Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 265-6. Klippot are shells or husks, the name given in the Kabbalah to the demonic forces. The klippot are nourished by the good and holy but seek to destroy them or, at least, to encroach on their domain. The Shekhinah is especially prone…