תניאTanya Explained

פרק מח

Chapter 48: Tzimtzum: How the Infinite Makes Room for a World

In short

The Alter Rebbe now asks the thinking person to contemplate the infinity of G‑d’s light. A finite world could never come from it by a gradual chain of cause and effect, so G‑d contracted and hid it (tzimtzum), letting only a tiny glimmer show. The infinite light that stays hidden is called sovev kol almin, “encompassing all worlds”: not because it is outside them, but because no world can take it in.

1.Too much light for a world

וְהִנֵּה כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתְבּוֹנֵן הַמַּשְׂכִּיל בִּגְדֻוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, כִּי כִּשְׁמוֹ כֵּן הוּא, אֵין סוֹף וְאֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית כְּלָל לָאוֹר וְחִיּוּת הַמִּתְפַּשֵּׁט מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרַךְ, בִּרְצוֹנוֹ הַפָּשׁוּט וּמְיֻחָד בְּמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּתַכְלִית הַיִּחוּד. וְאִלּוּ הָיְתָה הִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הָעוֹלָמוֹת מֵאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּלִי צִמְצוּמִים, רַק כְּסֵדֶר הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת מִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה בְּדֶרֶךְ עִלָּה וְעָלוּל, לֹא הָיָה הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה נִבְרָא כְּלָל כְּמוֹ שֶׁהוּא עַתָּה, בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית מֵהָאָרֶץ לָרָקִיעַ מַהֲלַךְ חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה, וְכֵן בֵּין כָּל רָקִיעַ לִרְקִיעַ, וְכֵן עֳבִי כָּל רָקִיעַ וְרָקִיעַ.

וַאֲפִלּוּ עוֹלָם הַבָּא וְגַן עֵדֶן הָעֶלְיוֹן, מְדוֹר נִשְׁמוֹת הַצַּדִּיקִים הַגְּדוֹלִים. וְהַנְּשָׁמוֹת עַצְמָן, וְאֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר הַמַּלְאָכִים, הֵן בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית, כִּי יֵשׁ גְּבוּל לְהַשָּׂגָתָן בְּאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַמֵּאִיר עֲלֵיהֶן בְּהִתְלַבְּשׁוּת חָכְמָה בִּינָה וָדַעַת וכו'. וְלָכֵן יֵשׁ גְּבוּל לַהֲנָאָתָן, שֶׁנֶּהֱנִין מִזִּיו הַשְּׁכִינָה וּמִתְעַנְּגִין בְּאוֹר ה'. כִּי אֵין יְכוֹלִין לְקַבֵּל הֲנָאָה וְתַעֲנוּג בִּבְחִינַת אֵין סוֹף מַמָּשׁ, שֶׁלֹּא יִתְבַּטְּלוּ מִמְּצִיאוּתָן וְיַחְזְרוּ לִמְקוֹרָן.

Translation

When a person of understanding reflects on the greatness of the Ein Sof (the Infinite One), blessed be He, [he grasps] that He is exactly what His name says: the light and life flowing from Him, blessed be He, through His simple will, have no end, no limit and no border whatever, and that will is perfectly one with His own essence, blessed be He. If the worlds had descended from the light of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, with no contractions (tzimtzumim), merely step by step as cause and effect, this world could never exist in its present form, bounded and measured: “The distance from earth to sky is a five-hundred-year walk” (Chagigah 13a), and likewise from each heaven to the next, and likewise the depth of every heaven.

Even the World to Come and the upper Gan Eden, home of the souls of the greatest tzaddikim, along with those souls, and certainly the angels, are all bounded and measured. Their grasp of the light of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, which reaches them wrapped in chochmah, binah and da’as, etc., has a limit. So their enjoyment of the Shechinah’s radiance and their delight in G‑d’s light has a limit too. They could not take in a pleasure and delight that is truly infinite without dissolving out of existence and going back to their source.

Explanation

Chapter 47 ended with G‑d’s love in taking each Jew out of “Egypt” every day. To awaken love in return, the Alter Rebbe gives the thinking person something deep to contemplate; the next chapter draws the feeling out of it.

“Ein Sof” describes the light itself: the light and life that come from G‑d are without end. Why can’t a world simply come from such light, step by step? Because in a chain of cause and effect, each effect stays close to its cause, the way speech comes from thought and both are made of the same letters. A chain that begins in the infinite would stay infinite; nothing finite stands in any proportion to it. Yet our world is measured, vast but finite, and so are even Gan Eden, the souls and the angels. They take in G‑d’s light only as it comes clothed in intellect. Pure infinite delight would dissolve them back into their source. So there had to be tzimtzum: a “contraction”.

Sources

2.Hiding, not diluting

וְהִנֵּה פְּרָטִיּוּת הַצִּמְצוּמִים אֵיךְ וּמָה, אֵין כָּאן מְקוֹם בֵּיאוּרָם. אַךְ דֶּרֶךְ כְּלָל הֵן הֵם בְּחִינַת הֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם הַמְשָׁכַת הָאוֹר וְהַחִיּוּת, שֶׁלֹּא יָאִיר וְיֻמְשַׁךְ לַתַּחְתּוֹנִים בִּבְחִינַת גִּלּוּי, לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ וּלְהַשְׁפִּיעַ בָּהֶן וּלְהַחֲיוֹתָם לִהְיוֹת יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן. כִּי אִם מְעַט מִזְעָר אוֹר וְחִיּוּת, בִּכְדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיוּ בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית, שֶׁהִיא הֶאָרָה מֻעֶטֶת מְאֹד, וּמַמָּשׁ כְּלָא חֲשִׁיבֵי לְגַבֵּי בְּחִינַת הֶאָרָה בְּלִי גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית, וְאֵין בֵּינֵיהֶם עֵרֶךְ וְיַחַס כְּלָל. כַּנּוֹדָע פֵּרוּשׁ מִלַּת "עֵרֶךְ" בְּמִסְפָּרִים, שֶׁאֶחָד בְּמִסְפָּר יֵשׁ לוֹ עֵרֶךְ לְגַבֵּי מִסְפַּר אֶלֶף אֲלָפִים, שֶׁהוּא חֵלֶק אֶחָד מִנִּי אֶלֶף אֲלָפִים. אֲבָל לְגַבֵּי דָּבָר שֶׁהוּא בִּבְחִינַת בְּלִי גְּבוּל וּמִסְפָּר כְּלָל, אֵין כְּנֶגְדּוֹ שׁוּם עֵרֶךְ בְּמִסְפָּרִים, שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ אֶלֶף אַלְפֵי אֲלָפִים וְרִבּוֹא רְבָבוֹת אֵינָן אֲפִלּוּ כְּעֵרֶךְ מִסְפָּר אֶחָד לְגַבֵּי אֶלֶף אַלְפֵי אֲלָפִים וְרִבּוֹא רְבָבוֹת אֶלָּא כְּלָא מַמָּשׁ חֲשִׁיבֵי.

Translation

The details of the contractions, how and what they are, this is not the place to explain. But in general, they are a kind of hiding and concealing of the flow of light and life, so that it should not shine and reach the lower creatures openly, clothing itself in them, acting in them and giving them life so that they come into being from nothing, except for a very small amount of light and life, so that they can be finite and limited. This is a very small glimmer, and it is truly counted as nothing compared with the light that has no limit or end. There is no proportion or relation between them at all. As is known, “proportion” in numbers means that the number one has a proportion to a million (literally “a thousand thousands”), being one part of a million. But to something that has no limit or number at all, no number, however great, has any proportion. Even a billion and a trillion (literally “a thousand thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand”) do not have even the proportion that the number one has to a billion and a trillion. They are truly counted as nothing.

Explanation

The workings of tzimtzum are explained in other works. Here the Alter Rebbe gives only the general idea: tzimtzum is concealment. The infinite light is hidden so that it does not show openly in the creatures. Only a tiny glimmer enters them, enough to give them life as finite beings.

That glimmer is not a small slice of the infinite, the way one is a millionth of a million. If it were only a diluted portion, it would still be a link in the same chain of cause and effect. Infinity is just as far from a trillion as from one. Add as many finite numbers as you like and you have not come one step closer. So the light that gives life to all the worlds is “as nothing” beside the light that was hidden. The figures the Alter Rebbe chose are the ones in the Nishmas prayer, following the Sifrei.

Sources

3.What “encompassing” means

וְכָכָה מַמָּשׁ הִיא בְּחִינַת הַהֶאָרָה מֻעֶטֶת זוֹ, הַמִּתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בְּעוֹלָמוֹת עֶלְיוֹנִים וְתַחְתּוֹנִים לְהַשְׁפִּיעַ בָּהֶם לְהַחֲיוֹתָם, לְגַבֵּי עֵרֶךְ אוֹר הַגָּנוּז וְנֶעְלָם, שֶׁהוּא בִּבְחִינַת אֵין סוֹף, וְאֵינוֹ מִתְלַבֵּשׁ וּמַשְׁפִּיע בָּעוֹלָמוֹת בִּבְחִינַת גִּלּוּי לְהַחֲיוֹתָם, אֶלָּא מַקִּיף עֲלֵיהֶם מִלְּמַעְלָה, וְנִקְרָא סוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין.

וְאֵין הַפֵּרוּשׁ סוֹבֵב וּמַקִּיף מִלְּמַעְלָה בִּבְחִינַת מָקוֹם חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, כִּי לֹא שַׁיָּךְ כְּלָל בְּחִינַת מָקוֹם בְּרוּחְנִיּוּת. אֶלָּא רוֹצֶה לוֹמַר, סוֹבֵב וּמַקִּיף מִלְּמַעְלָה לְעִנְיַן בְּחִינַת גִּלּוּי הַשְׁפָּעָה. כִּי הַהַשְׁפָּעָה שֶׁהִיא בִּבְחִינַת גִּלּוּי בָּעוֹלָמוֹת, נִקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם הַלְבָּשָׁה שֶׁמִּתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בָּעוֹלָמוֹת, כִּי הֵם מַלְבִּישִׁים וּמַשִּׂיגִים הַהַשְׁפָּעָה שֶׁמְּקַבְּלִים. מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן הַהַשְׁפָּעָה שֶׁאֵינָהּ בִּבְחִינַת גִּלּוּי, אֶלָּא בְּהֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם, וְאֵין הָעוֹלָמוֹת מַשִּׂיגִים אוֹתָהּ, אֵינָהּ נִקְרֵאת מִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת, אֶלָּא מַקֶּפֶת וְסוֹבֶבֶת. הִלְכָּךְ מֵאַחַר שֶׁהָעוֹלָמוֹת הֵם בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית, נִמְצָא שֶׁאֵין הַשְׁפָּעַת אוֹר אֵין סוֹף מִתְלַבֵּשׁ וּמִתְגַּלֶּה בָּהֶם בִּבְחִינַת גִּלּוּי, רַק מְעַט מִזְעָר, הֶאָרָה מֻעֶטֶת מְצֻמְצֶמֶת מְאֹד מְאֹד. וְהִיא רַק כְּדֵי לְהַחֲיוֹתָם בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית.

אֲבָל עִקַּר הָאוֹר בְּלִי צִמְצוּם כָּל כָּךְ, נִקְרָא מַקִּיף וְסוֹבֵב, מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֵין הַשְׁפָּעָתוֹ מִתְגַּלֵּית בְּתוֹכָם, מֵאַחַר שֶׁהֵם בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית.

Translation

So it is with this tiny glimmer, which enclothes itself in the worlds above and below to work in them and keep them alive, set against the hidden, concealed light, which is infinite and does not openly enclothe itself or work in the worlds to animate them, but hovers over them from above, and is known as sovev kol almin (“encompassing all worlds”).

“Encompassing from above” does not mean in a place, G‑d forbid, for place has nothing to do with spiritual things at all. It means encompassing from above in terms of revealed influence. An influence that is revealed in the worlds is called “clothing”, because it clothes itself in the worlds: they take it in and grasp the influence they receive. But an influence that is not revealed, but hidden and concealed, which the worlds do not grasp, is not called “clothed” but encompassing and surrounding. Therefore, since the worlds are finite and limited, the flow of the light of the Ein Sof does not clothe itself and show itself in them openly, except for a tiny amount, a very, very contracted glimmer, and only enough to give them life as finite and limited beings.

But the main light, without so much contraction, is called makif (“surrounding”) and sovev (“encompassing”), since its influence is not revealed in them, because they are finite and limited.

Explanation

Here is the key term of the chapter. The light that enters a world and can be felt there is said to be “clothed” in it, like a garment that fits. The infinite light, which no world can take in, is called sovev kol almin.

“Encompassing” does not mean it waits outside the worlds. Space does not apply to spiritual things. Nor does it mean the light is absent. It means the worlds cannot take it in or grasp it, because it is higher than anything they can receive.

Picture a radio and a cup on the same table. The radio waves are in both. The radio is built to receive them, so in the radio they are “clothed” and you hear them. The cup has no way to take them in, so in the cup they are there but hidden: “encompassing”.

Sources

4.Present even in a stone

וְהַמָּשָׁל בָּזֶה, הִנֵּה הָאָרֶץ הַלֵּזוּ הַגַּשְׁמִיּוּת, אַף שֶׁמְּלוֹא כָּל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ. וְהַיְנוּ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "הֲלֹא אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲנִי מָלֵא נְאֻם ה'". אַף עַל פִּי כֵן אֵין מִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּתוֹכָהּ בִּבְחִינַת גִּלּוּי הַהַשְׁפָּעָה, רַק חִיּוּת מְעַט מִזְעָר, בְּחִינַת דּוֹמֵם וְצוֹמֵחַ לְבָד. וְכָל אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא נִקְרָא סוֹבֵב עָלֶיהָ, אַף שֶׁהוּא בְּתוֹכָהּ מַמָּשׁ, מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֵין הַשְׁפָּעָתוֹ מִתְגַּלֵּית בָּהּ יוֹתֵר, רַק מַשְׁפִּיע בָּהּ בִּבְחִינַת הֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם. וְכָל הַשְׁפָּעָה שֶׁבִּבְחִינַת הֶסְתֵּר נִקְרָא מַקִּיף מִלְּמַעְלָה, כִּי עָלְמָא דְּאִתְכַּסְּיָא הוּא לְמַעְלָה בְּמַדְרֵגָה מֵעָלְמָא דְּאִתְגָּלְיָא.

Translation

Take, for example, this physical earth. Even though “His glory fills all the earth” (Isaiah 6:3), that is, the light of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, as the verse says, “Is it not I who fill the heavens and the earth? says G‑d” (Jeremiah 23:24), still the life that openly enclothes itself in it is tiny, reaching only the level of mineral and plant. The whole light of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, is said to “encompass” it, although it is truly inside it, because its effect shows in it no further than that. It works in it in a hidden, veiled way, and any influence that is hidden is called “surrounding from above”, since the hidden world (alma d’iskasya) ranks higher than the revealed world (alma d’isgalya).

Explanation

The verses do not say the earth is full of a weakened light. They say it is full of the light of the Ein Sof itself: “I fill the heavens and the earth.” Yet look at a field. What shows is only the life of soil and plants.

Why choose the inanimate and the plant? Not because the higher worlds need no tzimtzum; even Gan Eden needs it. The Alter Rebbe takes the lowest example to make the strongest point: even in a stone, where almost no life shows, the infinite light is truly there, acting in a hidden way.

“From above” describes its level, not its place: what is hidden is higher than what is revealed.

Sources

5.A thought that really holds its object

וּלְקָרֵב אֶל הַשֵּׂכֶל יוֹתֵר הוּא בְּדֶרֶךְ מָשָׁל, כְּמוֹ הָאָדָם שֶׁמְּצַיֵּר בְּדַעְתּוֹ אֵיזֶה דָּבָר שֶׁרָאָה אוֹ שֶׁרוֹאֶה. הִנֵּה אַף שֶׁכָּל גּוּף עֶצֶם הַדָּבָר הַהוּא וְגַבּוֹ וְתוֹכוֹ וְתוֹךְ תּוֹכוֹ כֻּלּוֹ מְצֻיָּר בְּדַעְתּוֹ וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁרָאָהוּ כֻּלּוֹ אוֹ שֶׁרוֹאֵהוּ, הִנֵּה נִקְרֵאת דַּעְתּוֹ מַקֶּפֶת הַדָּבָר הַהוּא כֻּלּוֹ, וְהַדָּבָר הַהוּא מֻקָּף בְּדַעְתּוֹ וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ. רַק שֶׁאֵינוֹ מֻקָּף בְּפֹעַל מַמָּשׁ, רַק בְּדִמְיוֹן מַחֲשֶׁבֶת הָאָדָם וְדַעְתּוֹ.

אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, דִּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ "כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם" כו', הֲרֵי מַחֲשָׁבְתּוֹ וְדַעְתּוֹ, שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים, מַקֶּפֶת כָּל נִבְרָא מֵרֹאשׁוֹ וְעַד תַּחְתִּיתוֹ וְתוֹכוֹ וְתוֹךְ תּוֹכוֹ, הַכֹּל בְּפֹעַל מַמָּשׁ.

לְמָשָׁל, כַּדּוּר הָאָרֶץ הַלֵּזוּ, הֲרֵי יְדִיעָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ מַקֶּפֶת כָּל עֳבִי כַּדּוּר הָאָרֶץ, וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר בְּתוֹכוֹ וְתוֹךְ תּוֹכוֹ עַד תַּחְתִּיתוֹ, הַכֹּל בְּפֹעַל מַמָּשׁ, שֶׁהֲרֵי יְדִיעָה זוֹ הִיא חִיּוּת כָּל עֳבִי כַּדּוּר הָאָרֶץ כֻּלּוֹ וְהִתְהַוּוּתוֹ מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ. רַק שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה מִתְהַוֶּוה כְּמוֹת שֶׁהוּא עַתָּה בַּעַל גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית וְחִיּוּת מֻעֶטֶת מְאֹד, כְּדֵי בְּחִינַת דּוֹמֵם וְצוֹמֵחַ, אִם לֹא עַל יְדֵי צִמְצוּמִים רַבִּים וַעֲצוּמִים, שֶׁצִּמְצְמוּ הָאוֹר וְהַחִיּוּת שֶׁנִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּכַדּוּר הָאָרֶץ לְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ וּלְקַיְּמוֹ בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית, וּבִבְחִינַת דּוֹמֵם וְצוֹמֵחַ בִּלְבָד.

Translation

To make this easier to grasp, an illustration: when a person forms a mental picture of something he once saw or is seeing now, the whole of that thing, its body and essence, its outside and inside and innermost core, is pictured in his mind and thought, because he saw or sees all of it. We call this “his mind takes in the thing entirely”, and the thing is enclosed by his mind and thought. Yet it is not truly enclosed, except in the picture that his thinking mind forms of it.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, about whom the verse says, “My thoughts are unlike your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8), is different: His thought and knowledge, which knows every creature, surely encompasses every single creature from top to bottom, inside and innermost core, all in literal reality.

Take this globe of the earth: His knowledge, blessed be He, takes in its entire depth, with all it contains and its interior to the very bottom, in literal reality. That knowledge is what gives the whole depth of the globe its life and creates it from nothing. Yet the earth could not exist as it does now, bounded and measured, with only a tiny life at the level of mineral and plant, without the many strong contractions that compressed the light and life enclothed in the globe, to animate it while keeping it bounded and measured, at the level of mineral and plant alone.

Explanation

Does “encompassing” mean the infinite light is there only in general, without touching the details? No. It reaches every detail.

When I picture a place I know, my mind holds all of it, inside and out. But the place itself is not actually encompassed; only its image in my mind is. With G‑d it is real. His knowing a thing is what gives it life and brings it into being from nothing, down to the last particle of the earth.

Yet if that infinite knowledge acted openly, what came out would be infinite too. Only because of many powerful contractions is the earth what it is: finite, with no more life than soil and plants.

Sources

6.Knowledge that is one with Him

אַךְ יְדִיעָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הַמְיֻחֶדֶת בְּמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ, כִּי הוּא הַמַּדָּע וְהוּא הַיּוֹדֵעַ וְהוּא הַיָּדוּעַ, וּבִידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ כִּבְיָכוֹל יוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים, וְלֹא בִּידִיעָה שֶׁחוּץ מִמֶּנּוּ כִּידִיעַת הָאָדָם, כִּי כֻּלָּם נִמְצָאִים מֵאֲמִתָּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ. וְדָבָר זֶה אֵין בִּיכֹלֶת הָאָדָם לְהַשִּׂיגוֹ עַל בֻּרְיוֹ וכו'

[הגהה: כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַמְבַּ"ם זַ"ל וְהִסְכִּימוּ עִמּוֹ חַכְמֵי הַקַּבָּלָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב בְּפַרְדֵּ"ס מֵהָרַמַ"ק זַ"ל. וְכֵן הוּא לְפִי קַבָּלַת הָאֲרִ"י זַ"ל בְּסוֹד הַצִּמְצוּם וְהִתְלַבְּשׁוּת אוֹרוֹת בַּכֵּלִים, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל פרק ב'.]

הֲרֵי יְדִיעָה זוֹ, מֵאַחַר שֶׁהִיא בִּבְחִינַת אֵין סוֹף, אֵינָהּ נִקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם מִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בְּכַדּוּר הָאָרֶץ, שֶׁהוּא בַּעַל גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית, אֶלָּא מַקֶּפֶת וְסוֹבֶבֶת. אַף שֶׁיְּדִיעָה זוֹ כּוֹלֵל כָּל עָבְיוֹ וְתוֹכוֹ בְּפֹעַל מַמָּשׁ, וּמְהַוֶּה אוֹתוֹ עַל יְדֵי זֶה מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר:

Translation

His knowledge, though, is one with His own essence. For “He is the Knower, the Known and the Knowledge itself, and in knowing Himself He knows every creature. His knowing is not something outside Him, as human knowing is, since all of them derive from the reality of His being, blessed be He. This is a matter that the human mind cannot fully grasp,” etc. (Rambam, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 2:10).

Note: So the Rambam, of blessed memory, wrote, and the Kabbalists concurred with him, as found in the Pardes of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, of blessed memory. It also agrees with the Kabbalah of the Arizal, through the secret of tzimtzum and of the lights entering into vessels, as noted above in chapter 2.

Since this knowledge is infinite, it is not described as “enclothed” in the earth’s globe, which is bounded and measured. It is described as surrounding and encompassing the globe, even though this knowledge truly holds all its depth and interior and gives it being from nothing, as explained elsewhere.

Explanation

Why can’t this knowledge be clothed in the world? Because it is one with G‑d’s essence, and so it is itself infinite, and the infinite cannot be contained in the finite earth. As the Rambam teaches, He, His knowing and what He knows are one, and by knowing Himself He knows everything. Our minds cannot picture this, and even the example of a person’s thought falls short.

The note adds that the masters of Kabbalah agree with the Rambam, and that this fits the Arizal’s teaching of tzimtzum and the clothing of lights in vessels. As the commentaries explain, the Rambam’s words apply once G‑d’s light has entered the “vessels” of the sefiros; before that He is beyond even wisdom and knowledge.

So His knowledge is infinite, and the earth cannot contain it openly. It is called “encompassing”, yet it holds every particle and is the very source of its existence from nothing.

Sources

The Yesod: G‑d hides so that we can be, and is never absent

Chapter 48 holds two truths together, and the whole chapter is about not losing either one.

The first: G‑d hides. His light is infinite, and where infinity is openly present nothing else can stand as itself. Even the souls in the highest Gan Eden would dissolve back into their source. So for there to be a world at all, for there to be a “me” who thinks, chooses and serves, G‑d concealed His light and let only a glimmer show, a glimmer that is as nothing beside what is hidden. We can be who we are only because we do not feel the infinite. This hiding is real. It produces a real world, with real limits, real choices and real work to do.

The second: G‑d is never absent. “Encompassing” does not mean far away. The infinite light, His very knowledge which is one with Him, holds every creature, its inside and its core, in actual reality, and gives it existence from nothing. A stone that shows no life is held by it no less than anything else. And compared with that infinite light, the glimmer that gives life to the highest worlds is as much “nothing” as the glimmer in a stone.

Living with both truths changes how a person looks at his day. When G‑d feels absent, that feeling is the tzimtzum doing its work, not proof that He has gone. The ordinary place I am standing in, the plain task in front of me, is held by the same infinite light as anything in heaven. It is hidden, not missing.

And it prepares the heart. The Alter Rebbe brought this to the “thinking person” as a meditation, not a lecture in cosmology. Someone who reflects that the Infinite contracted Himself so that he could exist, while never letting go of him for a moment, will want to respond. The next chapter shows how that response grows into love.

Sources

Points to ponder

  1. Where in my life does G‑d feel absent? What changes if I see that as concealment rather than absence?
  2. Even a stone is held, in every particle, by the infinite light. Which part of my day do I treat as too ordinary to matter to G‑d?
  3. We can exist only because the infinite is hidden. How do I use the room that G‑d made for me?
  4. My thoughts of a thing do not touch it; His thought of me is what keeps me in being. How would I live today if I remembered that?