The Cosmology of Giving
by Dr. Yaakov Brawer
As we were dashing from morning services to the office, I mentioned to a friend that I was having difficulty understanding certain aspects of 'Zimzum,' a Kabbalah subject relating to creation.
My friend wondered why I expend time and effort on obscure metaphysical concepts. Why struggle with transcendent abstract theosophical ideas?
It is a good question, especially now that times have changed, and we live very far from the 19th century East European shtetl. Is it realistic to engage in profound study on esoteric themes in the frenzied pace of modern life? Yet I feel that chassidic study offers pragmatic enrichment, and those devoted to Haskala (intellectual chassidism) and Avodah (reflective prayer) are, in fact, hard-nosed realists.
Judaism teaches that all of Creation is justified by just one Mitzvah, and that our actions have cosmological significance. The complexity of Divine emanations, the subtle balance between finite and infinite, the dynamic tension between revelation and concealment, the ascending order of worlds, etc. offer us personal growth opportunities (Tanya chapter 49).
The simplest Mitzvah thus validates the entire chain of existence! Conversely, the most awesome modes of Divine manifestation imbue our Mitzvah with eternal significance. Lofty Kabbala concepts are thus highly relevant, even to the ordinary, bill-paying Jew working in a high tech world.
The Kabbalisitic 'Zimzum' does affect my daily life!
Let us begin by examining the design of creation, presented as a diagram in Sefer Etz Chaim.
Do not be deceived by the diagram's apparent simplicity. It depicts the conceptual framework underlying existence, and has occupied our sages since the famous Arizal Rabbi Yitzchak Luria from sixteenth century Safed. The full meaning of this diagram is beyond us, but its geometry reflects the Divine energy that animates creation. (Caution: The physical imagery is used only as metaphor.)
Prior to creation, G-d is all that existed, without end, limit or measure. Creation, too, is a Divine manifestation. Creation, however, consists of particulars, dimensions and limits. Each creation, whether rock or person, is limited by properties that define and set it apart from other beings. If G-dliness manifests G-d's infinite singular Presence, creation reveals His power of self-limitation.
But how are we to understand the ability of isolating a specific expression from infinity? 
Actually, anyone using a slide projector is familiar with this process. The white light appearing on the screen when the projector is turned on is replaced by a specific image, let us say a house. When the slide is removed, the house disappears and is replaced by white light. The picture of the house, of course, doesn't really disappear. It is simply subsumed within, and nullified to the white light that is its source. White light contains all possible images, colors and shapes. Because the original light embraces infinite visual possibilities, it transcends limitation.
To isolate and reveal only one of the infinite possible images, one must interpose a slide, a barrier that admits only certain wavelengths of light in a defined pattern to reveal, for example, the house. A different restrictive barrier (slide) will permit a different possibility (image) to emerge from the infinite source of potential revelations. Thus, by concealing the infinite source in a specific way, one of the many images latent within it can be actualized.
To better appreciate the Divine concealment process, let's also consider a mathematical genius whose 7 year old son can't get the hang of simple arithmetic, and asks his brilliant father for help. Dad is in a bind, since such basic terms are beneath his mindset. His grasp of advance mathematics so far transcends basic arithmetic that it is difficult for him relate to his young son's problem.
Nonetheless, dormant within Dad's mathematical insight is also the knowledge of elementary math. To interact with his son, Dad must find that level latent within himself, clear his mind, and put all his thoughts aside. When no longer absorbed with his customary brilliance, concepts and language appropriate for a 7 year old can be identified, isolated, developed and revealed.
By concealing the limitless self-manifestation called G-dliness, "space" is created. This process of self concealment, known as "Zimzum," results in the establishment of two domains: the endless area outside the circle in which infinite G-dliness is manifest, and the "region" of self-concealment (within the circle) where finite creation can now be revealed.
A mitzvah becomes possible only after the creation of finite existence.
Drawing The Line
The next step is the actualization of this possibility, indicated by the line known as 'Kav.' The line has a beginning, an end, a position and a direction, expressing restricted flow of G-dliness, a chain of being in which each creation occupies a specific point. At this stage, the possibility of placing a penny in a pushka is real since restricted modes of Divine expression can now exist as individual points on the line.
Not any line will serve. Giving is feasible only because the line extending from the circumference terminates in the center as a radius. Had it traversed the circle as a diameter (diagram 2), the concept of giving would not exist. Such a line would be united with limitless transcendent G-dliness, represented by the totality of space beyond the circle, at both ends (A&B). Without beginning or end, there would be no progression of sequentially graded levels.
A point on the line closer to A has no advantage or disadvantage relative to one closer to B. Since no point lacks what another has, there is no giving. There would be no terminus, no break in the flow of Divinity necessary for the emergence of physical, as opposed to spiritual existence.
The bi-directional current of Divine beneficence indicated by such a design would produce a spiritual world in which each creature is self-sufficient. This may strike us as an attractive way to structure creation, but the fact that G-d did not select this scheme but rather chose one that engenders inequality and deficiency, underscores the centrality of "giving" in the Divine design.
For Giving to occur there must be a giver who is superior to the recipient. This is why the kav appears as a radius. At its origin as a point on the circle, kav is united with transcendent G-dliness. As it extends inward, the kav becomes progressively distant from G-dliness, and the terminus of the kav is as far as it is possible to be from interfacing with transcendent Divinity (the circumference). Thus, there are "higher" levels closer to the circle, and "lower" distant levels. Give and Take Since there is no giving without taking, both "higher" and "lower" are necessary to fulfill the Divine purpose in creation.
Which brings us full circle to our original point, to peruse Mitzvos with vigor and conviction knowing that "the world was created for me," to fulfillthe purpose of creation.
Dr. Brawer has a B.S.c.(biology) Tufts University, PHD. cell biology Harvard University, PHD. cell biology Harvard University NIH Research Fellow (auditory neurobiology) Harvard University NIH Research Fellow (auditory neurobiology) Harvard University Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill Univ. of Medicine, Montreal, Canada
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