This post is a continuation and the conclusion of the previous post, THE FIFTH FORCE.
Aside from the connection with the last week’s Torah portion, Vayelech, there is also connection with and Aseret Yimei Teshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance) and Yom Kippur.
When it comes to physics of fundamental forces, there are two unresolved problems: (i) unification of gravity with the other three fundamental forces (electromagnetic, strong and weak); and (ii) discovery of the fifth force. Both problems are related to repentance (teshuvah), which comes to sharp focus on the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yimei Teshuvah) and Yom Kippur.
Firstly, the word “teshuva” doesn’t mean “repentance”, it literally means “return” In Kabbalah tradition, the word TeShuVaH, is read as “ToShuV H” – return of the letter “heh”. It is talking about the return of the last letter heh of the proper Divine name, Tetragammaton (Havayah). Indeed, out of the four letters of the Tetragrammaton – Y‑H‑W‑H – the first three make up a separate Divine Name, YHW (pronounced in the vernacular as Kah). Thus, Tetragrammaton can be viewed as a combination of this Name, Kah, with the letter heh: YHW-H. The last letter heh represent the Shechinah (Divine presence). When a Jew sins, it forces Shechinah into galut—exile. In the state of galut, the last letter heh is missing, as it were, from the Tetragrammaton. Thus, the repentance is viewed as the return of the last letter heh (Shechinah) from the galut and reunification it with the other three letters of the Tetragrammaton: YHW<–H.
As we said in the previous post, THE FIFTH FORCE, the last letter heh of the Tetragrammaton represents gravity. This force is in “exile” in a sense that it cannot be unified with the other three fundamental forces. Thus the process of returning the last letter heh to the other three letters of Tetragrammaton parallels the quest for the unification of gravity with the other three fundamental forces.
If we were to attempt to glean any insights from this parallel, the gematriah (numerical value) of the letter heh – 5 – may hint towards the five-dimensional theory such as Kaluza-Klein theory or the toy five-dimensional model I developed in the early 70s. Kaluza-Kein theory is a special case of the string theory, which is the best candidate today for the Theory of Everything.
On a cosmic scale, the present state of galut is characteristic of the Shechinah being in exile. In Kabbalistic tradition, the messianic redemption signifies the return of the Shechinah from the exile. From this one can deduce that gravity will be unified with the other three forces in the Theory of Everything before the advent of Mashiach (Messiah).
The hypothetical fifth force, on the other hand, is not yet discovered. It may be said that it is in a concealed state. As it corresponds to the apex of the yud, , it can be seen as connected with Yehida – the fifth “level” of the soul.
In Lurianic Kabbalah, there are four principal worlds. They are (in descending order): Atzilut (World of Emanation), Briya (World of Creation), Yetzirah (World of Formation) and Assiyah (World of Action). They correspond to the four letters of Tetragrammaton.
There are four souls, or four levels of a Divine soul (in ascending order): Nefesh (living soul), Ruach (spirit), Neshama (soul, breath of life) and Chaya (life-force). They also correspond to the four letters of the Tetragrammaton Chayah (Y), Neshama (H), Ruach (W) and Nefesh (H).
There is also the fifth “level” of the soul – Yehida (oneness, unity, singularity). It is the essence of the Divine soul (Pintele Yid) that is always connected with G‑d. Yehida corresponds to the apex of the yud in the Tetragrammaton. Similarly there worlds that are above the four worlds enumerated above that are parallel to the apex of the yud. They are identifies in different kabbalistic sources as Ketter (Crown) or Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man). The parztuf of Arich Anpin that Arizal associates with the first book of the Torah – Genesis – is one of two partzufim of Ketter.
We can summarize all of these in the following table:
| Y‑H‑W‑H | Chumash | Partzuf | World | Soul | Fundamental Force | |
| Apex of Yud | י | Genesis | Arich Anpin | Keter or Adam Kadmon | Yehida | Fifth Force |
| Yud | י | Exodus | Abba | Atzilut | Chayah | Strong nuclear force |
| Heh | ה | Leviticus | Imma | Beriyah | Neshama | Weak force – beta decay |
| Waw | ו | Numbers | Zeer Anpin | Yetzirah | Ru’ach | Electromagnetic force |
| Heh | ה | Deuteronomy | Nukvah | Assiyah | Nefesh | Gravitational force |
Usually, the level of Yehida is hidden and is only revealed during the fifth tefilah (prayer) of Yom Kippur – Neilah – when the penitent reach the apex of teshuvah. If the fifth force is associated with the fifth level of the soul, it is no wonder that it remains hidden from experimentalist that are looking for it.
Again, if we were to try to glean any insights from this parallel, it seems to support the Quintessence theory of the fifth force. In Kabbalah, the four elements correspond to the four letters of the Tetragrammaton (Y‑H‑W‑H): Fire (Aish) – Y, Water (Mayim) – H, Air (Ruach) – W and Earth (Afar) – H. However, ancient Greeks, in addition to four elements, had a fifth element quinta essential. This element was deemed by Greek philosophers to be essence of the other four elements. It seems to me that this fifth element is parallel in Jewish though with the fifth soul – Yehida – which is thought to be the essence of all other levels of the Divine soul.
As the Lubavitcher Rebbe explained in the essay, On the Essence of Chasidus, the level of Mashiach is the level of Yehida. Only with the coming of Mashiach, the universal Yehida of the collective soul of the Jewish people – Knesset Yisrael – will be revealed. When the fifth force will be discovered, we’ll know – Mashiach is near!
Gottlieb – Jews praying in the synagogue on Yom Kippur
If we add the top force A before the Tetragrammaton, and retain the separations we are observing, loving rather than hating them
A YHV H
there is symmetry. Y and V are long and short noses, and x balances H. According to the Zohar, YHV do not see or interact with everything from x; some pass through as rivers and streams, with at most limited interaction.
So there’s apparently something from x that comes straight to Malchut. This communication back and forth is suggested in the ninth paragraph of the Zohar on Trumah in which my understanding is that the light and hidden path pass all the way down to Malchut: https://www.zohar.com/zohar/Trumah/chapters/2
9. The upper world is included in the secret of the letter Yud OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH INCLUDES ARICH ANPIN AND ABA AND IMA, NAMELY the first upper dot, WHICH IS ARICH ANPIN that emerges from the concealed, the hidden and that which is not known and is not known at all and will not be known. It ascends by MEANS OF the secret of infinity, THE PARTZUF OF ATIK, and from this concealment, FROM ARICH ANPIN, shines a thin and hidden light WHICH IS SUPERNAL ABA AND IMA THAT HAVE TWO ASPECTS OF YESOD, 1) A NARROW PATH AND 2) A CONCEALED WAY, including in itself the generality of all the lights. And in this concealed WAY, THAT IS IN ABA AND IMA, one strikes it who did not yet strike BEFORE, WHEN IT WAS IN SUPERNAL ABA AND IMA. That which did not illuminate in him now illuminates in him. It then produced one light, which is a delight of delight (NAMELY CHOCHMAH OF CHOCHMAH), AND IT IS for pleasure, and to hide the thin light, which is concealed in that light.
Maybe it’s a modification of gravity, with all gravity’s attributes plus some more. Or maybe it’s something that’s as high as gravity is low. Maybe it can be seen here, even in our galut, but not in Atzilut below the chest. Then the unification, at least at first, would be just as you say. We come closer to the fifth force.
But the Zohar says many times it cannot be known.
Separately, do you see a kabbalistic significance to the conserved quantities — energy, momentum, spin, etc.? I would expect forces to be more like mochin. Or is this like a dual problem in linear programming, where the kabbalistic roles of sephirot and mochin (like objectives and constraints) are switched in the “dual problem”, physics?
The Kabbalistic significance of the conserved quantities is symmetry. Based on the first Noether theorem, symmetries produce conservation laws. Thus whenever we find conserved quantities, they are indicative of underlying symmetries, which are equally important in physics and Kabbalah.
Can you give an example of a symmetry in Kabbalah corresponding to one of the conserved quantities?
The main symmetry in Kabbalah is ze-leuma ze, meaning G‑d created the world both this and that, that is sitrah d’kiduashah (domain of holiness) and sitrah acharah (domain of klipa).
As for an analogy of a conserved property, take energy, for example. According to the Noether theorem, the energy conservation law is a consequence of the symmetry in time. Symmetry in time means that all physical laws remain time-invariant–they do not change with time. In Torah, we also have two such examples: (1) I, the Lord, do not change (Malachi 3:6), which means, G‑d is the same before creation and after creation; (2) Torah is eternal and does not change. Torah is our law, it is an example of time-invariance of the law, which corresponds to energy conservation.
You’ve identified the Lagrangian as a gematria of physics. We learn something when the Lagrangian does not change.
But the symmetries you identified in the Torah are found through plaintext, rather than any sort of gematria (although there could also be gematria for them.)
If the unchanging nature of G‑d’s judgment (as an aspect of G‑d) is a correspondence to conservation of energy, what corresponds to conservation of momentum? There are enough examples of where G‑d’s judgment does not apply the same everywhere, such as the destruction of Sodom where Lot would have been destroyed if he had stayed, or the eruv and the Shabbat limit. If we say that judgment is time-invariant, then it cannot be position-invariant.