The mystics of Judaism grappled with it for centuries, and they came up with a concept both radical and beautiful: Tzimtzum (צמצום).
Tzimtzum. Contraction. Self-limitation.
It’s the idea that, in order to make room for creation, God, in a sense, contracted God's infinite being.
Think of it like this: Imagine an infinite ocean of light. Everywhere, everything is light. How could anything else ever be? Well, imagine a tiny portion of that light receding, creating a space, a void, where something different could emerge. That, in essence, is Tzimtzum.
Now, the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, an important Kabbalistic text, explains a fascinating consequence of this divine act. This Tzimtzum, it says, caused some of His light and radiance to become visible.
Wait a minute. Visible? Wasn't it all light to begin with?
Well, yes, but before the Tzimtzum, that light – and this is crucial – was utterly beyond our capacity to perceive or grasp it in any way. Even now, the text emphasizes, that uncontracted light remains incomprehensible to us. It exists in realms untouched by the Tzimtzum.
But the light that is accessible to us, the light we can see and understand, is called "emanated light." The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah beautifully states that this light seems like a light that was newly generated. Like it just popped into existence.
But here’s the twist: it’s not new at all. It's actually a specific aspect of the primordial light, that original, infinite radiance. The only difference is that its power was, in a sense, “reduced” or “filtered” through the Tzimtzum.
Think of it like looking at the sun through a filter. The sun is always shining, but the filter allows us to look at it without being blinded. The emanated light is the primordial light filtered through the divine act of contraction, making it accessible to creation.
So, what does this all mean?
Well, having introduced the concept of Tzimtzum, the text signals that we are about to embark on a journey tracing its consequences, starting from the very first. The implications are staggering. It suggests that everything we perceive, everything we experience, is ultimately a reflection of that original, infinite light, dimmed and shaped by the divine will to create. It's a reminder that even in the seemingly mundane, there is a spark of the divine.