Duncan Fleming 22/08/2026
The Palm Tree of Deborah, written in the mid-sixteenth century, is a short book by the Kabbalah teacher Moses Cordovero. He was a prolific writer, and his massive treatise on Kabbalah, Pardes Rimonim, or The Orchard of Pomegranates, runs to several volumes in the English edition I have (Providence University). As far as I am aware, publication of this particular translation was never completed. I have four volumes of it, comprising parts 1-12, which are still very interesting, and I have made copious notes.

My edition of The Palm Tree of Deborah was translated from the Hebrew, with an introduction and notes, by Louis Jacobs, and was first published by Vallentine, Mitchell and Co. in 1960. Cordovero clearly liked tree and fruit names for his books. In some ways, it is a very fresh and clear book. In others, it is very alien.
At the beginning, there is an analysis of the secret qualities of the human body. Various parts are godlike and embody a positive attribute. Like the Zohar, which presents anthropomorphic parts of God, including the beard and nostrils, each of which holds a particular quality, the body forms a functional, organic whole in which all the parts work together, like the Tree of Life. In The Palm Tree of Deborah, this is mirrored in the microcosm of the human body. By recognising these qualities in our own bodies, assuming, of course, that the body in question is male, we encounter the principle of ‘as above, so below’. Cordovero is good at systematising and clearly setting out what is implicit in the Zohar.
The main part of the book systematically examines how a person can cultivate the positive qualities of the ten Sephirot of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. All these sections are framed around the question: How should a person train themselves to acquire the qualities of a particular Sephirah?
To connect with Keter, the Crown, one must cultivate humility and overcome pride. Cordovero’s three balms against pride come remarkably close to self-hatred: self-abasement, disgust at one’s eating and excrement, and learning to welcome harsh criticism from others. This is tough. There is a tendency in traditional Kabbalah, as in many mystical traditions, towards a love-hate relationship with one’s own creaturehood. On the one hand, the body was made by God, so it should be sanctified. On the other, it has repellent inclinations that need to be whipped into shape. The body, the mind, and the general inclination of human nature are not considered acceptable in themselves. They need to be sanctified and corrected. This is more than sin in the sense of getting things wrong and making mistakes. It is a suspicion that our basic nature is inherently corrupt.
In the later Western esoteric tradition, obedience and humility are presented as virtues of Chesed, or Loving Kindness, as antidotes to the vices of excess – Bigotry, Gluttony, Hypocrisy, and Tyranny. However, this attribution also makes sense in the context of overcoming self-pride arising from identification with the middle pillar.
For Cordovero, the positive attributes of Chokhmah, or Wisdom, are acquired through appreciation of all created things. Even animals to be slaughtered for food deserve a clean blade and an easy death. There is no repugnant animal. Coming immediately after the section on self-abasement, this is jarring.
Binah, or Understanding, is acquired through repentance. Binah sanctifies judgement, elevating it beyond simple retribution. When we mend our ways, punishment is mitigated and removed. This is the secret of the Jubilee, when debts are written off, and of the fiftieth gate.
‘Do not think there is no hope for you because you belong to the evil side. This is false. Behold, if you do well you can root yourself in the secret of Repentance, removing yourself to that place, according to the secret of the good that is rooted there. For the root of every Supernal bitterness is sweet and he could have entered by way of the root to become good.’ (p. 88)
For Cordovero, we are to acquire the quality of Chesed, or Lovingkindness, through an attitude of service and acts of benevolence. This is straightforward.
Cordovero says that to connect with the positive attributes of Gevurah, or Strength, the evil inclination must not be excited. It should be bound and tied down so that it is not incited to any bodily act. However, a man is allowed to have a nice house and nice things for his wife’s sake, provided they are not for his own gratification but to adorn the Shekhinah.
The quality of Tiferet, or Beauty, is found in the study of the Torah, but one must be careful not to become proud because of the Torah’s words. If a teacher proudly exalts himself over his pupils, Beauty raises itself above Netzach and Hod (Victory and Glory), since they are the pupils of Beauty. If the teacher is kindly disposed towards them, blessings can flow from Beauty into these two Sephirot.
I take this to mean that Tiferet can bring harmony and balance to the emotions and intellect. It is the opposite of an aloof sense of being a pure soul, somehow above ordinary human qualities. It overcomes the schism created by spiritual pride. Rather than trying to remove itself from these apparently lower inclinations, the soul meets them on their own level and becomes a teacher to them.
Cordovero goes on to say that the same applies to feeling superior to a beggar, which causes Beauty to raise itself above Foundation and prevents its influence from flowing into Foundation. Finally, raising oneself above others because of one’s knowledge of the Torah cuts Beauty off from Malkut, or Kingdom. A person should instead be pleasantly disposed towards all creatures and behave civilly towards them. If he calls them asses, he brings them down into the shells, the Klippot.
Netzach, Hod, and Yesod (Victory, Glory and Foundation) are treated together in The Palm Tree of Deborah. A person should provide sustenance, teaching, and material help to students of the Torah. They should not disparage or weaken them, but give them aid and support. They should also be prepared to learn from everyone and everything. The Torah cannot be learned from a single teacher alone. Be a pupil of all.
In the context of connecting with the positive attributes of Yesod, or Foundation, one must also guard against thoughts that lead to sin and avoid speaking obscenely. This passage emphasises sexual chastity, including the instruction that a man should not have an erection unless it is for sex with his wife in a sanctified setting. The utmost care must be taken to guard against sexual imaginings. Interestingly, a symbolic name for Foundation is given as ‘Peace’, I suspect in the sense of freedom from turmoil and anguish, by trusting in the sustenance of the Foundation, rather than from any illusion of security.
To acquire the quality of Malkhut, or Kingdom, Cordovero says a person should behave constantly as a beggar standing before the Creator in supplication. They should consider none of their possessions truly their own and regard themselves as exiled because the Shekhinah (Holy Presence) is exiled. They should deliberately separate themselves from house and home, undergo privations, fear the Great King, and behave in such a way that the Shekhinah cleaves to them. In fact, Cordovero and his group, as we understand it, would go on devotional sojourns away from their families and routinely dress in white and travel together to welcome in the Shekhinah on the Sabbath evening.
And so – there is some very useful content in The Palm Tree of Deborah. Cordovero presents a traditional theurgic approach: by emulating the positive qualities of the Divine, we can cleave to and draw closer to the Divine. For me, the most useful and resonant aspect is his method of connecting with the Sephirot of the Supernal Triad – Crown, Wisdom and Understanding – because these are often treated as purely metaphysical properties in the Western esoteric tradition, with less emphasis on how we can connect with them, since they are beyond ordinary human Knowledge (Da’at). At the same time, the very intimacy of Cordovero’s advice highlights the stark contrast between his worldview and our modern attitude towards the body and creaturehood. His attitude can seem body-hating and troubling from a modern perspective, whereas, for all our sins, we tend to have a greater acceptance of our bodily nature and are less disgusted by our physicality. There is much here to think about, and I recommend reading The Palm Tree of Deborah if you come across a copy.




