TzimTzum - Creating Space, Creating Potential

Among the most profound and enigmatic concepts in the Torah is that which is known as "Tzimtzum." Pronounced "tsim-tsoom" - this Hebrew word translates to "contraction," "constriction," and also, "concealment."

Though perhaps a foreign concept at this moment, I hope to explain how this idea offers a unique perspective that helps to understand a myriad of topics, such as; the creation of the world, the existence of time within eternity, good versus evil, and how the Divine interacts with the mundane.

Before the Beginning

To give the mind something to build from, let's revisit the creation narrative in the opening of the Bible. Genesis 1 tells us that the Creator spoke¹ creation into being, ex nihilo (from nothing).

By way of a physical analogy, before one is able to speak, one must first inhale, gathering up a breath from which to begin forming words and sentences.

Upon inhaling, they contract inward slightly, allowing an empty space in front of their diaphragm. In this sense, tzimtzum can be viewed as the pivotal moment that preceded creation itself.

Put another way, tzimtzum is the Divine act of withdrawal or self-concealment, wherein the infinite and boundless Creator contracts enough to make space for a void. Rav Dovber Pinson writes:

There is no time prior to the tzmitzum, as the tzimtzum is what allows time to exist. However, according to human perception we have to say that "before the tzimtzum," the Ain Sof was "limited" to being infinite, or Ayin (nothingness). The act of tzimtzum reveals the tangible existence of finite things.²

Surrounded by infinitude, this void of finitude exists as an 'other' or new reality with a different set of parameters that govern it.

One popular way to envision this can also be a vast sea of infinite light that contains within the center a sphere, or a bubble, of darkness. In this sphere, there is now the potential for opposites and duality to exist.