In the mystical conception of the universe, the Torah receives its breath of life from the Ineffable Name of God. Thus, to see Torah as anything but a living organism is to misperceive the intent of God’s Creation. Further, if the Torah breathes, it can also be seen as corporeal. Just as man’s unified nature is divided up among the various organs of his body, so the living cell of God’s Name, which is the principal subject of revelation, grows into the earthly Torah. The kabbalists see organic life in every jot and tittle of the five books of Moses. If one letter or diacritical marking is removed, the body of Torah can be irreparably harmed.

Therefore, the Torah is viewed as a human body with a head, torso, heart, and mouth -- a corporeal representation that may be compared to the Torah’s classic Jewish symbol, the Tree of Life, which has a root, trunk, branches, leaves, and bark. Whatever organic image is employed, this approach enables the kabbalists to explain the stylistic distinctions in the Bible -- which is part narrative, part law and commandment, part poetry, and part "lists." Discrepancies notwithstanding, all of Torah is collected under the mystic unity of the Ineffable Name of God. The outward literary and narrative appearances of the Torah are viewed as garments that clothe and hide its mystic inner meaning. As there are different worlds of creation, the Torah is revealed in different forms in each of those worlds, beginning with its primordial manifestation from the Ein-Sof and ending with the document that is read by humanity on earth. Thus, for each emanation there is a separate Torah -- a Torah of "wisdom," a Torah of "intelligence," et cetera -- that reflects the particular function of the mystical structure of the given phase of creation.

With all these possibilities, it was only natural that the mystics would deduce the principle that the books of Torah contain infinite meanings, which could be revealed at different times and at different levels according to the intellectual and spiritual contemplation of the interpreter. This is clear in normative rabbinic thinking as well. From the very first interpretations offered by the Sages, Torah was seen as possessing two aspects: a literal reading and a figurative one. The Talmudic Rabbis perceived this through the gift of two Torahs (!) at Mount Sinai -- the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The kabbalists expand upon the literal reading of the Hebrew text by positing a mystic reading composed of the divine Names of God. Further, the types of possible interpretation were multiplied by the kabbalists who asserted: "Many lights shine forth from each word and each letter." This view is summarized in the phrase "the Torah has seventy faces." How many readings are possible? Some sixteenth-century kabbalists suggest the number 600,000 -- the number of Israelites who were present at Mount Sinai!