The rabbinic term “Shekhinah” refers to the divine presence that dwells in the Beit Mikdash (Temple) and accompanies the people of Israel on its historical journey. It corresponds to the biblical Kavod—the divine glory that fills the sanctuary. The Kavod/ Shekhinah is the localized and manifest presence of the infinite one, whose greatness cannot be contained by heaven itself.

Jewish philosophers in the early medieval period were troubled by the biblical and rabbinic notion that the infinite God could, in a sense, become finite. Therefore, they concluded that the finite Shekhinah was a created entity, fashioned by God as an instrument of divine revelation. For them, the Shekhinah revealed God, but was not itself God.

Jewish mystics in the medieval period agreed with the philosophers that the Shekhinah had an identity distinct from the infinite one, whom they called Eyn Sof (“without end”). Like the philosophers, they went beyond the rabbinic texts, which had acknowledged the paradox of divine infinity and finitude without drawing out its implications. Unlike the philosophers, however, the mystics proposed that the Shekhinah was fully divine. She was both distinct from, and one with, Eyn Sof. She revealed God because she was God—in a localized, manifest, finite form.

For the philosophers, the Shekhinah was equivalent to the human form of God seen by Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. For the mystics, she was distinct from that human form, even as she was distinct from Eyn Sof. The mystics equated the heavenly human form with the collective reality of the ten Sefirot, the divine powers of which the Shekhinah was only one. The collective reality of the Sefirot constituted the divine body. The Shekhinah mediated between that body and the created order.

These complex and esoteric mystical speculations sound strange to modern ears. They also seem remote from a simple reading of the biblical text. Yet, in the context of the history of Jewish thought, this novel way of understanding divine infinity, visibility, and presence is of tremendous importance. For these mystics, the God of Israel was truly infinite and uncontainable, yet also visible to Israel’s prophets (as the Sefirot) and dwelling in the midst of Israel (as the Shekhinah).

This insight into the divine paradox is of special importance in a Messianic Jewish context. We find in the Jewish mystics a close parallel to the teaching of the Apostolic Writings. There the divine Son is the visible form of the invisible God, even before his incarnation as Yeshua of Nazareth (e.g., John 12:41). There the spirit of Yeshua dwells among the people of God, making them God’s temple, and mediating the presence and power of the risen Messiah (e.g., Ephesians 2:21–22).

Eyn Sof, the Sefirot, and the Shekhinah are God infinite, God manifest, and God present—in Messianic Jewish perspective, the Father, Son, and Spirit. It follows that the Shekhinah dwells in the Church; may we not likewise conclude that the Spirit dwells among the people of Israel?

Published in Issue Six / Volume Two / June 2010
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Mark Kinzer

Mark Kinzer

Mark Kinzer, Ph.D. is the President of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, Chairman of the Board of Hashivenu, and the Rabbi of Congregation Zera Avraham in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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