Kelippot קליפות

Kelippot (קליפות, “husks,” “shells,” singular kelippah) is the Lurianic Kabbalistic term for the fragments of broken vessels (kelim) that resulted from the shevirat ha-kelim (breaking of the vessels), the cosmic catastrophe that preceded the world’s present state. In the Lurianic mythology the divine emanation, in its initial form, projected light into vessels that proved unable to contain it; the vessels of the seven lower sefirot shattered, scattering divine sparks (nitzotzot) into the broken fragments. These fragments are the kelippot, and they constitute the structure of evil, of exile, of the obscurations that prevent creation from manifesting its divine source clearly.

The doctrine carries both metaphysical and ethical weight. Metaphysically, the kelippot account for the existence of evil and finitude as the necessary residue of a primal cosmic crisis rather than as positive divine creations. Ethically, the task of the Jew is the birur (sifting) of divine sparks from the kelippot through proper religious action: every righteous deed liberates a divine spark, every transgression deepens its imprisonment. The Hasidic recasting (especially in Habad) makes the birur practical-spiritual: every mundane object encountered through the day potentially contains divine sparks waiting to be liberated through the practitioner’s elevated intention.

Etymology

From the Hebrew root q-l-p (ק-ל-פ), “to peel,” “to husk.” The nominal kelippah is the husk or shell of a fruit, the inedible covering that surrounds the edible core. The Lurianic technical use exploits the agricultural image: the divine sparks are the edible core, the kelippot are the husk that must be removed to liberate the core. The image is graphic and load-bearing for the Lurianic spiritual program.

Cross-tradition resonance

The Sufi hijab (veil) performs adjacent screening work but is ontologically different: hijab screens through the perceiver’s limitation, while kelippot are substantive cosmic structures. The Gnostic doctrine of archons and material-prison imagery is a closer structural parallel, though the Lurianic doctrine differs in holding the kelippot to be ultimately repairable (the divine sparks will be liberated, the cosmos restored) rather than terminally evil.

Primary sources

• Isaac Luria, recorded teachings (via Vital): the foundational doctrine.
• Hayyim Vital, Etz Chayyim: systematic Lurianic exposition.
• Hayyim Vital, Sha’ar ha-Gilgulim: the kelippot and the doctrine of soul-transmigration.
• Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Tanya: the Habad recasting of the birur doctrine.

Scholarly literature

• Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism: standard treatment of Lurianic doctrine.
• Fine, Physician of the Soul: Luria’s spiritual world including the kelippot.
• Magid, From Metaphysics to Midrash: the kelippot in later Hasidic interpretation.

Hekhal Editorial. "Kelippot." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. Last modified May 2, 2026. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/kelippot.

Hekhal Editorial. 2026. "Kelippot." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/kelippot.

Hekhal Editorial. "Kelippot." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition, May 2, 2026, hekhal.org/lexicon/kelippot.

Hekhal Editorial. (2026). Kelippot. Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/kelippot

@misc{hekhal-lexicon-kelippot-2026,
  author       = {{Hekhal Editorial}},
  title        = {{Kelippot}},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {{Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition}},
  url          = {https://hekhal.org/lexicon/kelippot},
  urldate      = {[date accessed]}
}