And when in His simple will the desire arose to create the worlds and manifest the emanations, to bring to light the perfection of his deeds, names, and attributes—which was the reason for the creation of the worlds—behold God then contracted Himself in the middle point of Himself, in the very center of His light. And He contracted that light, and it was withdrawn to the sides around the middle point. Then there remained an empty space, an atmosphere, and a vacuum surrounding the very middle point.
And behold, this contraction (tzimtzum) was equally distributed around that empty middle point in such a way that the vacuum was circular on all its sides equally.
The notion that God’s presence fills the world is found in the biblical account of the Tent of Meeting, which Moses was unable to enter because God’s presence had filled it entirely: The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle (Exod. 40:34-35). Likewise, this idea is found in the verse “For I fill both heaven and earth” says Yahweh (Jer. 23:24). About this King David is quoted as saying, “Just as the soul fills the body, so God fills the whole world” (Lev. Rab. 4:8).
At the same time, the notion that God can contract His presence and concentrate it in a single place is based on the tradition that God was able to speak to Moses from between the two staves of the Ark of the Tabernacle (Genesis Rabbah 4:4). Even more explicit is Exodus Rabbah 34:1, where God says, “I will descend and concentrate My presence within one square cubit of the Ark.” Thus, when God wishes He can fill heaven and earth, as it is said, Do I not fill heaven and earth? (Jer. 23:24), and when He so desires, He can speak to Moses from between the staves of the Ark.
For Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, tzimtzum took place in this world, as God contracted His infinite light, but in the higher world God’s light is unrestricted. He found confirmation of this in Isaiah 60:19, No longer shall you need the sun for light by day… For the Lord shall be your light everlasting, your God shall be your glory (Maggid Devarav le-Ya’akov 184).
Sources:
Etz Hayim 1:1, Hekhal Adam Kadmon, Derush Igulim ve-Yosher 2:22a: 28-40; Otzrot Hayim; Sefer ha-Bahir 1; Sha’ar ha-Hakdamot 4:14; Derush she-Masar Hayim Vital le-Rabbi Shlomo Sagis, p. 17; Kanfei Yonah; Derush Heftzi-Bah; Perush ha-Idra le-Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul, p. 137; Limmudei Atzilut; Shefa Tal; Perush Rabbi Saadia Gaon le-Sefer Yetzirah; Hovat ha-Talmidim; Likutei Moharan 6, 64.4; Maggid Devarav le-Ya’akov 184.
Studies:
Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship by Lawrence Fine, pp. 128-131.
22. ADAM KADMON
Adam Kadmon, the supernal man, was the beginning of all beginnings, the most ancient of all primordial beings. Adam Kadmon preceded all other creations, and from Adam Kadmon all other worlds spread forth. He was the first creation to fill the void created by God’s contraction, consisting of ten emanations in the form of circular wheels, one inside the other, which came forth, followed by the form of a single human being. And that was Adam Kadmon, the primordial man, a completely spiritual being. When it is said that man was created in the image of God, this refers to the form of Adam Kadmon. For God Himself has no form or image.
Filled with the light of the infinite, Adam Kadmon extends from one end of the empty space God created to the other. Some say that this infinite light emerges from the openings and apertures of the skull of Adam Kadmon, from his ears, his nose, his mouth and his eyes. Others say that the light issues from his mouth, his navel, and his phallus. The lights that issue from his mouth reach into all corners of the world, although only the points of the lights, called the branches, go forth, while the roots remain within him. From the forehead of Adam Kadmon tremendous lights shine forth in rich and complex patterns, some taking the form of letters and words of the Torah. These lights come forth from where the box of tefillin is placed.
All the lights that shine forth from Adam Kadmon eventually come together into a single circle. This light is so great that it can only be received if transmitted through the filter of his being. Still, the light that remains inside Adam Kadmon is far greater than the light that emerges from him.
Adam Kadmon contains thousands of myriads of worlds. The first four of these to come forth from Adam Kadmon are the Four Worlds, the worlds of Emanation (Atzilut), Creation (Beriah), Formation (Yetzirah), and Action (Asiyah). The creation of Adam Kadmon and of these other, lower worlds had a beginning in time, when they came into being. But this is not true of the Infinite One, who has no beginning or end.
The complex concept of Adam Kadmon serves both as a mythic figure and as an abstract kabbalistic function. The term “Adam Kadmon” means “primordial man,” and Adam Kadmon is understood to be the spiritual prototype of man, a kind of cosmic soul. At the same time, the figure of Adam Kadmon can also be recognized as an anthropomorphic manifestation of God, a male deity assuming the shape and features of a human being. The concept likely evolved from the older idea—prominent in Philo’s writings—of a heavenly man who was created at the same time, or prior to, the earthly Adam. See “The Heavenly Man,” p. 124. Like Philo’s concept of the heavenly man, the existence and nature of Adam Kadmon are based on the verse And God created man in His image (Gen. 1:27). In Philo’s view, the heavenly man is the pure image of God, and in the kabbalistic view, especially as found in Lurianic kabbalah, Adam Kadmon is said to contain every image of man that would ever exist—thus he is an archetype or prototype of man. According to Yosef ibn Tabul in Kerem Hayah le-Shlomo, Adam Kadmon, like the earthly Adam, transgressed in some fashion.
At the same time, there are major differences between the heavenly man and Adam Kadmon. While the heavenly man seems like a purely mythic concept, Adam Kadmon, despite its anthropomorphic qualities, is understood to serve “as a kind of interface between the Infinite Creator and the finite creation” (Aryeh Kaplan, Inner Space, p. 23). It appears that Kaplan would entirely deny the apparent mythic nature of Adam Kadmon: “One of the main tasks of the Kabbalah tradition was to allow us to interpret these anthropomorphisms. It is universally agreed that they are to be understood allegorically rather than literally” (Inner Space, pp. 111-112).
The myth of Adam Kadmon is directly related to that of God’s contraction. See the prior myth, “The Contraction of God.” By contracting Himself, God created space in the universe for the universe to be created. Adam Kadmon is God’s first creation, which fills the empty space.
While Adam Kadmon is said to take the shape of a human, it may well be that this is intended in much the same way various constellations of stars are identified in astrology. Thus Adam Kadmon could be understood as a constellation in the shape of a man, just as the Pleiades are identified as seven sisters and Orion as a man who is pursuing them. For Adam Kadmon is clearly intended to represent a cosmic realm. Indeed, Adam Kadmon represents the “inconceivable universe,” as Jorge Luis Borges describes it in “The Aleph” (Collected Fictions, pp. 284).
At the same time Adam Kadmon is a cosmic metaphor, representing a stage in the creation of the world as well as the universe itself.
Above all, Adam Kadmon is part of the complex kabbalistic theory of God’s emanation of the world, containing the ten sefirot.
Likewise, in Etz Hayim, Derush Igulim ve-Yosher 4:28a:1-15, Hayim Vital adds a clear disclaimer explaining that the human qualities attributed to Adam Kadmon should not be understood literally: “It should be clear that there is no body in the higher realm. As for all the images we use, it is not because it is actually so, but only so that one can understand higher spiritual matters that cannot be comprehended by the human understanding.”
Nevertheless, there remain distinct mythic qualities associated with Adam Kadmon that reflect his role as the first primordial being that God created, who is described as taking the form of a human being. The meaning of his name—primordial man—and its obvious l
ink with the earthly Adam, and the description of his body, where considerable emphasis is placed on his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, all combine to suggest that Adam Kadmon is a demiurgic figure. At the same time, in terms of kabbalistic cosmology, Adam Kadmon functions as a conduit, shaped like a human, through which the light of the infinite (Or Ein Sof) passes before being emanated into the Four Worlds. These are the World of Emanation (Atzilut), The World of Creation (Beriah), The World of Formation (Yetzirah), and the World of Action (Asiyah). These worlds correspond to the senses of vision, hearing, smell, and speech.
The ten emanations that Adam Kadmon contains are the ten sefirot. Thus, from a kabbalistic perspective, Adam Kadmon is not only a primordial being, but a cosmic forcefield that contains the creative forces of existence. See a diagram of the Tree of Life on p. 529.
The role of God in the myth of Adam Kadmon is very interesting. God appears to have multiple roles. On the one hand God is the Infinite One, known as Ein Sof, meaning “Endless,” who creates Adam Kadmon, and the rest of creation emanates from Adam Kadmon, who contains the ten sefirot. But since Ein Sof is completely unknowable, Adam Kadmon is the first manifestation of divine existence that can be perceived.
Sources:
Etz Hayim; Hekhal Adam Kadmon; Derush Igulim ve-Yosher 2-3, 5:1:9-28, by Hayim Vital; Otzrot Hayim by Hayim Vital; Tikkunim, Tikkun 70, p. 121; Kerem Hayah le-Shlomo; Sod Gavhei Shamayim 79b-81a; Derekh Emunah 6.
Studies:
Inner Space by Aryeh Kaplan.
23. GOD’S DISGUISES
God has appeared in many disguises. At the crossing of the Red Sea, God appeared to the Israelites as a mighty warrior, fighting their battles. The people were able to point at God with their fingers, and they beheld His image as a man is able to look at his friend’s face. At Mount Sinai, where the Torah was given, God appeared as an old man, full of mercy. In the days of King Solomon God appeared as a young man, and in the days of Daniel as an old man teaching Torah. Therefore God said to them: “I am He who was in Egypt, I am He who was at the sea, and I am He who was at Sinai. I am He who was in the past and I am He who will be in the future. I am He who is in this world and I am He who will be in the world to come. Even though you see me in various guises, ‘I Yahweh am your God’” (Exod. 20:2).
This myth emphasizes God’s ability to take whatever form He wishes. He can appear as a young man or an old man, as a warrior or a teacher. B. Rosh ha-Shanah describes how “God drew his robe around him like the leader of a congregation and showed Moses the order of the prayer.” Thus God can not only change His size, but even His appearance. The important point is that it is the same God, no matter how He appears. Here the rabbis have found a way to retain the variety of types of gods found in pagan mythologies, while still insisting that every manifestation is that of the same God: “Even though you see me in various guises, ‘I Yahweh am your God.’”
The reference to God’s appearance in the time of Solomon as a young man derives from Song of Songs 5:15: He is majestic as Lebanon, stately as the cedars. God’s appearance as a young warrior at the Red Sea is linked to the verse Yahweh, the Warrior—Yahweh is His name (Exod. 15:3). God’s appearance as an old man at Mount Sinai is linked to the verse With aged men is wisdom, and understanding in length of days (Job 12:12).
Pesikta Rabbati 21 adds that God appeared to the people at Mount Sinai with many faces: a threatening face, a severe face, an angry face, a joyous face, a laughing face, and with a friendly face. Further, to some He appeared standing, to others seated, to some as a young man, and to others as an old man. If a heathen should say that these are different gods, it should be pointed out that the Torah does not say that “The gods have spoken face to face,” but: Face to face Yahweh spoke to you (Deut. 5:4).
Sources:
B. Rosh ha-Shanah 17b; Yalkut Shim’oni, Yitro 286; Midrash Tanhuma, Yitro 16, 17; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata 4:27-31, ba-Hodesh 5:20:39; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shim’oni 60; Pesikta Rabbati 21:6; Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 12:24; Rashi on Exodus 20:2.
Studies:
“The Children in Egypt and the Theophany at the Sea” by Arthur Green.
24. WHERE GOD DWELLS
Some say that God dwells in the celestial realms, in the highest heaven, where He is seated on the Throne of Glory.
Others say that God hovers equidistant between the upper and lower worlds. That is the meaning of the verse “The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool” (Isa. 66:1).
All agree that the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence, makes her home in this world.
God is most often identified as dwelling in heaven, as in the vision of Isaiah in which God is seated on a high and lofty throne (Isa. 6:1-8). But here God is described as hovering between heaven and earth. Further, the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence, is said to make her home on earth. The traditional view is that the Shekhinah’s home was the Temple in Jerusalem. Note that the Shekhinah is sometimes identified as God, sometimes as the Divine Presence, and sometimes as the Bride of God.
Sources:
Sha’arei Orah 1.
25. THE HOLY SPIRIT
Before the celestial world was revealed, before there were the Throne of Glory and the Pargod, the heavenly curtain, before there were angels, seraphs, constellations or stars, before all this there was an ether, an essence from which sprang a primordial light. This light is called the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit consists of three parts, Spirit, Voice and Word. From Spirit God produced air, and formed twenty-two sounds: the letters of the alphabet. From air He formed waters, and from chaos and void he made mire and clay, and from them He formed the foundation of existence. And from the waters God formed fire, and made a Throne of Glory for Himself, where He is surrounded by the ministering angels. That is why it is written, Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flaming fire (Ps. 104:4). That is how air, water, and fire were created—fire above, water below, and air between them.
The Holy Spirit embraced all the patriarchs, kings, and prophets. Through the Holy Spirit, Adam was able to see the future generations, until the End of Days. Enoch was taken into heaven in a chariot, and when he returned to earth for 30 days, the Holy Spirit spoke through him, and he revealed the secrets of heaven. The Holy Spirit spoke through Noah, and he warned of the coming Flood.
After God’s covenant with Abraham, he was possessed by the Holy Spirit at all times. Abraham saw with the Holy Spirit that David would descend from him. As for Isaac, the angels on high took Isaac and brought him to the heavenly academy of Shem and Eber, where he studied for three years, and when he returned, he saw the world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. That is why his own sight grew dim. Jacob discovered the Holy Spirit when he dreamed of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it.
With the aid of the Holy Spirit, Joseph was able to divine the future and interpret dreams. So too did the Holy Spirit inhabit King David as if he were a vessel for the Psalms that poured forth from him. And in his old age, just before his death, the Holy Spirit descended on King Solomon and he composed the books attributed to him: Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.
All of the prophets spoke through the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel was fully possessed of the Holy Spirit when he saw the Divine Chariot, and Isaiah saw with the eyes of the Holy Spirit when he had a vision of God seated on a high and exalted throne. So too was the Scroll of Esther written with the Holy Spirit.
Some say that from the day the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the power of prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to the sages. After the demise of the last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel, as it is said, And the lifebreath returns to God (Eccles. 12:7). After that, the people were informed of the unknown by means of a heavenly voice.
And when the heavenly voice could no longer be heard, letters fell from heaven into the hands of those intended to receive them. But for a long time no such letters have fallen, and
heaven has been silent.
The Holy Spirit is the known as the Ruah ha-Kodesh. The key motif of the myth of the Holy Spirit is that it departed from Israel after the last prophets. Here ruah, which means both “spirit” and “breath,” is understood to refer to the Holy Spirit.
The heavenly voice is known as a bat kol, the daughter of a voice. There are a number of rabbinic reports about hearing such a voice speak from on high. One of the most famous refers to the voice that is said to go forth in heaven 40 days before a child is born. This heavenly voice is heard by the angels and by some extraordinary sages, such as the Ari. See “God makes Matches,” p. 66.
The word, of course, is the word of God, which is manifested in the Torah.
In Sefer Yetzirah, an early cosmological text, the three parts of the Holy Spirit are identified with the three upper sefirot, Keter (Crown), Hokhmah (Wisdom), and Binah (Understanding), and identifies them, respectively, as spirit, voice, and word. These elemental forces were said to have been used by God to create the letters of the alphabet, as well as air, water, and earth. Thus the Ruah ha-Kodesh serves in this sefirotic myth as a tool used by God in Creation.
The loss of the Ruah ha-Kodesh was regarded as a rejection of the later Jewish generations. This is indicated by the verse And the sprit returns to God (Eccles. 12:7). The means of direct communication with God by divine inspiration had been lost. All that remained was a message delivered by a heavenly voice, a bat kol. A legend in the Talmud recounts that in the time of Hillel the Elder, the sages were discussing matters of the Law in an attic in Jericho when a heavenly voice spoke and said: “There is only one among you worthy of receiving divine inspiration, but your generation is not worthy of it.” Everyone looked at Hillel. When he died, they said, “He was a worthy disciple of Ezra” (B. Sanhedrin 11a).
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