Jiva

MIND, MATTER AND GOD : JIVA, JADA AND ISVARA
M.M.NINAN
of God”. This gives us a whole new outlook of the purpose of creation and the part of
each being.
In the Chabad view, the function of the Tzimtzum was "to conceal from created beings
the activating force within them, enabling them to exist as tangible entities, instead of
being utterly nullified within their source". The tzimtzum produced the required "vacated
space" (chalal פנויpanui ‏,חלל chalal ‏,(חלל devoid of direct awareness of God's
presence. The finite Godly light that is immanent within the universe, constantly
creating and vivifying it, is only a "faint glimmer of a glimmer of a glimmer"
(Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh) of God's infinite, transcendent light that has been
completely concealed by tzimtzum. (Dovber Schneuri, Ner Mitzva Vetorah Or, Kehot
Publication Society). To interpret Tzimtzum realistically, God’s omnipresence did not
undergo any change before or after Creation. But God concealed his presence so that
the creation could have independence. It became necessary for the sake of the act of
Creation itself, in order to bestow free will to man, and the fulfillment of God's ultimate
will in Creation, to "reveal Himself below." If Sons of God are to be Sons with total
freedom equivalent to God himself, God cannot impose his very presence unless
sought after. He remains silent unless called.
Relatedly, olam—the Hebrew word for "world" or universe—is derived from the root
word עלם meaning "concealment". This physical universe conceals the spiritual nature
of creation. The creation has been put by the Absolute outside Itself, and for the
appearance of this "outside" the Absolute had to limit Itself, had to create borders for Its
own borderless nature. This is transcendence of God.
A commonly held understanding in Kabbalah is that the concept of Tzimtzum contains
a built-in paradox, requiring that God be simultaneously transcendent and immanent.
Transcendent means that God is completely outside of and beyond the world, as
contrasted with the notion that God is manifested in the world. This meaning originates
both in the Aristotelian view of God as the prime mover, a non-material selfconsciousness
that is outside of the world. Philosophies of immanence such as stoicism,
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