Ayin and Yesh
Encyclopedia
Ayin is an important concept in Kabbalah
and Hasidic philosophy
. It is contrasted with the term Yesh ("something/existence/being/is"). According to kabbalistic teachings, before the universe was created there was only Ayin, and the first manifest Sephirah (Divine emanation), Chochmah
(Wisdom), "comes into being out of Ayin." In this context, the sephirah Keter
, the Divine will, is the intermediary between the Divine Infinity (Ein Sof
) and Chochmah. Because Keter is a supreme revelation of the Ohr Ein Sof
(Infinite Light), transcending the manifest sephirot, it is sometimes excluded from them.
Ayin is closely associated with the Ein Sof (Hebrew
אין סוף), which is understood as the Deity
prior to His self-manifestation in the creation of the spiritual and physical realms, single Infinite unity beyond any description or limitation. From the perspective of the emanated created realms, Creation takes place "Yesh me-Ayin" ("Something from Nothing"). From the Divine perspective, Creation takes place "Ayin me-Yesh" ("Nothing from Something"), as only God has absolute existence; Creation is dependent on the continuous flow
of Divine lifeforce, without which it would revert to nothingness. Since the 13th century, Ayin has been one of the most important words used in kabbalistic texts. The symbolism associated with the word Ayin was greatly emphasized by Moses de León
(c. 1250 – 1305), a Spanish
rabbi
and kabbalist, through the Zohar
, the foundational work of Kabbalah. In Hasidism Ayin relates to the internal psychological experience of Deveikut ("cleaving" to God amidst physicality), and the contemplative
perception of paradoxical Yesh-Ayin Divine Panentheism
, "There is no place empty of Him".
In his Arabic language
work Emunoth ve-Deoth
("Beliefs and Opinions"), Saadia Gaon
, a prominent 9th century rabbi and the first great Jewish philosopher
, argues that "the world came into existence out of nothingness". This thesis was first translated into Hebrew as "yesh me-Ayin", meaning "something from nothing", in the 11th century.
Ninth and 10th century Jewish philosophers adopted the concept of "yesh me-Ayin", contradicting Greek philosophers and Aristotelian
view that the world was created out of primordial matter and/or was eternal
.
Both Maimonides
and the centuries earlier author of the kabbalistic related work Sefer Yetzirah
"accepted the formulation of Creation, "yesh me-Ayin."" Chapter 2, Mishnah 6 of the latter includes the sentence: "He made His Ayin, Yesh". This statement, like most in Jewish religious texts, can be interpreted in different ways: for example, "He made that which wasn't into that which is", or "He turned His nothingness into something." Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi, who wrote a commentary on Sefer Yetzirah in 14th century and Azriel of Gerona, Azriel ben Menahem
, one of the most important kabbalists in the Catalan
town of Girona
(north of Barcelona
) during the 13th century, interpreted the Mishnah's "He made His Ayin, Yesh" as "creation of "yesh me-Ayin.""
Maimonides and other Jewish philosophers
argued a doctrine of "negative theology", which says there are no words to describe what God is, and we can only describe what "God is not". Kabbalah
accepted this in relation to Ayin, becoming one of the philosophical concepts underlying its significance. However, Kabbalah involves itself with the different, more radical proposition that God becomes known through His emanations of Sephirot, and spiritual Realms
, Emanator ("Ma'ohr
") and emanations ("Ohr
") comprising the two aspects of Divinity.
For kabbalists, Ayin became the word to describe the most ancient stage of creation and was therefore somewhat paradox
ical, as it was not completely compatible with "creation from nothing". Ayin became for kabbalists a symbol of "supreme existence" and "the mystical secret of being and non-being became united in the profound and powerful symbol of the Ayin". There is also a paradoxical relationship between the meaning of Ayin and Yesh from kabbalistic point of view. Rachel Elior
, professor of Jewish philosophy and mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
, writes that for kabbalists Ayin (nothingness) "clothes itself" in Yesh (everything there is) as "concealed Torah
clothes itself in revealed Torah".
, a fourteenth-century kabbalist, says:
Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi
says:
master Dov Ber of Mezeritch says:
This reflects the orientation of Hasidism to internalise Kabbalistic descriptions to their psychological correspondence in man, making Deveikut (cleaving to God) central to Judaism. The populist aspect of Hasidism revived common folk through the nearness of God, especially reflected in Hasidic storytelling and the public activity of the Baal Shem Tov, Hasidism's founder. Dov Ber, uncompromising esoteric mystic and organiser of the movement's future leaders, developed the elite aspect of Hasidic meditation
reflected in Bittul (annihilation of ego) in the Divine Ayin Nothingness.
Schneur Zalman of Liadi, one of Dov Ber's inner circle of followers, developed Hasidic thought into an intellectual philosophical
system that related the Kabbalistic scheme to its interpretation in the Hasidic doctrine of Panentheism
. The Habad follower contemplates the Hasidic interpretation of Kabbalistic structures, including the concept of Ayin, during prolonged prayer. Where Kabbalah is concerned with cattegorising the Heveanly realms using anthroporphic terminology, these texts of Hasidic philosophy seek to perceive the Divinty within the structures, by relating to their correspondence in man using analogies from man's experience. Rachel Elior
termed her academic study of Habad intellectual contemplation "the Paradoxical ascent to God", as it describes the dialectical paradox of Yesh-Ayin of Creation. In the second section of his magnum opus Tanya
, Schneur Zalman explains the Monistic
illusionary
Ayin nullification of Created Existence from the Divine perspective of "Upper Unity". The human perspective in contemplation sees Creation as real Yesh existence, though completely nullified to its continuous vitalising Divine lifeforce
, the perception of "Lower Unity". In another text of Schneur Zalman:
Here, the Lower Unity perspective is ultimately false, arising out of illusionary concealment of Divinity. In Schneur Zalman's explanation, Hasidism interprets the Kabbalistic Lurianic
doctrine of Tzimtzum
(apparent "Withdrawl" of God to allow Creation to take place) as only an illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof. In truth, the Ein Sof and the Ohr Ein Sof still fills all Creation, without any change at all from God's perspective.
(the Divine "Essence"). The Ein Sof, while beyond all differentiation or limitation, is restricted to Infinite expression. The true Divine essence is above even Infinite-Finite relationship. God's essence can be equally manifest in finitude as in infinitude, as found in the Talmudic statement that the Ark of the Covenant
in the First Temple
took up no space. While it measured its own normal width and length, the measurements from each side to the walls of the Holy of Holies together totalled the full width and length of the sanctuary. Atzmus represents the core Divine essence itself, as it relates to the ultimate purpose of Creation in Hasidic thought that "God desired a dwelling place in the lower Realms", which will be fulfilled in this physical, finite, lowest world, through performance of the Jewish observances.
This gives the Hasidic explanation why Nachmanides and the Kabbalists
ruled that the final eschatological
era will be in this World, against Maimonides
's view that it will be in Heaven, in accordance with his philosophical
view of the elevation of intellect over materiality in relating to God. In Kabbalah, the superiority of this world is to enable the revelation of the complete Divine emanations
, for the benefit of Creation, as God Himself lacks no perfection. For example, the ultimate expression of the sephirah of Kindness is most fully revealed when it relates to our lowest, physical World. However, the Hasidic interpretation sees the Kabbalistic explanations as not the ultimate reason, as, like Kabbalah in general, it relates to the Heavenly realms, which are not the ultimate purpose of Creation. The revelation of Divinity in the Heavenly realms
is supreme, and superior to the present concealment of God in this World. However, it is still only a limited manifestation of Divinity, the revelation
of the Sephirot attributes of God's Wisdom, Understanding, Kindness, Might, Harmony, Glory and so forth, while God's Infinite Ein Sof
and Ohr Ein Sof
transcend all Worlds beyond reach. In contrast, the physical performance of the Mitzvot in this world, instead relate to, and ultimately will reveal, the Divine essence.
In Hasidic terminology, the separate realms of physicality and spirituality are united through their higher source in the Divine essence. In the Biblical account, God descended on Mount Sinai
to speak to the Israelites "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" ("I am God your Lord"). This is explained in Hasidic thought to describe Atzmus, the Divine essence (Anochi-"I"), uniting the separate Kabbalistic manifestation
realms of spirituality (Hashem-The Tetragrammaton
name of Infinite transcendent emanation) and physicality (Elokecha-The name of God
relating to finite immanent lifeforce of Creation). Before the Torah was given, physical objects could not become sanctified. The commandments of Jewish observance, stemmining from the ultimate Divine purpose of Creation in Atzmus, enabled physical objects to be used for spiritual purposes, uniting the two realms and embodying Atzmus. In this ultimate theology, through Jewish observance, man converts the illusionary Ayin-nothingness "Upper Unity" nullification of Creation into revealing its ultimate expression as the ultimate true Divine Yesh-existence of Atzmus. Indeed, this gives the inner reason in Hasidic thought why this world falsely perceives itself to exist, independent of Divinity, due to the concealment of the vitalising Divine lifeforce in this world. As this world is the ultimate purpose and realm of Atzmus, the true Divine Yesh-existence, so externally it perceives its own Created material Yesh-existence ego.
In Habad systemisation of Hasidic philosophy
, God's Atzmut-essence relates to the 5th Yechidah Kabbalistic Etzem-essence level of the soul, the innermost Etzem-essence root of the Divine Will in Keter
, and the 5th Yechidah Etzem-essence level of the Torah, the soul of the 4 Pardes
levels of Torah interpretation, expressed in the essence of Hasidic thought. In the Sephirot, Keter
, the transcendent Divine Will, becomes revealed and actualised in Creation through the first manifest Sephirah Chochmah
-Wisdom. Similarly, the essential Hasidic purpose-Will of Creation, a "dwelling place for God's Atzmus-essence in the lowest world", becomes actualised through the process of elevating the sparks of holiness embeded in material objects, through using them for Jewish observances, the Lurianic
scheme in Kabbalah-Wisdom. Once all the fallen sparks of holiness are redeemed, the Messianic Era begins. In Hasidic explanation, through completing this esoteric Kabbalah-Wisdom process, thereby the more sublime ultimate Divine purpose-Will is achieved, revealing this World to be the Atzmus "dwelling place" of God. In Kabbalah, the Torah is the Divine blueprint of Creation: "God looked into the Torah and created the World". The Sephirah Keter
is the Supreme Will underlying this blueprint, the source of origin of the Torah. According to Hasidic thought, "the Torah derives from Chochmah
-Wisdom, but its source and root surpasses exceedingly the level of Chochmah, and is called the Supreme Will". This means that according to Hasidic thought, Torah is an expression of Divine Reason. Reason is focused towards achieving a certain goal. However, the very purpose of achieving that goal transcends and permeates the rational faculty. Once reason achieves the goal, the higher innermost essential will's delight is fulfilled, the revelation of Atzmus
in this World. Accordingly, Hasidic thought says that then this World will give life to the spiritual Worlds, and the human body will give life to the soul. The Yesh of ego will be nullified in the Divine Ayin, becoming the reflection of the true Divine Yesh.
, interpreted non-literally in Hasidic Panentheism
. God remains within the apparent "vacated" space of Creation, just as before, as "I the Eternal, I have not changed" (Malachi
3:6), the Infinite "Upper Unity" that nullifies Creation into Ayin-nothingness. Creation, while dependent on continual creative lifeforce, perceives its own Yesh-existence, the Finite "Lower Unity". The absolute unity of Atzmus, the ultimate expression of Judaism's Monotheism
, unites the two opposites. Maimonides
codifies the Messianic Era and the physical Resurrection of the Dead as the traditionally accepted last two Jewish principles of faith
, with Kabbalah ruling the Resurrection to be the final, permanent eschatology
. Presently, the supernal Heavenly realms
perceive the immanent Divine creative Light of Mimalei Kol Olmim
("Filling all Worlds"), according to their innumerably varied descending levels. In the Messianic Era, this world will perceive the transcendent Light of Sovev Kol Olmim
("Encompassing all Worlds"). In the Era of the Resurrection, generated through preceding Jewish observance "from below", the true presence of Atzmus will be revealed in finite physical Creation. A foretaste of this was temporarily experienced at Mount Sinai, when the whole Nation of Israel heard the Divine pronouncement, while remaining in physicality. As this was imposed "from above" by God, the Midrash
says that God revived their souls from expiring with the future "Dew of the Resurrection".
, an American-Jewish writer and a Nobel Prize
laureate, remembers how he studied Kabbalah and tried to comprehend how could have it been that he
Scientific theories of the Big Bang
and ideas about the Universe
being created out of nothingness resembles those expressed in Kabbalah. "One reads Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time, perhaps a sign of things to come, and the affinities with Kabbalah are striking."
Kenneth Hanson sees similarity in the Kabbalistic idea that Hebrew letters were the material of which the Universe was built and Stephen Hawking
's explanation why Albert Einstein
's Theory of relativity
will break down at some point that he called the "singularity
". Hanson says that although Hebrew letters have shapes they are actually made out of nothing, as well as the singularity of the Big Bang. Hanson also argues that the singularity of Black holes could be compared to Kabbalistic "spheres of nothing", as it was written in an early Kabbalistic text Sefer Yetzirah: "For that which is light is not-darkness, and that which is darkness is not-light."
In their book The Grand Design
physicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
argue that there was nothing before the Beginning, and explain it by comparing the Beginning to South Pole
. They say: "there is nothing south of the South Pole", and there was nothing before the Beginning.
Jewish Philosophy:
Kabbalah:
Hasidic thought:
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
and Hasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus , alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations of Judaism, and mysticism articulated by the modern Hasidic movement...
. It is contrasted with the term Yesh ("something/existence/being/is"). According to kabbalistic teachings, before the universe was created there was only Ayin, and the first manifest Sephirah (Divine emanation), Chochmah
Chokhmah (Kabbalah)
Chokhmah in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the uppermost of the Sephirot of the right line . It is derived from the Hebrew word chokhmah which means "wisdom". It is to the bottom right of Keter, and with Binah across it. Under it are the sephirot of Chesed and Netzach...
(Wisdom), "comes into being out of Ayin." In this context, the sephirah Keter
Keter
*Keter in Kabbalah, is one of the ten Sephirot *Keter or kether כתר is the Hebrew word for "Crown ", as worn by a king or queen* Keter Publishing House is a book publisher based in Israel...
, the Divine will, is the intermediary between the Divine Infinity (Ein Sof
Ein Sof
Ein Sof , in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to His self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual Realm, probably derived from Ibn Gabirol's term, "the Endless One"...
) and Chochmah. Because Keter is a supreme revelation of the Ohr Ein Sof
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
(Infinite Light), transcending the manifest sephirot, it is sometimes excluded from them.
Ayin is closely associated with the Ein Sof (Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
אין סוף), which is understood as the Deity
God in Judaism
The conception of God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one indivisible incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable, and that it is only God's revealed aspect that...
prior to His self-manifestation in the creation of the spiritual and physical realms, single Infinite unity beyond any description or limitation. From the perspective of the emanated created realms, Creation takes place "Yesh me-Ayin" ("Something from Nothing"). From the Divine perspective, Creation takes place "Ayin me-Yesh" ("Nothing from Something"), as only God has absolute existence; Creation is dependent on the continuous flow
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
of Divine lifeforce, without which it would revert to nothingness. Since the 13th century, Ayin has been one of the most important words used in kabbalistic texts. The symbolism associated with the word Ayin was greatly emphasized by Moses de León
Moses de Leon
Moses de León , known in Hebrew as Moshe ben Shem-Tov , was a Spanish rabbi and Kabbalist who is thought of as the composer or redactor of the Zohar. It is a matter of controversy if the Zohar is his own work, or that he committed traditions going back to Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai in writing...
(c. 1250 – 1305), a Spanish
History of the Jews in Spain
Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities under Muslim and Christian rule in Spain, before the majority, together with resident Muslims, were forced to convert to Catholicism, be expelled or be killed when Spain became united under the Catholic Monarchs...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and kabbalist, through the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
, the foundational work of Kabbalah. In Hasidism Ayin relates to the internal psychological experience of Deveikut ("cleaving" to God amidst physicality), and the contemplative
Jewish meditation
Jewish meditation can refer to several traditional practices of contemplation, ranging from visualization and intuitive methods, or forms of emotional insight in communitive prayer, to intellectual analysis of philosophical, ethical or mystical concepts...
perception of paradoxical Yesh-Ayin Divine Panentheism
Panentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
, "There is no place empty of Him".
History of Ayin-Yesh
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
work Emunoth ve-Deoth
Emunoth ve-Deoth
Emunoth ve-Deoth or Emunoth w'D'oth written by Rabbi Saadia Gaon - originally Kitāb ul-ʾamānāt wal-iʿtiqādāt - was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism. The work is prefaced by an introduction and has ten chapters; it was completed in 933...
("Beliefs and Opinions"), Saadia Gaon
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
, a prominent 9th century rabbi and the first great Jewish philosopher
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
, argues that "the world came into existence out of nothingness". This thesis was first translated into Hebrew as "yesh me-Ayin", meaning "something from nothing", in the 11th century.
Ninth and 10th century Jewish philosophers adopted the concept of "yesh me-Ayin", contradicting Greek philosophers and Aristotelian
Aristotelian view of God
The Aristotelian and Neo-Aristotelian views of God have been influential in Western intellectual history.-The Metaphysics:In his book on first philosophy, which most now call the Metaphysics, Aristotle discussed the meaning of "being as being". Aristotle concluded that "being" primarily refers to...
view that the world was created out of primordial matter and/or was eternal
Eternity
While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existence for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside time. By contrast, infinite temporal existence is then called sempiternity. Something eternal exists outside time; by contrast,...
.
Both Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
and the centuries earlier author of the kabbalistic related work Sefer Yetzirah
Sefer Yetzirah
Sefer Yetzirah is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah...
"accepted the formulation of Creation, "yesh me-Ayin."" Chapter 2, Mishnah 6 of the latter includes the sentence: "He made His Ayin, Yesh". This statement, like most in Jewish religious texts, can be interpreted in different ways: for example, "He made that which wasn't into that which is", or "He turned His nothingness into something." Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi, who wrote a commentary on Sefer Yetzirah in 14th century and Azriel of Gerona, Azriel ben Menahem
Azriel (Jewish mystic)
Azriel of Gerona, Azriel ben Menahem was one of the most important kabbalists in the Catalan town of Girona during the thirteenth century when it was an important center of Kabbalah...
, one of the most important kabbalists in the Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
town of Girona
Girona
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...
(north of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
) during the 13th century, interpreted the Mishnah's "He made His Ayin, Yesh" as "creation of "yesh me-Ayin.""
Maimonides and other Jewish philosophers
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
argued a doctrine of "negative theology", which says there are no words to describe what God is, and we can only describe what "God is not". Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
accepted this in relation to Ayin, becoming one of the philosophical concepts underlying its significance. However, Kabbalah involves itself with the different, more radical proposition that God becomes known through His emanations of Sephirot, and spiritual Realms
Seder hishtalshelus
Seder hishtalshelus means the "order of development" or "order of evolution", where the word Hishtalshelus is derived from the reduplicated quadriliteral root ŠLŠL "to chain", and so literally means "the chain-like process"...
, Emanator ("Ma'ohr
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
") and emanations ("Ohr
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
") comprising the two aspects of Divinity.
For kabbalists, Ayin became the word to describe the most ancient stage of creation and was therefore somewhat paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
ical, as it was not completely compatible with "creation from nothing". Ayin became for kabbalists a symbol of "supreme existence" and "the mystical secret of being and non-being became united in the profound and powerful symbol of the Ayin". There is also a paradoxical relationship between the meaning of Ayin and Yesh from kabbalistic point of view. Rachel Elior
Rachel Elior
Rachel Elior is an Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy and mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jerusalem, Israel.-Academic career:...
, professor of Jewish philosophy and mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, writes that for kabbalists Ayin (nothingness) "clothes itself" in Yesh (everything there is) as "concealed Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
clothes itself in revealed Torah".
Kabbalists on Ayin-Yesh
David ben Abraham ha-LabanDavid ben Abraham ha-Laban
David ben Abraham ha-Laban was a French religious philosopher and kabalist who lived after 1200. His grandfather, Judah, was rabbi of Coucy-le-Château....
, a fourteenth-century kabbalist, says:
Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi
Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi
Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi is an author of books on the Toledano Tradition of Kabbalah, a teacher of the discipline, with a worldwide following, and a founder member of the Kabbalah Society.-Early life:...
says:
Ayin-Yesh in Hasidism
HasidicHasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
master Dov Ber of Mezeritch says:
This reflects the orientation of Hasidism to internalise Kabbalistic descriptions to their psychological correspondence in man, making Deveikut (cleaving to God) central to Judaism. The populist aspect of Hasidism revived common folk through the nearness of God, especially reflected in Hasidic storytelling and the public activity of the Baal Shem Tov, Hasidism's founder. Dov Ber, uncompromising esoteric mystic and organiser of the movement's future leaders, developed the elite aspect of Hasidic meditation
Jewish meditation
Jewish meditation can refer to several traditional practices of contemplation, ranging from visualization and intuitive methods, or forms of emotional insight in communitive prayer, to intellectual analysis of philosophical, ethical or mystical concepts...
reflected in Bittul (annihilation of ego) in the Divine Ayin Nothingness.
Schneur Zalman of Liadi, one of Dov Ber's inner circle of followers, developed Hasidic thought into an intellectual philosophical
Hasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus , alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations of Judaism, and mysticism articulated by the modern Hasidic movement...
system that related the Kabbalistic scheme to its interpretation in the Hasidic doctrine of Panentheism
Panentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
. The Habad follower contemplates the Hasidic interpretation of Kabbalistic structures, including the concept of Ayin, during prolonged prayer. Where Kabbalah is concerned with cattegorising the Heveanly realms using anthroporphic terminology, these texts of Hasidic philosophy seek to perceive the Divinty within the structures, by relating to their correspondence in man using analogies from man's experience. Rachel Elior
Rachel Elior
Rachel Elior is an Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy and mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jerusalem, Israel.-Academic career:...
termed her academic study of Habad intellectual contemplation "the Paradoxical ascent to God", as it describes the dialectical paradox of Yesh-Ayin of Creation. In the second section of his magnum opus Tanya
Tanya
The Tanya is an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1797. Its formal title is Likkutei Amarim , but is more commonly known by its opening word, Tanya, which means "it was taught in a beraita"...
, Schneur Zalman explains the Monistic
Monism
Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry. Accordingly, some philosophers may hold that the universe is one rather than dualistic or pluralistic...
illusionary
Acosmism
Acosmism, in contrast to pantheism, denies the reality of the universe, seeing it as ultimately illusory, , and only the infinite unmanifest Absolute as real....
Ayin nullification of Created Existence from the Divine perspective of "Upper Unity". The human perspective in contemplation sees Creation as real Yesh existence, though completely nullified to its continuous vitalising Divine lifeforce
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
, the perception of "Lower Unity". In another text of Schneur Zalman:
Here, the Lower Unity perspective is ultimately false, arising out of illusionary concealment of Divinity. In Schneur Zalman's explanation, Hasidism interprets the Kabbalistic Lurianic
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
doctrine of Tzimtzum
Tzimtzum
Tzimtzum is a term used in the kabbalistic teaching of Isaac Luria, explaining his concept that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his infinite light in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which a finite and seemingly independent world could exist...
(apparent "Withdrawl" of God to allow Creation to take place) as only an illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof. In truth, the Ein Sof and the Ohr Ein Sof still fills all Creation, without any change at all from God's perspective.
Atzmus-Essence resolving the Ayin-Yesh paradox of Creation
In Habad systemisation of Hasidic thought, the term Ein Sof ("Unlimited" Infinite) itself does not capture the very essence of God. Instead it uses the term AtzmusAtzmus
Atzmus/Atzmut meaning "essence", is the descriptive term referred to in Kabbalah, and explored in Hasidic thought, for the Divine essence....
(the Divine "Essence"). The Ein Sof, while beyond all differentiation or limitation, is restricted to Infinite expression. The true Divine essence is above even Infinite-Finite relationship. God's essence can be equally manifest in finitude as in infinitude, as found in the Talmudic statement that the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
in the First Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
took up no space. While it measured its own normal width and length, the measurements from each side to the walls of the Holy of Holies together totalled the full width and length of the sanctuary. Atzmus represents the core Divine essence itself, as it relates to the ultimate purpose of Creation in Hasidic thought that "God desired a dwelling place in the lower Realms", which will be fulfilled in this physical, finite, lowest world, through performance of the Jewish observances.
This gives the Hasidic explanation why Nachmanides and the Kabbalists
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
ruled that the final eschatological
Jewish eschatology
Jewish eschatology is concerned with the Jewish Messiah, afterlife, and the revival of the dead. Eschatology, generically, is the area of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world, the ultimate destiny of humanity, and related concepts.-The Messiah:The...
era will be in this World, against Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
's view that it will be in Heaven, in accordance with his philosophical
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
view of the elevation of intellect over materiality in relating to God. In Kabbalah, the superiority of this world is to enable the revelation of the complete Divine emanations
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
, for the benefit of Creation, as God Himself lacks no perfection. For example, the ultimate expression of the sephirah of Kindness is most fully revealed when it relates to our lowest, physical World. However, the Hasidic interpretation sees the Kabbalistic explanations as not the ultimate reason, as, like Kabbalah in general, it relates to the Heavenly realms, which are not the ultimate purpose of Creation. The revelation of Divinity in the Heavenly realms
Four Worlds
The Four Worlds , sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence....
is supreme, and superior to the present concealment of God in this World. However, it is still only a limited manifestation of Divinity, the revelation
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
of the Sephirot attributes of God's Wisdom, Understanding, Kindness, Might, Harmony, Glory and so forth, while God's Infinite Ein Sof
Ein Sof
Ein Sof , in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to His self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual Realm, probably derived from Ibn Gabirol's term, "the Endless One"...
and Ohr Ein Sof
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
transcend all Worlds beyond reach. In contrast, the physical performance of the Mitzvot in this world, instead relate to, and ultimately will reveal, the Divine essence.
In Hasidic terminology, the separate realms of physicality and spirituality are united through their higher source in the Divine essence. In the Biblical account, God descended on Mount Sinai
Biblical Mount Sinai
The Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...
to speak to the Israelites "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" ("I am God your Lord"). This is explained in Hasidic thought to describe Atzmus, the Divine essence (Anochi-"I"), uniting the separate Kabbalistic manifestation
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
realms of spirituality (Hashem-The Tetragrammaton
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
name of Infinite transcendent emanation) and physicality (Elokecha-The name of God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
relating to finite immanent lifeforce of Creation). Before the Torah was given, physical objects could not become sanctified. The commandments of Jewish observance, stemmining from the ultimate Divine purpose of Creation in Atzmus, enabled physical objects to be used for spiritual purposes, uniting the two realms and embodying Atzmus. In this ultimate theology, through Jewish observance, man converts the illusionary Ayin-nothingness "Upper Unity" nullification of Creation into revealing its ultimate expression as the ultimate true Divine Yesh-existence of Atzmus. Indeed, this gives the inner reason in Hasidic thought why this world falsely perceives itself to exist, independent of Divinity, due to the concealment of the vitalising Divine lifeforce in this world. As this world is the ultimate purpose and realm of Atzmus, the true Divine Yesh-existence, so externally it perceives its own Created material Yesh-existence ego.
In Habad systemisation of Hasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus , alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations of Judaism, and mysticism articulated by the modern Hasidic movement...
, God's Atzmut-essence relates to the 5th Yechidah Kabbalistic Etzem-essence level of the soul, the innermost Etzem-essence root of the Divine Will in Keter
Keter
*Keter in Kabbalah, is one of the ten Sephirot *Keter or kether כתר is the Hebrew word for "Crown ", as worn by a king or queen* Keter Publishing House is a book publisher based in Israel...
, and the 5th Yechidah Etzem-essence level of the Torah, the soul of the 4 Pardes
Pardes (Jewish exegesis)
Pardes refers to approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism . The term, sometimes also spelled PaRDeS, is an acronym formed from the name initials of the following four approaches:...
levels of Torah interpretation, expressed in the essence of Hasidic thought. In the Sephirot, Keter
Keter
*Keter in Kabbalah, is one of the ten Sephirot *Keter or kether כתר is the Hebrew word for "Crown ", as worn by a king or queen* Keter Publishing House is a book publisher based in Israel...
, the transcendent Divine Will, becomes revealed and actualised in Creation through the first manifest Sephirah Chochmah
Chokhmah (Kabbalah)
Chokhmah in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the uppermost of the Sephirot of the right line . It is derived from the Hebrew word chokhmah which means "wisdom". It is to the bottom right of Keter, and with Binah across it. Under it are the sephirot of Chesed and Netzach...
-Wisdom. Similarly, the essential Hasidic purpose-Will of Creation, a "dwelling place for God's Atzmus-essence in the lowest world", becomes actualised through the process of elevating the sparks of holiness embeded in material objects, through using them for Jewish observances, the Lurianic
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
scheme in Kabbalah-Wisdom. Once all the fallen sparks of holiness are redeemed, the Messianic Era begins. In Hasidic explanation, through completing this esoteric Kabbalah-Wisdom process, thereby the more sublime ultimate Divine purpose-Will is achieved, revealing this World to be the Atzmus "dwelling place" of God. In Kabbalah, the Torah is the Divine blueprint of Creation: "God looked into the Torah and created the World". The Sephirah Keter
Keter
*Keter in Kabbalah, is one of the ten Sephirot *Keter or kether כתר is the Hebrew word for "Crown ", as worn by a king or queen* Keter Publishing House is a book publisher based in Israel...
is the Supreme Will underlying this blueprint, the source of origin of the Torah. According to Hasidic thought, "the Torah derives from Chochmah
Chokhmah (Kabbalah)
Chokhmah in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the uppermost of the Sephirot of the right line . It is derived from the Hebrew word chokhmah which means "wisdom". It is to the bottom right of Keter, and with Binah across it. Under it are the sephirot of Chesed and Netzach...
-Wisdom, but its source and root surpasses exceedingly the level of Chochmah, and is called the Supreme Will". This means that according to Hasidic thought, Torah is an expression of Divine Reason. Reason is focused towards achieving a certain goal. However, the very purpose of achieving that goal transcends and permeates the rational faculty. Once reason achieves the goal, the higher innermost essential will's delight is fulfilled, the revelation of Atzmus
Atzmus
Atzmus/Atzmut meaning "essence", is the descriptive term referred to in Kabbalah, and explored in Hasidic thought, for the Divine essence....
in this World. Accordingly, Hasidic thought says that then this World will give life to the spiritual Worlds, and the human body will give life to the soul. The Yesh of ego will be nullified in the Divine Ayin, becoming the reflection of the true Divine Yesh.
Atzmus in the eschatological future
The resolution of the Ayin-Yesh paradox of Creation through Atzmus is beyond present understanding, as it unites the Finite-Infinite paradox of Divinity. This is represented in the paradox of the Lurianic TzimtzumTzimtzum
Tzimtzum is a term used in the kabbalistic teaching of Isaac Luria, explaining his concept that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his infinite light in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which a finite and seemingly independent world could exist...
, interpreted non-literally in Hasidic Panentheism
Panentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
. God remains within the apparent "vacated" space of Creation, just as before, as "I the Eternal, I have not changed" (Malachi
Malachi
Malachi, Malachias or Mal'achi was a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah. Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Jewish Tanakh...
3:6), the Infinite "Upper Unity" that nullifies Creation into Ayin-nothingness. Creation, while dependent on continual creative lifeforce, perceives its own Yesh-existence, the Finite "Lower Unity". The absolute unity of Atzmus, the ultimate expression of Judaism's Monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
, unites the two opposites. Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
codifies the Messianic Era and the physical Resurrection of the Dead as the traditionally accepted last two Jewish principles of faith
Jewish principles of faith
The concept of an explicit, paramount definition of faith does not exist in Judaism as it does in other monotheistic religions such as Christianity. Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheistic principles, and there are many fundamental principles quoted in the Talmud to define...
, with Kabbalah ruling the Resurrection to be the final, permanent eschatology
Jewish eschatology
Jewish eschatology is concerned with the Jewish Messiah, afterlife, and the revival of the dead. Eschatology, generically, is the area of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world, the ultimate destiny of humanity, and related concepts.-The Messiah:The...
. Presently, the supernal Heavenly realms
Four Worlds
The Four Worlds , sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence....
perceive the immanent Divine creative Light of Mimalei Kol Olmim
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
("Filling all Worlds"), according to their innumerably varied descending levels. In the Messianic Era, this world will perceive the transcendent Light of Sovev Kol Olmim
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
("Encompassing all Worlds"). In the Era of the Resurrection, generated through preceding Jewish observance "from below", the true presence of Atzmus will be revealed in finite physical Creation. A foretaste of this was temporarily experienced at Mount Sinai, when the whole Nation of Israel heard the Divine pronouncement, while remaining in physicality. As this was imposed "from above" by God, the Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
says that God revived their souls from expiring with the future "Dew of the Resurrection".
The concept of Ayin-Yesh in literature and science
In his autobiographical trilogy Love and Exile, Isaac Bashevis SingerIsaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer – July 24, 1991) was a Polish Jewish American author noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978...
, an American-Jewish writer and a Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureate, remembers how he studied Kabbalah and tried to comprehend how could have it been that he
Scientific theories of the Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
and ideas about the Universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
being created out of nothingness resembles those expressed in Kabbalah. "One reads Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time, perhaps a sign of things to come, and the affinities with Kabbalah are striking."
Kenneth Hanson sees similarity in the Kabbalistic idea that Hebrew letters were the material of which the Universe was built and Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
's explanation why Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's Theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
will break down at some point that he called the "singularity
Mathematical singularity
In mathematics, a singularity is in general a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined, or a point of an exceptional set where it fails to be well-behaved in some particular way, such as differentiability...
". Hanson says that although Hebrew letters have shapes they are actually made out of nothing, as well as the singularity of the Big Bang. Hanson also argues that the singularity of Black holes could be compared to Kabbalistic "spheres of nothing", as it was written in an early Kabbalistic text Sefer Yetzirah: "For that which is light is not-darkness, and that which is darkness is not-light."
In their book The Grand Design
The Grand Design (book)
The Grand Design is a popular-science book written by physicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow and published by Bantam Books in 2010. It argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe, and that the Big Bang is a consequence of the laws of physics alone...
physicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Leonard Mlodinow
Leonard Mlodinow is a physicist and author.Mlodinow was born in Chicago, Illinois, of parents who were both Holocaust survivors. His father, who spent more than a year in the Buchenwald concentration camp, had been a leader in the Jewish resistance under Nazi rule in his hometown of Częstochowa,...
argue that there was nothing before the Beginning, and explain it by comparing the Beginning to South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
. They say: "there is nothing south of the South Pole", and there was nothing before the Beginning.
See also
- God in JudaismGod in JudaismThe conception of God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one indivisible incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable, and that it is only God's revealed aspect that...
- Jewish meditationJewish meditationJewish meditation can refer to several traditional practices of contemplation, ranging from visualization and intuitive methods, or forms of emotional insight in communitive prayer, to intellectual analysis of philosophical, ethical or mystical concepts...
Jewish Philosophy:
- Negative theologyNegative theologyApophatic theology —also known as negative theology or via negativa —is a theology that attempts to describe God, the Divine Good, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God...
Kabbalah:
- Ein SofEin SofEin Sof , in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to His self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual Realm, probably derived from Ibn Gabirol's term, "the Endless One"...
- Ohr Ein SofOhrOhr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
- TzimtzumTzimtzumTzimtzum is a term used in the kabbalistic teaching of Isaac Luria, explaining his concept that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his infinite light in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which a finite and seemingly independent world could exist...
- KeterKeter*Keter in Kabbalah, is one of the ten Sephirot *Keter or kether כתר is the Hebrew word for "Crown ", as worn by a king or queen* Keter Publishing House is a book publisher based in Israel...
- Arich AnpinArich AnpinArich/Arikh Anpin is an aspect of Divine emanation in Kabbalah, identified with the sephirah attribute of Keter, the Divine Will....
Hasidic thought:
- Daat Elyon and Daat Tachton
- Divine Providence and Unity in Hasidism
- AtzmusAtzmusAtzmus/Atzmut meaning "essence", is the descriptive term referred to in Kabbalah, and explored in Hasidic thought, for the Divine essence....
- The Tzadik in HasidismTzadikTzadik/Zadik/Sadiq is a title given to personalities in Jewish tradition considered righteous, such as Biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ṣ-d-q , which means "justice" or "righteousness", also the root of Tzedakah...
Further reading
- Ayin: The Concept of Nothingness in Jewish Mysticism, Daniel C. Matt, in Essential Papers on Kabbalah, ed. by Lawrence Fine, NYU Press 2000, ISBN 0814726291
- The Paradigms of Yesh and Ayin in Hasidic Thought, Rachel Elior, in Hasidism Reappraised, ed. by Ada Rapoport-Albert, Littman Library 1997, ISBN 1874774358