Imperfection
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
These are two lines from a poem and song called ‘Anthem’ by the Canadian poet, rockstar and Jewish scholar Leonard Cohen.
Cohen draws on the Kabbala, an ancient Jewish mystical tradition known as the ‘Breaking of the Vessels’: In the creation story of Lurianic Kabbalah, divine light flowed into vessels (kelim), which were not strong enough to contain it and shattered. This event, called the Shevirat HaKelim (Breaking of the Vessels), scattered holy sparks throughout the world. The task of humanity is to gather these sparks and repair the world (tikkun olam).
Cohen inverts the symbolism: instead of the light breaking the vessels, it is through the cracks, that is, in our brokenness, that light comes in. The light here becomes the power of God, or our hope and our healing. Imperfection is transformed from a flaw into a conduit for grace or insight.
This inversion reflects a deeply religious insight, which is present in many of the world’s faiths: that our flaws and struggles—our cracks—become the channels for spiritual growth and connection. Cohen was not only a scholar of Jewish texts, the Talmud and Kabala among them, he also studied and practiced Buddhism, and he found a similar philosophy present there.
St Paul knew this truth in his own life, and it is reflected in his letters. The famous ‘thorn in his flesh’, which no one knows what it was, led him to appreciate God’s strength in his life. This led him to the discovery that Christ is the God given strength in our lives that restores our friendship with God.
Bernhard Schunemann
27 July 2025
