{"id":116,"date":"2006-10-05T19:17:02","date_gmt":"2006-10-05T19:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summametaphysica.com\/ge\/90010-contraction-of-divine-consciousness\/90012-grounding\/90012c-divine-contractions-and-tsimtsum\/"},"modified":"2018-04-23T21:11:15","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T21:11:15","slug":"90012c-divine-contractions-and-tsimtsum","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.summametaphysica.com\/ge\/90010-contraction-of-divine-consciousness\/90012-grounding\/90012c-divine-contractions-and-tsimtsum\/","title":{"rendered":"900.12c Divine Contractions and Tsimtsum<\/i> (pps.127-129)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mankind’s growth requires elements of Divine contraction. This is an extension of the important kabbalistic motif that Divine contraction waslis necessary for the very existence of the world.<\/p>\n

The concept of contraction appears in both the Midrash and the Kabbalah. In the voluminous kabbalistic literature it often recurs in many forms. Its principal form is that of tsimtsum<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tsimtsum<\/em> originally means “concentration” or “contraction,” but if used in the Kabbalistic parlance it is best translated by “withdrawal” or “retreat.” . . . The Midrash-in sayings originating from third century teachers~occasionally refers to God as having concentrated His Shekhinah<\/em>, His divine presence, in the holiest of holies, at the place of the Cherubim<\/em>, as though His whole power were concentrated and contracted in a single point. Here we have the origin of the term Tsimtsum, while the thing itself is the precise opposite of this idea: to the Kabbalist of Luria’s school Tsimtsum<\/em> does not mean the concentration of God at a point, but his retreat away from a point.
\n-Scholem504<\/sup><\/p>\n

How did He produce and create the world? Like a man who gathers in and contracts (metsamtsem<\/em>) his breath, so that the smaller might contain the larger, so He contracted His light into a hand’s breadth.
\n-Sefer ha-Iyyun505<\/sup><\/p>\n

The world becomes possible only through the special act of Divine withdrawal or contraction [tsimtsum<\/em>]. Such Divine nonBeing or concealment, is thus the elementary condition for the existence of that which is finite.
\n-Steinsaltz506<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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504 <\/sup>Scholem, Major Trends inJewish Mysticism,<\/em> p. 260.<\/p>\n

505 <\/sup>Sefer ha-Iyyun,<\/em> cited by G. Scholem in Encyclopaedia Judaica<\/em>, vol. 10, col. 588 S.V. “Kabbalah,” as “the basic source of the zimzum<\/em> doctrine.”<\/p>\n

506 <\/sup>Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petalled Rose<\/em>, p. 37.<\/p>\n

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Thus our formulation is predicated on a parallel Divine tsimtsum to carry forward the potential of creation. Metaphorically, the All-Potential Face and the All-Mercy Face of the Divine force a contraction of the All-Power (Gevurah<\/em>) Face and the AllKnowledge Face of the Divine.<\/p>\n

Kabbalistic doctrine is far from limited to one version of tsimtsum, particularly with regard to creation. There is considerable discussion, including whether or not tsimtsum<\/em> is to be taken literally and whether or not tsimtsum is even unitary. (For instance, Aaron ha-Levi of Staroselye bases his system in his work Avodat ha-Levi <\/em>on the premise of a “double tsimtsum<\/em>.”507<\/sup>)<\/p>\n

The Midrash applies the concept of Divine contractionldecontraction to the postcreation world, as well.<\/p>\n

Originally God’s home manifested in earth’s nether sphere; when Adam sinned, it ascended to the first rakia’<\/em> [firmament]; when Cain sinned, it ascended to the second rakia’<\/em>; when the generation of Enosh sinned, it ascended to the third; when the generation of the Flood sinned, to the fourth; with the generation of the separation [of tongues], to the fifth; with the Sodomites, to the sixth, with the Egyptians in the days of Abraham, to the seventh. But as against these there arose seven righteous men: Abraham, Isaac. Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Moses, and they brought it down again to earth. Abraham brought it down to the sixth, Isaac to the fifth, Jacob to the fourth. Levi to the third, Kohath to the second, Amram to the first, while Moses brought God’s presence down below to earth.
\n-Bereshit Rabbah508<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A present-day allusion to another of the many kabbalistic modes of contraction can be found in the writings of Joseph B. Soloveitchik (and Eliezer Berkovits), among others.<\/p>\n

Judaism explains the concept of holiness from the perspective of the secret of “contraction.” Holiness is the descent of divinity into the midst of our concrete world-“For the Lord thy God<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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507 <\/sup>See Scholem in Encyclopaedia Judaica<\/em>, S.V. “Kabbalah,” vol. 10, col. 594.<\/p>\n

508 <\/sup>Midrash Genesis Rabbah 19: 13, as cited in Luban, “The Kaddish.” p. 23 1, fn.
\nCf. Scholem in Encyclopaedia Judaica<\/em>, S.V. “Kabbalah,” vol. 10, col. 587.
\nCf. Berg, Kabbalah for the Layman,<\/em> p. 84. “The creator veils his Or Ein Sof (Eternal Light) in order to allow this world to exist in its present form.”<\/p>\n

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walketh in the midst of thy camp .. . therefore shall thy camp be holy” (Deut. 23:15)-it is the “contraction” of infinity within a finitude bound by laws, measures, and standards, the appearance of transcendence within empirical reality.
\n-Soloveitchik509<\/sup><\/p>\n

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509 <\/sup>Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man<\/em>, p. 108.<\/p>\n

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hard cover page 127 Mankind’s growth requires elements of Divine contraction. This is an extension of the important kabbalistic motif that Divine contraction waslis necessary for the very existence of the world. The concept of contraction appears in both the Midrash and the Kabbalah. In the voluminous kabbalistic literature it often recurs in many forms. 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