In the aftermath of the Great Flood, God places a rainbow in the sky as an eternal covenant with humanity. Yet this celestial arc is more than a divine promise—it’s a profound lesson in the nature of reality itself.
When sunlight passes through raindrops, something remarkable happens: pure white light—seemingly monochromatic, simple, and unified—reveals itself as a symphony of seven distinct colors. The water droplet acts as a prism, dispersing the hidden complexity within what appears monochromatic. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—each wavelength bends at a slightly different angle, painting the sky with the spectrum that was always present but concealed—an elegant illustration of dispersion, where the very medium that once concealed light’s unity now reveals its hidden beauty.
This physical phenomenon mirrors a deep spiritual truth. In Kabbalah, we learn of Or Ein Sof—the Light of the Infinite—simple and unified, beyond all comprehension and description. Yet, when seen through the prism of vessels (kelim), the seven midot (lower sefirot—divine attributes): Ḥesed (Loving-kindness), Gevurah (Strength), Tiferet (Beauty), Netzaḥ (Eternity), Hod (Splendor), Yesod (Foundation), and Malkhut (Sovereignty). These seven midot are not separate from the Divine; rather, they are how the One expresses itself in the realm of multiplicity.
Just as white light contains all colors in perfect unity until refracted through matter, so too does the Infinite Light contain all attributes in undifferentiated oneness. The “prism” of Creation allows this unity to manifest as distinct forces—love and discipline, mercy and justice, giving and receiving—painting the canvas of existence with all its complexity. It is a metaphor for the paradox of creation: from One to many. And, paradoxically, this manifestation of multiplicity is chosen as the sign of the Covenant with the One, as if to sanctify the many within One.
The rainbow, then, becomes a meditation on unity and multiplicity. It reminds us that what appears as many is fundamentally One, and that oneness can contain infinite richness. In our spiritual work, we are called to perceive both truths simultaneously: to recognize the multiplicity of divine expression in our world while never losing sight of the underlying unity and oneness that binds it all together.
When we witness a rainbow arcing across the sky, we’re seeing more than atmospheric optics. We are glimpsing the cosmic principle of divine manifestation—how the One becomes many without ever ceasing to be One.
Takeaway: Notice your week’s “spectrum”: potentials, responsibilities, emotions, talents. Aim each color toward one purpose—recognizing the One in many. When our actions are prismatic yet oriented to the One, the covenant’s bow arches over our day.