In the Hebrew Bible, the word חָכְמָה, ḥokhmah, refers to a stealthy and mysterious entity, sometimes defined by the article (the ḥokhmah)ⁱ but more often undefined, usually as a singular and sometimes as a pluralⁱⁱ. She may ‘dwell’ in the minds of men or among peoples. We do not know where she comes from.ⁱⁱⁱ
She is said to have helped the Most High in his work of Creation.^iv

Here is a brief anthology of her furtive appearances:

She brings life.^v
She makes the face glow.^vi
She is a torrent or a spring.^vii
She can be from the East or from Egypt.^viii
She can fill Joshua^ix or Solomon^x.
She may be found in the humble^xi and the old^xii, in the simple man^xiii or in the righteous^xiv.

She may come with knowledge^xv or with power^xvi, or with intelligence^xvii. But she is far better than strength.^xviii

She may hide in a whisper^xix, in a cry^xx, or in secrecy^xxi.

She can be called ‘friend’^xxii, ‘sister’^xxiii or ‘mother’ or ‘wife’.
She makes one happy.^xxiv
She leads to royalty.^xxv

She is ‘spirit’.^xxvi
She is bright, and she does not fade.^xxvii
Faster than any movement, she is infinitely mobile.^xxviii
She dwells in her own house, and he who dwells with her, is the only one God loves.^xxix

She can do anything.^xxx
She can die^xxxi…

She accompanies the angel of « Elohim », and also the Lord called « Adonai « ^xxxii..
She is in Thôt^xxxiii, but it is YHVH who gives her^xxxiv..
She shares the throne of the Lord.^xxxv
She is with Him, and she knows His works.^xxxvi
She was created before all things.^xxxvii

It is through her that men were formed.^xxxviii
And it is she who saves them.^xxxix

These snippets, these flashes, are only a tiny part of her infinite essence.
But a simple letter, the smallest in the Hebrew alphabet, י, Yod, can understand and embody her (symbolically) in her entirety.

Yod is the first letter of the Tetragrammaton: יהוה. In the Jewish kabbalah, and perhaps for this reason, the Yod corresponds primarily to the sefira Ḥokhmah^xl, ‘Wisdom’, which brings us to the heart of the matter.

The Tetragrammaton יהוה, an admittedly unspeakable name, can at least, in principle, be transcribed in Latin letters: YHVH.
Y for י, H for ה, V for ו, H for ה.
This name, YHVH, as we know, is the unpronounceable name of God.
But if we write it with an interstitial blank YH VH, it is also the name of the primordial Man, – according to the Zohar which we will now recall here.

The commentary on the Book of Ruth in the Zohar does not bother with detours. From the outset, served by an immensely dense style, it plunges into the mystery, it leaps into the abyss, it confronts the primordial night, it explores the depths of the Obscure, it seeks the forgotten origin of the worlds.

The Zohar on Ruth, – a powerful wine, a learned nectar, with aromas of myrrh and incense.
To be savored slowly.

« The Holy One blessed be He created in man YH VH, which is His holy name, the breath of the breath which is called Adam. And lights spread out in nine flashes, which are linked from the Yod. They constitute the one light without separation; therefore the body of man is called Adam’s garment. The He is called breath, and it mates with the Yod, it spreads into many lights that are one. Yod He are without separation, so ‘Elohim created man in his own image, in the image of Elohim he created him, male and female he created them… and he called them Adam’ (Gen 1:27 and 5:2). Vav is called spirit, and he is called son of Yod He; He [final] is called soul and he is called daughter. Thus there is Father and Mother, Son and Daughter. And the secret of the word Yod He Vav He is called Adam. His light spreads in forty-five flashes and this is the number of Adamx^xli, mah^xlii, ‘what is it?’ « ^xliii.

Cabalistic logic. Sacredness of the letter, of the number. Unity of the meaning, but multiplicity of its powers. Any idea germinates, and generates drifts, new shadows, nascent suns, moons alone. Thought never ceases its dream, it aspires to breath, to song, to hymn.

The letter connects heaven and earth. Literally: יה → יהוה and וה .
By reading יה, the kabbalist guesses the inchoative, seminal and sexual role of י, – from which the lights of the sefirot will emanate.
Let us summarize what the Zohar says:
YHVH → YH VH → Adam → the Yod, י, the ‘breath of breath’ → Ḥokhmah , the ‘one light’ → from which the other ‘lights’ or sefirot emanate.

YHVH ‘creates in man YH VH’, that is, He creates in man two pairs יה and וה, respectively YH and VH, which will also be, symbolically, the name of the primordial Man, Adam, ‘YH VH’.
These two pairs of letters can be interpreted symbolically, as metaphors of union and filiation: YH = Father-Mother, and VH = Son-Daughter.

It is indeed an ancient interpretation of the Kabbalah that the Yod, י, represents the male principle, and that the letter He, ה, represents the female principle.
The Vav, ו, symbolizes the filial fruit of the union of י and ה. The second ה of the Tetragrammaton is then interpreted as the « Daughter », when associated with the Vav ו…

Human, carnal images, hiding another idea, a wisdom, divine, spiritual…
A second set of metaphors is invoked here by the cabal, which explains:
YH = Wisdom-Intelligence (Ḥokhmah-Binah) and VH = Beauty-Royalty (Tiferet-Malkhut).
From Ḥokhmah, other sefirot emanate.

The Zohar further teaches us that Ḥokhmah, associated with י , the 1st letter of the Tetragrammaton, means the « breath of the breath », and is also called « Adam »…

Is this « Adam » the same as « the Adam » (הָאָדָם ha-‘adam), who was created after the creation of Heaven and Earth (Gen 2:7)?
And what difference, if any, is there between « Adam », breath of breath, and « the Adam » of Genesis?

The Zohar asked this very question and answered it, in an opaque, concise, condensed style:

« What is the difference between Adam and Adam? Here is the difference: YHVH is called Adam, and the body is called Adam, what difference is there between the one and the other? Indeed, where it is said: ‘Elohim created Adam in his own image’, he is YHVH; and where it is not said ‘in his own image’, he is body. After it is said: ‘YHVH Elohim formed’ (Gen 2:7), that is, he formed Adam, he ‘made him’, as it is written: ‘YHVH Elohim made for Adam and his wife a robe of skin and clothed them with it’ (Gen 3:21). In the beginning there is a robe of light, in the likeness of the one above, after they stumbled, there is a robe of skin.^xliv In this connection it is said: ‘All those who are called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, and even whom I have made’ (Is 43:7)^xlv. ‘I have created’ is Yod He Vav He, ‘I have formed’ is the robe of light, ‘and I have made’ is the robe of skin. »^xlvi

The clues left by Scripture are thin, to be sure. But Isaiah, with a single sentence, illuminates the intelligence of the creation of Man. And he opens up infinite perspectives to our own understanding of the text which relates it.

Charles Mopsik commented on this key passage as follows: « The verse of Isaiah as read in the Zohar presents a progression of the constitution of man according to three verbs: the verb to create refers to Adam’s constitution as a divine name (the aforementioned four souls [breath of breath, breath, spirit, soul]), the verb to form refers to the constitution of his primordial body, which is a robe of light, and finally the verb to make refers to his constitution after the fall, where his body becomes a material envelope, a tunic of skin, which ‘wrath’, i.e., the Other side, the realm of impurity, borders in the form of the inclination to evil. « ^xlvii

The creation of Man, in Genesis, is described with three Hebrew, essential words: nechamah, ruaḥ and nefech. These words have several meanings. But to keep it simple, they may be translated respectively as « breath », « spirit » and « soul ».

So we learned that there were also, in the very first place, before anything was created, a « breath of breath ».

And the « breath of breath » was wisdom, י.

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i‘Ha–ḥokhmah’, like in וְהַחָכְמָה, מֵאַיִן תִּמָּצֵא ,Vé-ha-ḥokhmah, méïn timmatsa’, Job 28,12

ii It can be used as a feminine plural noun חָכְמוֹת, ḥokhmot, meaning then, depending on the translation, « wise women », or « wisdoms », or « Wisdom », as in חָכְמוֹת, בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ , « The wise women – or wisdoms – built his house » (Pv 9:1) or as חָכְמוֹת, בַּחוּץ תָּרֹנָּה , « The wise women – or Wisdom – shouted through the streets » (Pv 1,20) 

iii וְהַחָכְמָה, מֵאַיִן תִּמָּצֵא Vé-ha-ḥokhmah, méïn timmatsa’ ? Job 28,12

iv« YHVH with Wisdom founded the earth, with understanding he established the heavens. » Pv 3,19

v« It is that wisdom gives life to those who possess it ». Qo 7,12

vi« The wisdom of man makes his face shine and gives his face a double ascendancy » Qo 8,1

vii« An overflowing stream, a source of wisdom » Pv 18,4

viii« The wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt » 1 Kings 5:10

ix« Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom » Dt 34,9

xThe Proverbs are attributed to him, as is the Qohelet.

xi« But in the humble there is wisdom » Pv 11,2

xii« Wisdom is with the old » Job 12:12

xiii « He gives wisdom to the simple » Ps 19:8

xiv« The mouth of the righteous expresses wisdom » Pv 10,31

xv« Wisdom and knowledge are the riches that save » Is 33,6

xvi But in Him dwells wisdom and power » Job 12,13

xvii« Spirit of wisdom and understanding » Is 11,2

xviii« Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor is not known » Qo 9,16

xix« The mouth of the righteous whispers wisdom » Ps 37:30

xx« Wisdom cries through the streets » Pv 1,20

xxi« You teach me wisdom in secret » Ps 51:8

xxii« Wisdom is a spirit that is friendly to men » Wis 1,6

xxiii« Say to wisdom: You are my sister! And call reason My friend! » Pv 7.4

xxiv« Blessed is the man who has found wisdom » Pv 3,13

xxvWis 6,20

xxvi« Spirit of wisdom and understanding » Is 11,2

xxviiWis 6,12

xxviiiWis7,24

xxixWis7,28

xxxWis 8,5

xxxi« Wisdom will die with you » Job 12,2

xxxii « But my Lord (Adonai), wise as the wisdom of the angel of Elohim ». 2 Sa 14,20

xxxiiiמִי-שָׁת, בַּטֻּחוֹת חָכְמָה « Who has put wisdom in Thoth [Thouḥot]? » (Job 38:36)

xxxiv« For it is YHVH who gives wisdom » Pv 2,6

xxxvWis 9,4

xxxviWis 9,9

xxxvii« But before all things was created Wisdom. » Sir 1,4

xxxviiiWis 9,2

xxxixWis9,18

xlZohar. Midrash Ha-Neelam on Ruth, 78c. Translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic, and annotated by Charles Mopsik. Ed. Verdier. 1987, p.83, note 136.

xliThe numerical value of the Tetragrammaton YHVH is 45, as is the numerical value of the word Adam.

xliiThe expression « What? » or « What? » (mah) also has 45 as a numerical value.

xliiiZohar. Midrash Ha-Neelam on Ruth, 78c. Translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic, and annotated by Charles Mopsik. Ed. Verdier. 1987, p.82-83. (Ch. Mopsik translates nechama as ‘breath’ and nechama [of the] nechama as ‘breath of the breath’, which is a bit artificial. I prefer to translate nechama, more classically, by ‘breath’, and in its redoubling, by ‘breath of the breath’).

xlivZohar. Midrash Ha-Neelam on Ruth, 78c. Translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic, and annotated by Charles Mopsik. Ed. Verdier. 1987, p.84

xlv כֹּל הַנִּקְרָא בִשְׁמִי, וְלִכְבוֹדִי בְּרָאתִיו:  יְצַרְתִּיו, אַף-עֲשִׂיתִיו. The three verbs used here by Isaiah imply a progression of God’s ever-increasing involvement with man; bara’, yatsar, ‘assa, mean respectively: « to create » (to bring out of nothing), « to shape/form », and « to make/complete ».

xlviZohar. Midrash Ha-Neelam on Ruth, 78c. Translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic, and annotated by Charles Mopsik. Ed. Verdier. 1987, p.84

xlviiIbid. note 149