Shattering (Shevirah)
Creation did not unfold as a smooth, perfect, seamless descent from infinity into form. It was not a simple flow of divine light that calmly settled into the universe we know. Instead, in the early stages of existence, something dramatic and catastrophic occurred — a cosmic rupture known as Shevirah, the Shattering of the Vessels.
This is not merely a story about spiritual realms. It is about why the world is fractured, why life contains beauty and suffering, why consciousness feels divided, and why humans carry both divine brilliance and profound brokenness. Shevirah is the explanation for the human condition, the root of duality, conflict, and the possibility of spiritual repair.
But to understand Shevirah, we must begin with the moment when divine light first attempted to enter form.
When the Infinite radiated its first emanations into the space prepared by the withdrawal (the Tzimtzum), the light poured forth with unimaginable intensity. The early Sephirot — those original vessels meant to receive and channel this divine brilliance — were like newly formed glass containers. They existed, but they were not yet stable, not yet perfectly balanced, not yet able to handle the sheer force of the Infinite.
Imagine the divine light as a beam of pure, absolute luminosity, too strong for anything limited to hold. The Sephirot were designed to receive and transmit this light, but during the earliest stage of creation — especially in the world of Nekudim (the World of Points) — the vessels were too rigid. They did not cooperate with one another. They did not share or balance the flow. Each tried to receive the light alone, in isolation.
This failure of relationship is the root of Shevirah.
The vessels shattered, sending sparks of divine light scattering into the lower worlds.
One of the most powerful ways to visualize Shevirah is like this:
Imagine a pure, powerful beam of light shining through many layers of glass.
The first few layers are strong, thick, clear — they channel the light beautifully.
But deeper down, one sheet of glass is too thin, too brittle.
Another has a flaw.
Another is at a bad angle.
Another vibrates under the pressure.
Another heats too quickly.
As the beam continues, the fragile pieces begin to crack.
Cracks become fractures.
Fractures become shatters.
Shatters become explosions of shards and light.
This is Shevirah.
The broken glass pieces represent the vessels — structures too small or rigid to contain the divine fullness that was trying to fill them.
The light scattering in all directions represents divine sparks, fragments of the Infinite that fell into the lower realms, embedding themselves in matter, consciousness, time, and the very fabric of the physical world.
Just as shattered glass creates thousands of tiny shards — some sharp, some beautiful, some catching the light — creation became a universe of mixed fragments: brokenness and brilliance intertwined.
This is why the world contains:
Harmony and conflict
Joy and suffering
Unity and division
Light and darkness
Purity and ego
Compassion and cruelty
These opposites come from the same event — the breaking of unity.
Why Did the Vessels Break?
The vessels broke because in the beginning, form could not yet handle the fullness of everythingness.
There are several reasons:
1. The Light Was Too Intense
Divine consciousness in its raw form is too absolute, too infinite, too powerful. Early creation lacked the subtlety and flexibility needed to contain such intensity.
2. The Vessels Were Too Isolated
Each Sephirah tried to receive the light independently, without interacting or balancing with its neighbors. Without relationship, the flow became overwhelming, just like when a single person trying to carry the weight of the world alone, a community failing because its members don’t support each other or a system collapsing when its parts don’t share the load.
3. Rigidity Cannot Hold the Infinite
Anything rigid breaks under pressure.
Anything flexible adapts.
The early vessels were rigid.
They shattered.
Later, the system was rebuilt with more harmony, cooperation, and balance.
When the vessels broke, the divine light did not disappear.
Instead, it burst apart into countless sparks.
These sparks:
Fell into the lower worlds
Became embedded in matter, energy, and consciousness
Formed the hidden divine essence inside everything
Are the reason all things contain a trace of the Infinite
Every atom contains one.
Every living being carries them.
Every moral struggle is a battle between sparks and shells.
Every spiritual act releases one back upward.
Where there are sparks, there are also shells, called klipot.
These are the barriers, the illusions created by the shattering.
They are not evil in the cartoon sense.
They are simply the structures that form when light becomes fragmented.
Klipot include:
Ego
Fear
Separation
Confusion
Selfishness
Hatred
Addiction
Spiritual blockage
Chaos
Trauma
They are the psychic “scar tissue” of creation, arising from the early cosmic wound.
But they serve a purpose — they create a world where free will is possible, where growth happens, where light can be rediscovered rather than simply received.
A Universe Made of Broken Light.
Shevirah explains something essential:
The universe is not perfect.
It was never meant to be perfect.
It was meant to be repaired.
If creation had emerged flawlessly, there would be:
No struggle
No growth
No discovery
No meaning
No freedom
The friction of brokenness is the engine of evolution, creativity, morality, and consciousness.
Shevirah is not a mistake.
It is the beginning of purpose.
The shattering did not happen only in the cosmic past.
It happens within every human being.
Every individual is a microcosm of the universe's structure.
Which means we each contain:
Divine sparks — our gifts, conscience, intuition, love
Broken vessels — our flaws, traumas, impulses
Klipot — our defenses, illusions, ego constructs
When a person:
loses their temper,
falls into despair,
feels conflicted,
wrestles with addiction,
experiences heartbreak,
struggles with identity,
carries wounds from childhood,
seeks something beyond themselves…
All of this is Shevirah playing out inside the human psyche.
For instance, imagine plugging a tiny device into a massive power source.
The device burns out—not because the power is bad, but because it cannot handle the voltage.
Exactly like when someone emotionally overwhelmed:
A person receives powerful emotions — love, anger, grief — but lacks the tools to hold them.
They break down.
They lash out.
They collapse.
This is a human mirror of the cosmic event.
Or when a mirror Reflecting the Sun. If you shine the sun into a perfectly crafted mirror, it glows beautifully.
If the mirror is cracked or thin, it shatters.
Creation is that mirror.
From the broken vessels, a new stage of creation emerges — a world where brokenness contains the seeds of repair, where humans become co-creators, where the universe becomes participatory.
The divine plan shifts from:
God creates the world to The world participates in its own healing.
This is only possible because of Shevirah.
Without shattering, there is no repair.
Without repair, there is no meaning.
Without meaning, there is no relationship between God and creation.
Shevirah is the permission for meaning itself to exist.