In a very deep sense, religion has two things. First of all, it’s an answer to the ultimate problems of human existence. And it also has another side. It is a challenge to all answers. It is living in this polarity of these two points. (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel)
כָּל הַמִּסְתַּכֵּל בְּאַרְבָּעָה דְּבָרִים, רָאוּי לוֹ כְּאִלּוּ לֹא בָּא לָעוֹלָם, מַה לְּמַעְלָה, מַה לְּמַטָּה, מַה לְּפָנִים, וּמַה לְּאָחוֹר. וְכָל שֶׁלֹּא חָס עַל כְּבוֹד קוֹנוֹ, רָאוּי לוֹ שֶׁלֹּא בָּא לָעוֹלָם:
Mishnah Chagiga 2:1
Whoever speculates upon four things, it would have been better had he not come into the world: what is above, what is beneath, what came before, and what came after. And whoever takes no thought for the honor of his Creator, it would have been better had he not come into the world.
The Nature of God
An impoverished person thinks that God is an old man with white hair, sitting on a wondrous throne of fire that glitters with countless sparks.... Imagining this and similar fantasies, the fool corporealizes God. He falls into one of the traps that destroy faith. His awe of God is limited by his imagination. But if you are enlightened, you know God's oneness; you know that the divine is devoid of bodily categories - these can never be applied to God. Then you wonder, astonished: Who am I? I am a mustard seed in the middle of the sphere of the moon; which is itself a mustard seed within the next sphere. So it is with that sphere and all it contains in relation to the next sphere. So it is with all the sphere - one inside the other - and all of them are a mustard seed within the further expanses. Your awe is invigorated, the love in your soul expands. (Moses Cordovero, 16th c, Or Ne'erav - in Daniel Matt's The Essential Kabbalah, p. 22)
(א) בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹקִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹקִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃ (ד) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹקִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹקִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ (ה) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹקִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ (פ) (ו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃ (ז) וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹקִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִיעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָרָקִ֑יעַ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ (ח) וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹקִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שֵׁנִֽי׃(ט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֗ים יִקָּו֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם מִתַּ֤חַת הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ אֶל־מָק֣וֹם אֶחָ֔ד וְתֵרָאֶ֖ה הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ (י) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹקִ֤ים ׀ לַיַּבָּשָׁה֙ אֶ֔רֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵ֥ה הַמַּ֖יִם קָרָ֣א יַמִּ֑ים וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹקִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
(1) When God began to create heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day. (6) God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water.” (7) God made the expanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above the expanse. And it was so. (8) God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. (9) God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. (10) God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of waters He called Seas. And God saw that this was good.
Mythology of Tzimtzum
At the beginning of Creation, when Ein Sof withdrew (tzimtzum) its presence all around in every direction, it left a vacuum in the middle, surrounded on all sides by the light of Ein Sof, empty precisely in the middle. The light withdrew like water, in a pond displaced by a stone. when a stone is dropped in a pond, the water at that spot does not disappear - it merges with the rest. So the withdrawn light converged beyond, and in the middle remained a vacuum... [which] transformed into an amorphous mass, surrounded in every direction by the light of Ein Sof. Out of this mass emanated the Four Worlds: emanation (Atzilut), creation (Briyah), formation (Yetzirah), and actualization (Assiyah).
To fashion pottery, the potter first takes an unformed mass of clay and then puts his hand inside the mass to shape it. So the Supernal Emanator puts its hand into the amorphous mass, that is, a ray of light returned from above. As this light began to enter the mass, vessels were formed. From the purest light, Keter; next, Chochmah; then, Binah; and so on throughout all 10 Sefirot. Since Keter was the purest and clearest of all the vessels, it could bear the light within it, but Chochmah and Binah, though more translucent than those below, were not like Keter. Not having its capacity, their backs broke, and they fell from their position. As the light descended further, 6 points appeared - 6 fragments of what had been one point of light. Thus the vessels shattered. Their spiritual essence - the light - ascended back to the mother's womb, while the shattered vessels fell to the world of creation.
...The light of Ein Sof appears only though a screen. As when you sit in the shade; though the sun does not shine on you directly, it illuminates the shaded area. In a smilier manner, the light of Ein Sof illuminates the world of creation through a screen, indirectly. (Hayim Vital, 16th-17th c, "On the World of Emanation", in Daniel Matt's The Essential Kabbalah, 94-95)
וזהו נקרא נעשה קודם ונשמע אף בנפילתינו ממדירגתינו להדבק בהשם יתברך באותה מדריגה כנ״ל ואחר כך נמשע שעיקר השמיעה הוא לשון הבנה דהיינו שבא למדריגה יותר גדולה כנ״ל וזה הוא עיקר קבלת התורה שקבלו ישראל ולכן התפאר השם יתברך בזה מאוד שקבלו התורה בגודל האמת והשיגו האמת שלעולם יהיו דבוקים בהשם יתברך ולא יפרדו ממנו אף בנפלם ממדריגתם וזהו עיקר ההילוך וההנהגה הישראלית ובזה צריך להלך ובמה יבוא להשם יתברך כשנפל ממדריגתו שהרי ניטל ממנו המוחין והדעת אף שהשם יתברך הוא מלא כל הארץ כבודו דהיינו אפילו במקום שהוא כל הארץ שכולו ארציות שהוא רק חומר עב אף על פי כן מלא כבודו יתברך והנה השם יתברך נקרא חיי החיים דהיינו שכל החיים שבעולם בהמות חיות ועופות ומין האדם החיות שלהם הוא השם יתברך וזהו חי החיים שהוה יתברך החיות של כל החיים ויחשוב כשנפל ממדרגתו הלא חי אני ומי הוא החיות שלי הלא הבורא יתברך ונמצא יש כאן גם כן הוא יתברך אך שהוא מצומצם מאוד:
And this is Na'aseh v'Nishma - "we will do" before "we will listen" – even in our falling from our level, to attach to God, and afterwards "we will listen," since the essence of listening is understanding, meaning that one will come to an even greater level. And this is the essence of Kabbalat haTorah, that Israel received, and therefore God greatly praised them for this: that they accepted the Torah in the fullness of Truth and comprehended Truth, that they would forever be attached to God and would not separate from God even when they fell from their level. This is the essence of the Jewish journey and conduct, and this is how a person must walk. And how can a person come to God once he has fallen from his level, since his mind-states and awareness have been taken from him? But "all the earth is full of God’s glory" (maleh kol ha'aretz k'vodo) - that is, even in a place that is "all the earth," (kol ha'aretz) which is entirely materialistic, which is only dense matter, nevertheless it is full of God’s Blessed Glory. So it is that God is called the Life of Living, meaning that all the living things in the world, animals, beasts, and birds, and the human species, their life-force is God. And this is “Life of Living,” that God is the life-force of all living things. And one should think, when one falls from one’s level, “Do I not live? And who is my life-force? It is the Blessed Creator!”** And one will find that Blessed God is also here, even though God is very contracted (m'tzumtzam m'od).
** David Zeller Nigun:
Yai nai nai - HaLo Chai Ani (x3)
uMi Hu haChayut Sheli (x3)
haLo haBoreh Yitbarach?!