zimzum

alternative tzimtzum

1. uncountableThe self-imposed "withdrawal" of a part of God to enable the creation of the universe, as described by Isaac Luria.

   Several prominent kabbalists viewed the zimzum as a voluntary divine process intended to make divinity more approachable to the created realms and to the people.

   2006, Joseph Dan, Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 81

   2 more examples

   At an early stage in the creative process, En Sof had tried to fill the vacuum it had created by zimzum with divine light, but the "vessels" or "pipes" designed to channel it had broken.

   2007, Karen Armstrong, The Bible: The Biography, Atlantic, published 2008, page 170

   Zimzum is a "restrictive contraction" which takes place in the first emanation of light and thus is the seed event which precedes all others in the act of creation.

   1952, Carmine G Barbra, A Search for God, Trafford, published 1952, page 148