SINCE A LOT OF PPL HAVE ASKED:

THREAD OF JEWISH SYMBOLISM IN FFVII

Okay so in (Kabbalistic) judaism, there is a concept called "The Tree of Life." In the easiest way to explain, the tree of life are the different traits of God and the path to understanding God. Each small circle is a different part of God (Wisdom, beauty, etc.)

Each of these parts of God is called a "Sephirah." The plural of Sephirah is Sephiroth. This is where Sephiroth's name comes from. Sephiroth thinks of himself as a God, so it's fitting that he is named after all the parts of God.

Sephiroth's journey is also very interesting. He thinks of himself as "The Chosen One" and jewish people are often referred to as "The Chosen People." And he worships Jenova, which is very similar to "Jehovah" (a hebrew name for God.)

His name also has a double meaning. "Sephiroth" can also mean "numbers" in Hebrew. "Safer" means book. "Safer Sephiroth" = book of numbers, which is part of the Torah. Sephiroth's clones also have numbers tattooed on them.

He is also in search of the promised land, which is another thing that takes from Judaism. The holy land that was given from God to the jewish people. Which is......something Aerith is searching for as well.

Aerith is from an ancient race called the Cetra. They built temples, yet a majority were wiped out so there are few left. They were taken off their land.....2000 years ago.... as is the jewish hope

Aerith is associated with a few of the Sephiroth. There is a sephirah called "Chesed" which means love and kindness. There is a phrase: "Faith begins with chesed and ends with chesed." Aerith is the 1st and last character to be seen in the main events of FFVII.

Chesed also means "to be holy", just like the holy materia. The number associated with Chesed is 72, just like aerith's birthday (7th feb). She is also 22, and there are 22 paths between all the Sephiroth. Her name also means asphodel in hebrew, the flower of the dead

her name also comes from another Sephirah, "Tifareth". That Sephirah means beauty, and is also where the name "Tifa" comes from.....

Tifareth is connected with kindness + strength. It is also connected with heaven and is the final sephirah. According to the talmud, there are seven levels of heaven. The seventh heaven is the highest level of heaven. Tifareth is the final sephirah. Final seventh heaven...

....just like her bar, seventh heaven, and her limit break, final heaven

Zack's name i also found interesting. It's not confirmed, but it may come from the angel name "Zadkiel," which is where the english name "zack" derives from. Zadkiel is the angel of freedom and mercy (like the price of freedom) and is also rumored to...

have came down from heaven and saved isaac's life. just like zack saving cloud's life...

NEXT: ANGEAL + GENESIS

if you havent already guessed, angeal and genesis's names are very religious. Angeal is clearly based on "Angel", an important concept in judaism. Genesis comes from the first part of the torah, the "Book of Genesis." Genesis in hebrew is "Bereshit" ...

...which is the first line of the Torah (Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz). Genesis means the beginning of everything, it makes sense that Genesis's name would come from the book of genesis when he is associated with a special book himself: loveless

(I also have my own theory that the loveless poem is based on the book of genesis because it mentions things such as disasters, desires, the world ending, which are all things that the book of genesis deals with)

Genesis's story also has to do with the book of genesis.

Which part of the book?

Adam and Eve. Angeal and Genesis are based off Adam and Eve.

Genesis's story and what eventually leads to his downfall is his defection from shinra. Genesis is tempted with all the knowledge shinra wont give to him, wanting to know what is the deal with sephiroth and the other 1st classes, and defects

"Shinra" actually means "God" in japanese.
Genesis (eve) is tempted by knowledge shinra (God) wont give him.
Sephiroth (snake) sparks Genesis's curiosity and tempts him to find this knowledge.
Genesis leaves shinra in search of this and takes his partner angeal (adam) with him

just like adam and eve leaving God's illusion in search of forbidden knowledge, angeal and genesis leave shinra in search of who they truly are. this eventually leads to both of their downfalls, just like in the original story. even zack bites the apple, and eventually dies

and this is why angeal and genesis's motif is the apple. adam and eve, and the very fruit that symbolizes their temptation and eventual freedom

thanks so much for reading. if i have anything more to say, ill add it to this thread! id love for ppl to like + rt this thread, it means a lot bc it took me so long <3 thanks to everyone

angeal jewley

also if anyone has any questions hmu!