tzimtzum

photo by Yolanda Kauffman

tzimtzum: a term used in the Kabbalistic writings of Isaac Luria to describe God's act of creation following an initial act of contraction. Luria posited that God must withdraw some aspect of the Ein Sof, or Infinite essence of God, in order to make room for all that is.


to write a true word on the page it is first necessary to withhold judgment, the movement of hand must be trusted and the pen released to do its needed task       the same must be true for the hammer dropping onto chisel and stone, or brush strokes of pigment on canvas      there must be a release of the remembered and the preconceived    and yet, there is also an imprint, the fragrant echo of the maker that carries on    how does one beget new life without some death?   how does one create without leaving a part of oneself behind?