Da'at (Kabbalah)

Da'at or Daas ("Knowledge", Hebrew: דעת [ˈdaʕaθ]) is a Hebrew word that means Knowledge. In the branch of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah, Da'at is the location (the mystical state) where all ten sephirot in the Tree of Life are united as one.

In Da'at, all sephirot exist in their perfected state of infinite sharing. The three sephirot of the left column that would receive and conceal the Divine light, instead share and reveal it. Since all sephirot radiate infinitely self-giving Divine Light, it is no longer possible to distinguish one sephira from another; thus they are one.

Da'at is not always depicted in representations of the sephirot; and could be abstractly considered an "empty slot" into which the germ of any other sephirot can be placed. Properly, the Divine Light is always shining, but not all humans can see it.

The concealment or revelation of the Divine Light shining through Da'at does not actually happen in Da'at itself. It only appears that way from the human perspective within Malkuth. The perception of change can only occur in Malkuth. Humans who become self-giving (Altruism), like the Light, become able to see it, and for them the benefits of Da'at's light seem "revealed". However, humans who remain selfish (Selfishness) cannot see it, and for them its benefits seem "hidden".

Properly, Da'at is not a sephirah, but rather is all ten sephirot united as one. Nevertheless- Da'at is sometimes counted as a sephirah instead of Keter, from the perspective of finite creation, using Da'at to represent the "reflection of" (the "inner dimension" of) the infinity of Keter. Thus Da'at appears in the configuration of the sephirot along the middle axis, directly beneath Keter. It corresponds to the Tzelem elohim (the "image of God embedded in humanity"). Alternate countings of the sephirot produce 10 powers ("10 and not 9, 10 and not 11" - Sefer Yetzirah) by either including Keter or Da'at. In the scheme of Moshe Cordovero, Da'at is omitted, while in the scheme of Isaac Luria, Keter (Will) is omitted. Cordovero describes the sephirot as one light in ten vessels. Luria follows this, but lists sephirot beginning with Chokhmah (Wisdom) to describe their outer dimensions.

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