alchemy of the Living

mirror puzzle

חִידַת מַרְאָה

Alkimyat haChayim starts with the process of solving the Chidat Mar’ah (חִידַת מַרְאָה, mirror puzzle.)

It involves cleaning and repositioning Mar’ot Da’at (מַרְאוֹת דַּעַת, mirrors of Knowing) so they can reflect reality with greater clarity.

By refining these inner mirrors, we learn to perceive and manipulate the Nehirat haOr (נְהִירַת הָאוֹר, the flow of Light), allowing us to progress further with Chidat Mar'ah.

Nehirat haOr is always revealing kulo lakol (כֻּלּוֹ לַכֹּל, all to all), but our individual configurations of Chidat Mar'ah leave some in matzav hatzel (מַצַּב הַצֵּל, the shadow state) while others experience matzav haOr (מַצַּב הָאוֹר, the Light state).

נְהִירַת הָאוֹר

the flow of Light

Nehirat haOr is always revealing kulo lakol, but it is re'iyat haNitzotz (רְאִיַת הַנִּיצוֹץ, the sight of the spark) that determines whether each of us "gets it" on an individual level.

Depending on the current configuration of Chidat Mar’ah, we may be experiencing matzav haOr in some regards and matzav hatzel in others.

But these are individual conditions representing how each spark of consciousness interprets its own Chidat Mar’ah, meaning that though Nehirat haOr is always revealing kulo lakol, there is no guarantee of nitzotz lenitzotz (נִיצוֹץ לְנִיצוֹץ, spark-to-spark) reflection.

רְאִיַת הַנִּיצוֹץ the sight of the spark

matzav hatzel

the shadow state מַצַּב הַצֵּל

the Light state מַצַּב הָאוֹר

matzav haOr

Newtonian alchemy

Isaac Newton, Navi haChayim, is one of the clearest demonstrations in history that inner alchemy reveals outer truth.

Though modernism remembers him as the father of physics, Newton privately wrote more about alchemy than mathematics or optics. Newton believed that the mind was a kli, a vessel, and that its shadows obscured the laws God had woven into creation.

By purifying the “mirrors” of perception within himself, he sought the hidden unity behind matter, light, and motion.

Newton solved his own Mirror Puzzle long before we gave it that name—his purification of Mar’ot haDa’at and groundbreaking work in Iyyun baShorashim Kedoshim inspires the Alkimyat haChayim we practice today.

a natural cycle

haChayim know that God knows that hachayim are imperfect. The aim is not to become flawless or mechanical, but to sin less, listen more, and connect more deeply with the Living God.

For every break from Covenant, there is a restorative path, and meaningful growth is impossible without these ebbs and flows.

God wants us to choose God for God, not as a means of avoiding sin.

tardemat ha’navi

haChayim work diligently—within themselves and within their communities—to prevent tardemat ha’navi (תַּרְדֵּמַת הַנָּבִיא., the prophet's stupor).

This is the spiritual paralysis that arises when the fear of sinning becomes the ultimate sin; sirov lechayot (סירוב לחיות, refusal to live).

It is the condition in which a person avoids acting for God because they fear acting imperfectly for God.