Part 1, Chapter 4 - Undergoing Shipputzim (Revisions)

Chapter 4
The Number Cards: Shanah (Time/Cycle)

The Number Cards reveal how divine presence flows into the world and how life unfolds in time. In the Eilat Tarot, they are the sefirot made visible, each one a stage in the rhythm of creation.

What You’ll Find in This Chapter

Although this chapter centers on the Number Cards, its path flows through several systems that give these cards depth and direction.

You’ll read about:

how sacred time is understood in Jewish tradition
the rhythms of daily prayer and how they mirror the Number Cards
the features that appear on each card
the four Aces as gifts of pure potential
the Tree of Life and the ten sefirot that shape the Number sequence
and finally, the alignment of the Number Cards with the Hebrew calendar, the zodiacal decans, and the tribes of Israel

Taken together, these threads reveal how the Eilat Tarot treats sefar (number or measure) as part of the unfolding of creation.

The Nature of Sacred Time

In Jewish tradition, time is not only linear but cyclical. It “spirals and flows” through seasons, prayers, and holy days of remembrance. And as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote, “Time in Judaism is covenantal — it is the arena in which God and humanity meet.”

God established the “lights in the vault of the heavens to divide the day from the night, and they shall be signs for the fixed times and for days and years” (Genesis 1:14-19), and instructed the Israelites to call sacred assemblies. (Leviticus 23:2).

By observing the new moon, the Israelites were called not only to mark time but to participate in its sanctification. The new month was declared only after reliable witnesses testified to the sighting of the new moon [36]. This legal process made time a matter of sacred testimony. This requirement made the community partners in divine order. It also led to the practice of observing two days of Rosh Hashanah, even in the Land of Israel, to ensure the festival aligned with the new moon as testified by witnesses no matter which day the witnesses arrived in Jerusalem.

The Psalmist reminds us that life’s brevity is part of its holiness: “To count our days rightly, instruct [us], that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12[37]). Time’s limits can stir fear, yet they also awaken purpose. In the story of Honi the Circle Maker, who saw a man planting a carob tree that would not bear fruit for seventy years, we learn that time’s value lies in continuity, in planting for those who will come after. To live with awareness of time is to recognize that even our smallest acts echo through the generations.

Daily Rhythms of Prayer

The daily prayer cycle reflects this sacred rhythm.

Shacharit, Abraham’s morning prayer, greeting dawn with clarity, gratitude, and renewed purpose

Minchah, Isaac’s afternoon prayer, pausing amid activity to cultivate mindfulness and created balance between action and restraint

Ma’ariv, Jacob’s evening prayer, entering the night with reflection, faith, and trust in divine protection

The Number Cards mirror these cycles of renewal, striving, and surrendering. They ask: Where in the cycle are you standing? How is your relationship with God and others evolving in this moment of time?

Features of Each Number Card

Each Number Card (2-10) includes:
Its number and sefirah on the Tree of Life glyph
A Tree of Life glyph with the appropriate sefirah highlighted
A title expressing the moment portrayed in the Rider-Waite-Smith image
The RWS image
Its zodiac sign, Hebrew month, and tribal association

Together, these symbols transform each card into a web or meaning and story.

The Aces: Gifts of the Elements

The Aces stand slightly apart from the other Number Cards as they represent the hightest sefirah, Divine Will. These cards are not connected to time and are assigned no zodiacal decan. They exist outside the flow of process, before structure, direction, or time.

Each Ace embodies the undivided essence of its suit:

Ace of Pentacles: the gift of presence and embodied life
Ace of Wands: the gift of will and creative energy
Ace of Swords: the gift of clarity and the power of the word
Ace of Cups: the gift of love and devotion

The Aces are both seeds and thresholds. If the numbered cards trace the unfolding of creation in time, the Aces descend like sparks from beyond. [38]

Each Ace is a ray of creative energy, a gift from the Source, opening the way for the journey that may follow. They are unearned gifts entrusted to us and we should accept them with reverence.

The Number Cards and the Sefirot

The Sefer Yetzirah speaks of “eser sefirot belimah,” ten ineffable numbers, which later mystics envisioned as the Tree of Life, a map of divine energy flowing from hidden intention to embodied action. [Should I mention that the Sefer Yetzirah doesn’t discuss individual sefirot because the Tree of Life glyph was created centuries after SY was composed? Should I state what godly attribute I hope to acquire from contemplating each sefirah? I should also mention that Keter is unknowable and often compared to Ein Sof.]

In the Eilat Tarot, each Number Card corresponds to one of these ten sefirot, cascading from Divine Will (Keter) to Presence (Shekhinah/Malkhut). Between them lie Wisdom, Understanding, Overflowing Love, Restraint, Compassion, Persistence, Reverence, and Connection, stages of the soul’s growth.

Each sefirah has a traditional Hebrew name. To invite personal engagement, I’ve translated them in ways that highlight human experience, choosing Persistence over “Eternity,” Reverence over “Splendor,” Presence over “Kingship.” These names express not just metaphysical forces but ways of living. In the Eilat Tarot, the first sefirah at the top of the Tree is called Divine Will; it is the silent source of all becoming. The final sefirah is translated Presence, the fulfillment of God’s intention to create the physical world and our intention to experience and perfect it.

These titles should allow readers initially unfamiliar with the sefirot to interpret the cards using just the title of the Letter Card.

Keter, Chokmah, and Binah:

Keter is usually translated as “Crown.” In the Eilat Tarot, I used the more descriptive term Divine Will, which conveys the sefirah’s essence: the ineffable origin from which all creation flows. It is the first stirring of intention prior to thought, form, or differentiation.

I retained the traditional translations of Chokmah and Binah as Wisdom and Understanding. Together they signify the divine mind at least as far as humans are capable of understanding it. While Keter represents undifferentiated will, Chokhmah (Wisdom) is the flash of insight, and Binah (Understanding) is the contemplative process that gives it shape. As Aryeh Kaplan notes, Chokhmah is likened to a point of pure potential, and Binah to the vessel that expands and develops it. [I need to re-read Kaplan for explanation of each of these two aspects of mind.]

The names of some sefirot required more interpretive translations:

Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiferet:

The word Chesed is often translated as ‘loving-kindness’ in the siddur, or as ‘Mercy’ or ‘Grace’ in mystical texts. I use Overflowing Love to reflect divine energy that gives without limit.

Gevurah, usually translated as ‘Strength’or ‘Judgment’ is the counterpoint to Chesed. I considered translations like ‘Steadfastness’ or ‘Moral Discipline,’ but chose Restraint for its description of the boundaries that allow love to take form. It is limitation in service of justice.

Tiferet harmonizes the forces of Chesed and Gevurah. Often translated as ‘glory,’ ‘beauty,’ or ‘harmony,’ I chose Compassion because it’s a divine trait that humans can try to emulate: seeing clearly and responding with love in a measured way.

Together, Overflowing Love and Restraint (Chesed and Gevurah) embody the tension between boundless giving and necessary limits. Their balance in Tiferet is essential for ethical action and spiritual maturity.

Netzach , Hod , and Yesod:

Netzach and Hod are traditionally translated as ‘Victory’ and ‘Splendor’, but those names obscure their complementary movements: the will to persevere and the grace to receive.

For Netzach, the drive to endure, I settled on Persistence because it suggests power and purpose.

Hod is the quiet awe that makes us receptive to blessing. This sefirah was the hardest to name. I considered ‘Gratitude,’ the soul’s response to blessing, but ultimately chose Reverence, which expresses the awe and humility required to receive the gift of revelation.

Yesod gathers all that comes before it and channels it into manifestation. I considered ‘Channel,’ but chose Connection for its acknowledgment of the human and the divine. Just as divine energy flows downward into creation, human yearning and prayer can rise upward through this channel.

Malkhut/Shekhinah:

Malkhut, or Shekhinah, is the final sefirah, where divine intention completes its descent and becomes manifest. I render it as Presence, for it reflects the indwelling nearness of the Divine in the world. The name signals not only divine immanence but also the human responsibility to notice and nurture sanctity in the world. God willed to be present here; the sefirah of Presence asks how we will take part in that desire.

Following is a list of the sefirot, including their names in the Eilat Tarot.

[Insert image of chart with sefirot names]

The Sefirot are arranged along three vertical Pillars:

The Pillar of Mercy (right): giving, love, and creative energy
The Pillar of Severity (left): discernment, restraint, and structure
The Middle Pillar: balance, harmony, and integration

At the top of the right and left Pillars, Wisdom (Chokhmah) and Understanding (Binah) , the archetypal male and female principles give rise to all the rest. Their polarity mirrors the beginning of duality, two modes of knowing, shaping, and becoming. These energies are fluid, not fixed. In the Eilat Tarot, the Daughter may stand on the so-called “masculine” side, and the Son on the “feminine.” Spiritual growth requires such interplay: the dance of giving and receiving, striving and surrender.

Harmony (Tiferet[40]) stands at the center of the Tree, mediating and harmonizing the energies around it.

The sefirot also reflect a dance of masculine and feminine energies, not as genders, but as modes of spiritual motion. The Pillar of Mercy flows through Chokhmah, Chesed, and Netzach, often called the masculine line. The Pillar of Severity moves through Binah, Gevurah, and Hod, associated with feminine qualities. But these energies are fluid, not fixed. In the Eilat Tarot, this fluidity is honored: the Daughter appears on the "masculine" side of the Tree, the Son on the "feminine" side. Spiritual growth requires the interplay of opposites.

This reflects the idea that spiritual growth is not linear. The soul returns again and again to the different sefirot as it deepens its understanding and draws closer to its Source.

Interpreting the Number Cards

Each Number Card reflects a sefirah, a suit, a season, and the imagery of Pamela Colman Smith. The titles are not fixed definitions, but starting points for reflection.

When you draw one, ask: What is happening here? What season of the soul is this? What am I building, releasing, or remembering in this cycle?

Each card can be read as both a moment in time and a reflection of an inner state. The sefirah shows where the energy flows, the suit reveals how it manifests, and the tarot image captures the human experience of that meeting. Each title suggests a turning point in the soul’s journey, an encounter with time’s rhythm and the divine presence within it.

[Insert chart with Number Card titles]

Decans and the Sacred Calendar

The Number Cards explore the dimension of Shanah (Time). Drawing from the Golden Dawn’s decans[41], each trio of Number Cards (2-4, 5-7, 8-10) is linked to a Hebrew month and a corresponding tribe of Israel following traditional associations.

Torah tells us that God created the sun and moon to mark time[42], and gave us the festivals to sanctify it. The calendar reminds us what is important to focus on in our lives at particular times. It gives time meaning and offers us the opportunity to return.

The suit of Swords, associated with the element of air, corresponds to the months of Tishrei, Shevat, and Sivan. For example, Tishrei aligns with Libra and the tribe of Efraim. During that month we observe the High Holy Days; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the harvest festival of Sukkot mark a season of judgment, return, and joy. Their themes echo the qualities of the suit of Swords, clarity of thought, discernment, self reflection, and a willingness to change.

These holy days are spiritual anchors, reminding us that the soul’s journey does not exist apart from the turning of the seasons or the rhythms of collective memory. It is a story that we can trace through the tribes of Israel and the sacred calendar that binds us together.

Each month, like each tribe, resonates with a spiritual signature. Its holy days serve as anchors, grounding our individual journeys in the shared rhythms of sacred time. The Number Cards help us trace this unfolding as part of the Hebrew calendar and the evolving story of our people. They remind us that spiritual growth moves with the seasons and takes shape in community.

Two traditions exist for aligning the tribes of Israel with the months of the year: one follows their order of birth, and the other follows the arrangement of their wilderness encampment around the Mishkan. The Eilat Tarot follows the latter, beginning with Judah (Yehudah), whose camp led the people forward whenever they journeyed. This order emphasizes movement, pilgrimage, and renewal, presenting time as a shared path.

The following calendar table maps each Hebrew month to its zodiac sign, tribal correspondence, key sacred dates, and decanic structure. The significance of time is encoded in the Jewish calendar.

[Insert image of calendar]

Rosh Chodesh

Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, remains a sacred time in Jewish life. In ancient Israel, it could only be declared by the Sanhedrin after eyewitness testimony of the new moon, making human perception essential to the structure of sacred time. Because Rosh Hashanah falls on the first day of the month, there was no margin for confirming the correct date in time to celebrate it properly. As a result, it was fixed as a two-day holiday, even in the Land of Israel. (Other holidays came to be observed over two days in diaspora due to uncertainty about when news of the official calendar date would arrive.)

A midrash [46] tells that when the moon complained because God had diminished her light, God responded by instructing Israel to offer a sin offering on His behalf. This striking tale is a radical acknowledgment of cosmic imbalance, as well as a sign of divine humility and love.

The new moon is still announced in synagogues on the Shabbat prior, and Rosh Chodesh is marked with special songs of praise. In some communities, it also became a women’s holiday, based on another midrash in which the women refused to contribute their gold to the making of the Golden Calf. Today, Rosh Chodesh is being reclaimed through rituals of renewal, spiritual gatherings, and feminist celebration.

Most major festivals fall on the full moon, when the moon's face is fully revealed. The full moon rises at sunset, a moment when sun and moon face each other, a luminous meeting that Kabbalah views as symbolizing the sacred union of divine masculine and divine feminine. The Jewish calendar, then, is not merely a system of timekeeping, but a mirror of divine relationship and a guide to human joy.

Shabbat

Beyond the rhythm of the moon and the changing of the seasons lies another sanctification of time; every seventh day is Shabbat, the Sabbath. Time was not only created to measure our days, but to give them meaning[47]. The Torah tells us that God made the lights in the heavens “for signs and for seasons, and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14) God made time for us to sanctify. Time makes human life a spiritual journey.

Every seventh day breaks the pattern of labor to remind us that time itself is holy. Shabbat is a pause woven into creation. “God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, for on it He had ceased from all His task that He had created to do” (Gen. 2:3[48]). Every seventh day reminds us that time is holy because it was created and sanctified by God, the Creator of all. [49 - Explain in a footnote: Sabbatical Year and Jubilee Year. Include a description of picking oranges in the Land during a Sabbatical Year.]

The morning hymn Adon Olam tells us that God existed “before time began,” and will remain “when all else has ceased.” Time is divinely given. It is the medium in which we live, grow, and return.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called Shabbat a sanctuary in time. While people build cathedrals in space, “the Sabbath is a cathedral in time” that the soul enters rather than builds. Shabbat offers a taste of the world-to-come (Olam Ha-Ba), a world perfected. To observe it is to step outside the current of ordinary time and enter the eternal. Can you see this perfect world in your life or in the cards?

In the Eilat Tarot, the Aces represent wholeness and stillness, the eternal within and beyond the temporal. But time is also dynamic and the Number Cards track that motion, each one marking a moment in the soul’s growth. Titles such as Out in the Cold (Five of Pentacles), Night of the Mind (Nine of Swords), and Grace Made Visible (Ten of Cups) remind us that every phase of life has its place in the sacred cycle. As Kohelet [50] teaches, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”

The Number Cards remind us that every stage of life is part of a pattern of growth. Time is the medium through which creation unfolds. By attuning ourselves to its rhythm and meaning, we participate in creation. From the first spark of the Aces to the completion of the Tens, these cards reflect the soul’s journey through time.

We’ve seen how the Number Cards align with the dimension of Shanah (Time). In the next chapter, we’ll explore how the Letter Cards align with the dimension of Olam (World).