Towards a Progressive neo-Hasidism
Sefirot, In Profile
by Avidan Halivni
May 19 2025
Each of the seven weeks of the Omer are associated with corresponding Sefirot, the attributes of the divine that receive much attention in Kabbalah. The Sefirot are often linked to specific character traits as well, with the Omer serving as a period of reflection on one's own qualities and behaviors. In this piece, holiday fellow Avidan Halivni offers a character study of the personified Sefirot, inspired by primary Kabbalistic and Hasidic sources (and some yearbook superlatives) that reveal as much of the human psyche as they do of the cosmos.
Chesed is the first to volunteer to visit the sick. He’ll jump in right away to invite a new student to sit with him at lunch, or for a sleepover on the weekend. He loves to dance.
He will tell you how much you mean to him; you never need to guess what he’s thinking.
He is early to bed, early to rise. His smile reaches ear to ear, glinting in the morning sunlight.
Chesed will talk to a complete stranger on a park bench or in his row on an airplane. In fact, it’s one of his favorite hobbies. He remembers all the details about your family: anniversaries, siblings’ birthdays, names of long-forgotten pets.
He sometimes has trouble with boundaries and will clean up your whole kitchen after a party if you don’t politely ask him to leave.
Gevurah is the one you call when your thoughts are racing a mile a minute. She’ll never say more than she needs to, choosing her words with care and speaking in a soft, measured voice. She holds her friends to a high standard, but her criticisms shouldn’t be mistaken for anything but care.
Gevurah always colors inside the lines, gripping the pencil tightly in her left hand. Her daily journal is beside her bed. She never misses a day.
She will practice a joke in the mirror a dozen times before trying it out in public, determined to get the timing just right.
Her favorite moment of each day is sunset, when she can sit on her porch and marvel at the wonder of the universe.
Gevurah is stronger than she looks.
Tiferet has been taking ballet lessons since she was four years old.
She has the ability to see the best in people and delights in watching others succeed. She wears her heart on her sleeves, just as likely to burst into tears from joy as from frustration.
Tiferet is a middle child. Everyone in her family tells her the secrets that they won’t say to anyone else. She listens to them thoughtfully, empathically, with plenty of eye contact.
She’s athletic and fairly competitive, but it’s more important to her that everyone has fun playing. Her coaches say she is the ultimate teammate.
Tiferet is a romantic. She has had a crush on Malchut for years, but their lockers are across the school from each other and their schedules never line up. She dreams of their encounter in a faraway land someday, when they’re all grown up.
Netzach and Hod have been pals since the first grade, when they would spend all of recess kicking a soccer ball back and forth. Their aloofness shouldn’t be mistaken for arrogance; they’re just examining future scenarios in their heads, seemingly unaware of the passage of time. The ball wanders over to you; you kick it back. “Thank you!” they say in unison, voices echoing throughout the courtyard.
They have opposite senses of style: Netzach dresses in bold, iridescent colors; Hod in modest patterns and earth tones.
It doesn’t seem like their friendship will ever change, but there’s a certain sweetness to that. They certainly seem content with it.
Yesod is a talker: he could sell scales to a fish. Charismatic, handsome, and alluring, he is a natural leader, frequently picked to present the project on behalf of the group. His teachers report that they enjoy having him in class, appreciative that he is ambitious, yet humble.
Yesod is thin and lanky, a head taller than his peers.
He befriends others quickly, batting away any attempts at small talk with a charming impatience. What makes you tick, he wants to know. Intimacy in relationships is everything to him.
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Yesod will often be caught passing notes from Tiferet to Malchut throughout the day. He prides himself on his ability to help the two of them communicate. He likes when things flow through him.
Malchut gets lost easily, but it doesn’t matter to her. Wherever she ends up is right where she needs to be.