Jewish tradition offers a fascinating way to understand this feeling, especially when it comes to encountering the Divine.
It all comes down to light. Not just any light, but the ohr, the radiant light of God. The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text whose name means "40 Gates of Wisdom," tells us that this radiation of light is Godly. But how can that be, if we can't fully comprehend God?
Here's the thing: Godliness, in its purest form, is hidden from us, from all created beings. We can't just walk up and see it head-on. But we do need to receive some kind of revelation, some glimmer of the Divine, in order to connect.
Think about Moses, Moshe Rabbeinu, our teacher. Remember the story? When he came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, his face was radiating light, karan ohr panav (Exodus 34:29). People were actually afraid to look directly at him! They had to avert their eyes, and even then, they could only see his radiance, not the full, unfiltered glory that he had experienced in God's presence.
This, the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah suggests, is how God reveals Himself to us. Not directly, but through radiance. What we perceive isn't the essence of God, but rather the light shining from Him. And this light, this radiance, is the Sefirot.
Now, the Sefirot are a complex concept in Kabbalah. They're often described as the ten emanations or attributes through which God reveals Himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms. They are aspects of God that manifest in the world.
So, what's the connection? This radiance, these Sefirot, are intimately connected to their Source, to Ein Sof, meaning "the Infinite," the unknowable, boundless God. They are the revelation of His splendor, the part of the glorious essence that can be perceived. They're like the colors of a rainbow, each distinct but all originating from the same single source of light.
This means that the Sefirot are bound up with Ein Sof, blessed be He, the Owner and Source of this radiating light. They aren’t separate from God, but are rather the ways in which God chooses to make Himself known to us, to interact with creation. They are the bridge between the infinite and the finite.
Isn’t that amazing? When we study the Sefirot, when we strive to understand these Divine attributes, we're not just learning about abstract concepts. We are, in a way, glimpsing the very radiance of God. Even if we can't comprehend the fullness of the Divine, we can still experience its light, its beauty, its profound and transformative power. So, the next time you feel that yearning, that sense of something just beyond your grasp, remember the light of Moses, remember the Sefirot, and know that you are, in that moment, touching the edge of the infinite.