Gravity and the Sefiros

It is frequently mentioned in works of Kabbalah that the sefiros are expressions of G‑d, rather than parts of him. But if they are expressions, how can there be so many expressions of an utterly unified and unique being? The question is compounded by the unequivocal statements of the Rambam:

... This G‑d is one. He is not two or more, but one, unified in a manner which [surpasses] any unity that is found in the world; i.e., He is not one in the manner of a general category which includes many individual entities, nor one in the way that the body is divided into different portions and dimensions. Rather, He is unified, and there exists no unity similar to His in this world....

~ Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:7

If He is utterly unified as the Rambam says, what gives rise to His varied "expressions"? How can a single, indivisible Cause have varied effects?


This can be understood a little from science. In the early days of natural philosophy, the likes of Aristotle thought that straight motion (like a falling rock) and circular motion (like the heavenly bodies) were due to different phenomena, arising from a difference in the essential nature of heavenly and earthly objects. However, Newton arrived at his Law of Universal Gravitation, which unified the circular (or not-so-circular) motions of the heavens with the straight falling motion of the famous apple. These two motions, he realized, arose from a single cause: gravity.

However, there are many, many effects of gravity. (Some of these have even revised our understanding of what gravity is since Newton's time):

1. Straight, falling motion.
2. The parabolic trajectory of a projectile.
3. Orbital motion.
4. Tidal forces, as in the spring and neap tides of the sun and the moon.
5. Gravitational lensing of light, where stars can appear to be in different positions when a massive body is close to the line of sight.
6. The flat shape of accretion disks, as seen in the rings of Saturn, the solar system's asteroid belt, and the characteristic disk shape of many galaxies.
7. The warping of space-time itself, as seen near black holes.

At first glance, it would appear that these are different and must have different causes, but such is not the case. Every single one of these comes from gravity.

On a higher level, the same is true for G‑d and the sefiros. Although G‑d is utterly unified, He can still have varied expressions, just as gravity is a single phenomenon with diverse effects. Conversely, the multitudinousness of the sefiros cannot imply any separation within G‑d Himself, Heaven forbid. Thus it says in Pasach Eliyahu:

You are He Who dispatched ten rectifications and called them ten sefirot, with which to conduct the hidden worlds which are not revealed and the revealed worlds. And with them You conceal Yourself from humankind. And You are He Who binds them and unifies them, and to the extent that You are within them, anyone who will separate one among these ten sefirot from its fellows is considered as if he made a separation within You.