Left, Right, and Center

July 7, 2020 - 15 Tammuz 5780

Attributes of God

Among many things, chassidus focuses on the attributes of God as an act of dveikus, or cleaving, which is an attempt to get close to God as much as possible and to integrate that closeness into all aspects of the mundane.

To that end chassidus attempts to understand God’s interactions with the world as a form of emulating Him. The three most basic attributes are known as chessed, gevura, and tiferes and are described as follows:

• Chessed – often translated as kindness, chessed refers to unlimited and unbound expansion. For example, something whose nature is to expand without stopping behaves according to the principle of chessed. This attribute is associated with Avraham, whose primary understanding of God and interaction with others was based on chessed.


• Gevura – often translated as might or power, gevura refers to withdrawal, restraint, or contraction. For example, something whose nature is to occupy and remain in a well-defined space without exerting influence on its environment. This attribute is associated with Yitzchak, whose primary understanding and approach was based on gevura.


• Tiferes – often translated as adornment, tiferes (tiferet) refers to the balanced and perfect amalgamation of chessed and gevura. While an independent attribute, it fully engages both of the previous attributes in perfect measure. This attribute is associated with Ya’akov, who succeeded in exemplifying it, and is the main reason for his being the direct ancestor of the individuals that made up the nation of Israel (i.e., the tribes of Israel).

Depth Perception

In terms of the Sefiros, chessed, gevura, and tiferes respectively occupy the right, left, and center.

It is noteworthy that depth perception, which is “the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions (3D) and the distance of an object,” is based on having two eyes. This is known as binocular vision, which is a type of vision in which a creature “having two eyes is able to perceive a single three-dimensional image of its surroundings.”

Applying these descriptions to chessed, gevura, and tiferes gives us, well, a depth of understanding of their practical applications.

For instance, close one eye and focus on an object in the room, and now focus on that same object with your other eye. You’ll notice that the object “moves” slightly to the left or the right. This is because you are actually looking at it from two slightly different angles. Do you see where this is going? When you look at the world with your left eye (gevura) you see things from one angle only, and likewise when you view it only with your right eye (chessed). The “magic” happens when you view the world with both eyes at the same time. Now instead of seeing two slightly different images at the same time, which would make it harder to see, your brain combines both images resulting in enhanced vision, namely depth perception (tiferes).

Practical Application

Chessed, gevura, and tiferes have a number of practical applications for human interactions. For example, giving your children whatever they want is chessed, and withholding things from them is gevura. It is not beneficial to children to either a) always use either one, or b) never use either one. The best possible outcome for them is selectively and wisely using each one in its proper measure, which simultaneously teaches our children compassion and boundaries and (usually) ensures the best possible outcome, i.e., tiferes.

It also has numerous applications for self-management.

As a tangent, it is most interesting that Left, Right, and Center are words that refer to the political spectrum as well. The difference between the Jewish and political meaning of these words is noteworthy and may give us insight into the nature of the latter as well.