Q&A: Tzimtzum Literally
Tzimtzum Literally
Question
Hello, Rabbi,
I would like to ask: how can one understand that tzimtzum is to be taken literally?
When we look at the world, we find that every thing came into being through some metamorphic process from something that preceded it. Oil is formed through a process from fossils, rock from a volcano, a butterfly from a caterpillar, and the world from a bang.
But nothing is created from nothing. If so, how can some existent thing be created out of nothing?
Answer
I don’t see any connection between the question of whether tzimtzum is literal and the coming into being of something from nothing. What you see in your experience is nature. God created the world and its laws, and He is not subject to the laws of nature. Beyond that, the claim that tzimtzum is not literal is nonsense, and it therefore follows that it is literal. You can look for explanations on the site or in the second book of the trilogy.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t think that a collection of foreign words, used imprecisely, turns something into a question. I already answered everything.
Ah, creation from nothing is obviously not a logical failure.
The previous message wasn’t sent,
If it is not possible to create something from nothing, then a transcendent cause cannot bring about an immanent reality external to it. Especially a physical, material reality; consequently, tzimtzum is not literal.
I know the books, and that is why I’m asking, and I also know the cogito.
Is creation not creation something from nothing? And is creation from nothing not a logical failure?