Olam katan


Olam katan is a concept of Jewish philosophy that certain concepts mirror the world as a whole Its use probably originates from the Midrash.
Man is compared to a "small world". This is mirrored in the Talmudic statement that Adam's head originated in the Land of Israel and his trunk in Babylon. It is similarly echoed in the famous statement that killing one person is comparable to destroying a whole world.
In other Midrashic sources, the Tabernacle is referred to as a "small world", with its various objects mirroring both different astronomical concepts and certain organs in the human body.