We often jump straight to God, the Creator, but Jewish mystical tradition offers a fascinating glimpse at something...more. Something that acted as a bridge between the unknowable Divine and the cosmos we inhabit.
We're talking about the First Created Being.
Imagine the moment of creation, a burst of pure potential. According to some strands of Jewish thought, this wasn't a direct act, but rather an emanation, a flowing-out from the Hidden Cause, the Ein Sof (אין סוף), the Infinite. This emanation took form as the First Created Being.
Now, this isn't a being in the way we usually think of beings. It's not like an angel with wings or a person with a face. Instead, it's more like a cosmic blueprint, a vessel containing the potential for all things. As it's said in Isaiah 6:3, "The whole earth is full of his glory." This verse, usually referring to God’s glory, is here reinterpreted to describe the pervasiveness of this First Being. It is everywhere, and everything is within it!
Think of it like this: every drop of water in the ocean is part of the ocean, and the ocean exists within every drop. Similarly, all beings – all of existence – find their source and sustenance in this First Created Being. Existence itself flows from it.
The idea of a First Created Being helps us grapple with a profound question: how can something limited and finite emerge from something unlimited and infinite? The Kabbalists, Jewish mystics, posit a series of emanations, or Sefirot (סְפִירוֹת), that act as intermediaries, gradually translating the infinite potential of the Ein Sof into the concrete reality we experience. And at the head of all of them is the First Created Being.
There's a beautiful story in the Torah that sheds light on this concept. Remember when Moses asks God, "Make known to me Your Glory" (Exodus 33:18)? According to some interpretations, Moses wasn't actually asking to see the essence of God. He understood that the true essence of the Creator is beyond human comprehension. Instead, he was yearning to understand the First Created Being, that first manifestation of the Divine will.
It’s a powerful idea, isn’t it?
What does it mean for us? Perhaps it means recognizing the divine spark within all of creation, the interconnectedness of all things. If everything originates from this First Created Being, then we are all, in a sense, children of that same source, sharing a common origin and a common destiny.
So, the next time you look up at the stars, or marvel at the beauty of nature, remember the First Created Being, the emanation that bridges the gap between the infinite and the finite, the source from which all of existence flows. Maybe, just maybe, you'll catch a glimpse of its glory.