Tree of death (Kabbalah)

The Tree of death, within the system of the Kabbalah of Judaism, is an expression of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in the Book of Genesis.

Death is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible when God warns Adam: "God gave the man a commandment, saying, 'You may definitely eat from every tree of the garden. But from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, do not eat, for on the day you eat from it, you will definitely die.' " Genesis 2:16–17 [1]

There are mainly two different ways to describe why there is evil in the world, according to the Kabbalah. Both makes use of the kabbalistic Tree of Life:

• The kabbalistic tree, which consists of ten Sephiroth, the ten "enumerations" or "emanations" of God, consists of three "pillars": The left side of the tree, the "female side", is considered to be more destructive than the right side, the "male side". Gevurah (גבורה), for example, stands for strength and discipline, while her male counterpart, Chesed (חסד), stands for love and mercy. The "center pillar" of the tree does not have any polarity, and no gender is given to them.

• The Qliphoth, (or Kelippot)(קליפות the primeval "husks" of impurity), were blamed for all the evil in the world. Qliphoth are the "evil twin" of the sephiroth. The tree of Qliphoth is usually called the kabbalistic "Tree of death", and sometimes the qliphoth are called the "death angels", or "angels of death".