Tzimtzum

7 Tishrei 5782

“As an eagle awakens its nest, hovering over its fledglings” (Devarim 32:11)

Rashi comments on this verse “[The eagle] does not impose its [whole] body upon them. Rather, it hovers above them, touching them and yet not quite touching them.” Were Hashem to thrust His full might onto us we would simply seize existing.

“The original tzimtzum that occurred in the [infinite] Ein Sof-light, a tzimtzum of such intensity that it was able to bring about a void — a “space” — for the existence of worlds” (Lessons in Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh middle of Epistle 20)

In fact, Hashem is so powerful and all encompassing that in order to create the world He needed to contract himself. So great is His might, that He had to altogether remove the Ein Sof-light to make it possible for creations to exist in a mode of limitation within His infinite expanse.

“He said that He would destroy them - had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (Tehillim 106:23)

Because of Hashem’s tremendous power, the Jewish people have always sought leaders for themselves who were able to elevate them to a level where they could connect to Hashem without being overwhelmed. Moses did just this at Sinai, where he was commanded to “prepare them today and tomorrow” (Shemot 18:10). When the might of Hashem grew too strong for them and they requested “You speak with us, and we will hear, but let G-d not speak with us lest we die” (Shemot 19:16), Moses stepped in. After the Sin of the Golden Calf, Moses stood before his people to receive Hashem’s severity on their part. Moses was the first to exemplify these qualities of Jewish leadership and throughout every generation leaders have followed to extend and solidify his heritage.