Kochos hanefesh

Kochos/Kochot haNefesh (Hebrew: כוחות הנפש‎‎ from nephesh-"soul"), meaning "Powers of the Soul", are the innate constituent character-aspects within the soul, in Hasidic thought's psychological internalisation of Kabbalah. They derive from the 10 Sephirot Heavenly emanations of Kabbalah, by relating each quality to its parallel internal motivation in man. The Hasidic discussion of the sephirot, particularly in the Kabbalistically oriented system of Habad thought, focuses principally on the Soul Powers, the experience of the sephirot in Jewish worship.

Among the soul powers, Bittul (Human "self-nullification" of ego), the first revealed power, turns the Ani-"Self" into Ayin-"Nothingness" in the contemplative preparation for experiencing the Divine "Ayin" nullification of Existence. In the elite ideal of Deveikut-"cleaving" to God, the central Hasidic principle in its reinterpretation of Judaism, this inspires the subsequent powers of expression. In Mainstream "Practical Tzadikism", this elite dimension is reserved for the Hasidic leader, with popularised deveikut devotion found instead in the emotional sanctification of life. The Essential Soul Powers are revealed in spiritual Mesirat Nefesh-"Self Sacrifice" in devotional fulfilment through action. Hasidic emphasis on Divine Omnipresence sees the essential Divine purpose embodied only in action, its ultimate mystical stress on action.

Each of the 10 Sephirot Divine emanations of Kabbalah comprises both an external "functional" characteristic, and an inner motivational principle. Kabbalah studies the role of the sephirot in the emanated spiritual Worlds of Creation. As the soul of man is "created in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27), understood in Kabbalah to connote the partzuf-"configuration" of the sephirot in the Man-metaphor Yosher-"upright" inter-relationship, so the sephirot also describe the soul of man. Jewish spirituality experiences both the external and internal characteristics of the sephirot in serving God, their internal characteristics becoming the innate "soul powers" in man, defined and focused on in Hasidic thought's psychologisation of Kabbalah.

...
Wikipedia