The Central Point in Ein Sof

Baal HaSulam on the Words of the Ari

In Talmud Eser Sefirot, Baal HaSulam explains the meaning of the Ari's words about the Tzimtzum taking place at the "central point" of Ein Sof:

Baal HaSulam, Ohr Pnimi: "Now, this fourth phase, Behina Dalet, is called the central point in Ein Sof, blessed be He, and this is what the Rav [the Ari] meant when he said, 'He restricted Himself in the central point within Him. 'It is called so because it is the vessel of reception for the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, which is without measure and without any limit at all. Therefore, its existence is considered like a point within the interior and the center of that light, and the light surrounds it and clings to it on all sides without measure."

What Does "Central Point" Mean in Spirituality?

Thus, it is clear to us that, according to the form, the point is small and the light surrounding it is infinite, great, and vast.

But this is not a matter of area, of how much space the point occupies and how much space the light occupies.

Rather, it means that the point is in the middle of the light, truly at the center of the matter, at the center of its attention and importance.

In spirituality, we do not speak about large or small areas. We speak about the central quality.

This is the emphasis here: the point is entirely under the care of the light, in its love and attention. All the action of the light is directed toward this point.

One should not think that because it is called a "point," it is small and somehow disappears within the light, even though according to the form we might imagine it this way.

No. The light fills it and acts upon it, and the point is exactly suited to the light.

Just as the light is infinite, so this point is infinite. It is at the center because all the actions of the light are concentrated upon it.

Baal HaSulam continues:

"For only in this way is it possible for it to contain the Upper Light without measure and without any limit at all, unlike the vessels of reception after the restriction and below, that is, in the lower emanated beings, in whom the vessels of reception contain their light within them and inside them. That is, the walls of the vessels, which are the four phases within them, make a boundary and measure for the light within them."

Tzimtzum Aleph: The Central Point Restricts Itself

After the First Restriction, Tzimtzum Aleph, that central point restricts itself because it feels within itself that it is not in equivalence with the light.

Then it already takes on a different form, according to how we describe these spiritual forms.

It already has boundaries. There are relations of above and below, right and left, front and back.

We already speak of front and back, above and below. Keter and Malchut are at different heights according to the Masachim (screens), and right and left are related to Hochma and Hassadim.

There are already changes here, but these changes are from the side of that point.

From the side of the light, it is always a point under its care, in its love, receiving everything from it.

The light according to its strength and this point according to its strength are equal. The light fills it completely.

But when the point begins to limit itself, then in its own inner feeling it begins not to receive, not to want, or to receive only under certain conditions.

"He and His Name Are One": Hu uShmo Echad

There is therefore a difference between this point before the restriction and after the restriction.

Before Tzimtzum, it is an infinite Kli, an infinite vessel for receiving the infinite light.

This is the state called "He and His Name are one," Hu uShmo Echad.

Hu, "He," is the light.

Shmo, "His Name," is that point, the desire within it.

After the restriction, this same point begins to take the forms of Partzufim and different Olamot, worlds, as it begins to act as something independent in relation to the light.

But it is still the same point.

From Ein Sof to Gmar Tikkun: The Inner States of the Point

We have already spoken about how, from its own side, the point feels that it restricts itself, that it does not want to receive, and that it examines itself to see to what extent it can become more and more suited to the light each time.

In short, from Ein Sof onward, through all the actions it goes through within itself and all the feelings it experiences within itself, these are truly its inner states:

How can I be like the light that fills me?

All these contractions and restrictions, all these different relations with the light, are its inner feelings and the inner Birurim (clarifications) it makes from Ein Sof until Gmar Tikkun, the End of Correction.

Baal HaSulam writes:

"And this is due to the coarseness in the vessels, as will be explained below, whereas in Ein Sof, blessed be He, the light and the vessel are in simple unity, in the secret of 'He and His Name are one,' and therefore the vessel does not limit the light it contains at all, and thus the light within it is in the aspect of infinity."

This we must not forget.

The Five Olamot, the Shevira, and the Tikkunim

This is the inner feeling of that central point as it goes through the five Olamot, the five worlds, in their descent, and through the Shevira (shattering) and the Tikkunim (corrections).

The corrections later already feel themselves as parts of it.

For us, as we rise toward spiritual feeling, we must always make clear that all of this is in the worlds, in the concealments, in the imaginings of that inner point.

All of it passes over it like one dream, from the beginning of creation until the end of creation.

This is its inner reality.

There is nothing happening outside of it. Everything passes within its inner feelings.

We Are in Olam Ein Sof

And there is another point, even more important:

We must not forget that we are in the light of Ein Sof, in Olam Ein Sof, the World of Infinity.

The world does not change. This state does not change.

Ein Od Milvado, "There is none else besides Him."

It is only upon us to change our attitude toward what is happening.

And this is all of creation.

It is very important always to work in relation to this, because through this a person is already required to discover Ein Od Milvado.

It gives him a direct line to that fixed, existing state.

Correcting the Kli, Not an External Reality

From the person's side, there is what is called his Nekudat haShevira, the point of shattering, which is not yet fully included in that feeling, in that state.

He therefore knows that he needs only to correct the Kli, the vessel, meaning his perception, and not anything real outside of him.

The state itself does not change.

What changes is the Kli and how it receives and feels that state.

Baal HaSulam concludes:

"Now the secret of the central point in Ein Sof, blessed be He, has been thoroughly clarified. It is not, God forbid, a matter of physical place or tangible dimension, but rather the fourth phase included in Ein Sof is so called because of its simple unity with the Upper Light, as explained. And the matter of the restriction that took place in this central point has already been explained above."

The Central Point Through the Whole Process

The "central point" is therefore Behina Dalet, the desire to receive included in Ein Sof.

Before Tzimtzum, it exists in simple unity with the Upper Light.

After Tzimtzum, that same point passes through Partzufim, Olamot, the Shevira, and the Tikkunim, until Gmar Tikkun.

But throughout the whole process, the state of Ein Sof itself does not change.

What changes is the Kli, its inner feeling, its relation to the light, and its perception of the fixed state in which Ein Od Milvado, there is none else besides Him.