The Sefirot? These are the ten divine attributes, or emanations, through which God reveals Himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms. Think of them as lenses through which the infinite light of the Divine is refracted into the world.
But here's the thing: initially, we weren't equipped to perceive even this refracted light. According to Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, it's only because light was "emanated to our eyes" – a light that could be seen – that we're even capable of grasping these concepts. Before that, nothing.
Imagine that for a moment. A world, or rather, the potential for a world, bathed in a light too intense, too pure for our limited senses to comprehend.
And what if we were granted permission to truly see? To peel back the layers of illusion and see the underlying unity of all things? Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah suggests that we would then recognize that everything has one root: Eyn Sof (אין סוף).
Eyn Sof. The Infinite. The Boundless. That which is beyond comprehension.
It's a concept so vast, so beyond our grasp, that it's often referred to as Ayin (אין) – "No-thing." Not in the sense of non-existence, but rather as that which precedes existence, that from which all things spring. It is the ultimate mystery.
So, if the Sefirot are the emanated light, perhaps we should call it a light that emanated from Ayin, from "No-thing," from that which cannot be conceived. A light that allows us, in our limited way, to glimpse the unfathomable source from which we came.
It’s a dizzying thought, isn’t it? The idea that the reality we experience is just a filtered version of something far grander, something beyond our wildest imagination. But maybe, just maybe, by studying the Sefirot, by contemplating the nature of Ayin, we can catch a glimpse of that ultimate truth. A glimpse of the light that shines from "No-thing."