Healing Well of Miriam

Da’at, Knowledge, is a quasi sphere, in that it is only counted among the Ten if Keter is not.  Da’at is the synthesis of Chochmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding), a triad of right brain, left brain, and middle brain.  This middle brain is the Medulla oblongata, the brain stem, and the beginning of the spinal cord.  The anatomical system associated with Da’at is the nervous system, the information network of the body.  The inner soul experience of Da’at is yechud (union).  Union is the actual meaning of “knowing” in Hebrew, as in making a certain idea part of one’s intellectual knowledge, ingesting a certain food and taste into one’s physical being, or physical intimacy with another.  All sensory experiences that bring one into union with his surrounding world are achieved through the nervous system.    

 In the center of the spine is the sphere Tiferet, whose balance of justice epitomizes the Torah, both between right and left, as well as between upper and lower.  At the base of the spine is the sphere Yesod, whose inner soul experience is emet (truth).  The whole spine can be understood as Da’at, which enables one to stand upright in union with the Truth of Torah.  This is TRUE Da’at—true Knowing—through which everything in life is measured. 

The serpent is simply a head and a spine, and he was cursed to crawl on the ground, for the primordial nachash (serpent) had perverted the use of Knowledge when he tempted Chava and Adam.  Interestingly, serpent energy is not perceived negatively in Eastern religion as it is in the West.  The idea of Kundalini is of a serpent coiled at the base of the spine whose rise up the spine to the brain facilitates enlightenment.  Again, this involves standing upright rather than coiled on the ground.  The gematria of nachash and Mashiach (Messiah) are both 358.  The story of the evil nachash is well-known, but not so well-known is that the front-side remedy is the “holy nachash,” which is Mashiach.  This is the ultimate redemption of Da’at intended in the upright spine of Adam.

A meditation on Da’at might be: 

HaShem, may I stand before You in knowledge and truth.