with one another, creating the ultimate tightrope that a king could walk. An egg and sperm are the archetypal constituents of women and men, also diametrically opposed, but their combination results in life itself. What is more, malchut can be represented outside of the body, symbolizing the birth of something new. 

The day of the week that corresponds to malchut is Shabbat⁵. The correlation between malchut, Shabbat, and women is layered, but every detail strengthens the next. The Gemara in Bava Metzia writes that “Blessing only comes to a man’s household for the sake of his wife.”⁶ The Zohar similarly remarks that “From the Shabbat day all other days become blessed.”⁷ It is on Shabbat that the Shechina, otherwise called the Shabbat Queen, dwells among Am Yisrael in a way unlike the rest of the week. 

Upon the completion of Creation, the Torah writes “And the work was complete… and G‑d blessed the Seventh day and sanctified it”⁸. The Zohar expands on this pasuk, saying that “the supernal crown (keter elyon) is the crown of Kingdom (keter malchut)”⁹ – yet another direct correlation between malchut and Shabbat. But what is the connection between Shabbat and women, aside from the illustration of the “Shabbat Queen”?

According to the timeline of Creation, Shabbat was created last. This is not because it was the last thing on Hashem’s priority list, in fact, it was the first. Shabbat is commonly rendered as “last in creation, first in intention”. Shabbat was not created for the days of the week, rather the days of the week were created for Shabbat. Similarly, malchut is a ‘receiving’ sefira and was the final sefira to be created, completing this holy and spiritual arrangement. The absence of activity in both of these creations is not a fault, it is a strength. They not only draw from the days and sefirot that come before them, they are the completion of their priors. Woman, too, was created this way. Chava was the last being to be created by Hashem in Gan Eden, and to do so, He “took one of [Adam’s] sides … And Hashem God built the side that He had taken from the man into a woman”¹⁰.

Through the creation of Chava  – from Adam who came before her – humanity was considered complete. Chava is malchut¹¹ and it is because it was Chava that plunged the world into darkness by sinning in Gan Eden that it is only the ability of women to bring that light back into the world, by lighting candles on Shabbat, the day that malchut reigns. 

Malchut brings the completion of the sefirot and marks the end of Sefirot HaOmer. The purpose of the week of malchut is to hearken back to the entire journey of counting the omer, acknowledging that all of the internal work we have done thus far has brought us to a state of exaltedness. The test, however, is to see whether we can internalize the lesson of humility that malchut brings with it. If we can, then we are in the ideal position to accept upon us the ultimate crown – the Torah – on Shavuot. 

1. Mishneh Torah, Shabbat 30:2 ↩︎
2. Zohar Shemot 92b ↩︎
3. Sha’ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut 7:4 ↩︎
4. Shaarei Orah Shaar 1:20 ↩︎
5. Sefer Yetzira 1:5 ↩︎
6. Bava Metzia 59a ↩︎
7. Zohar III 92b ↩︎
8. Bereishit 2:1-3 ↩︎
9. Zohar III 92b ↩︎
10. Bereishit 2:21-22 ↩︎
11.  Likkutei Halachot 3:1:2; ibid 3:2:1; ibid 3:5:2 ↩︎