And this is what is stated in Tikkunim, Tikkun 57: "There is no place devoid of Him, neither in the upper worlds nor in the lower worlds";

[Thus we find it explicitly stated in Tikkunei Zohar that G-d Himself is to be found within the lower worlds, the lowest of which is this physical world].

And in [the portion of Zohar called] Ra'aya Mehemna, on Parshat Pinchas, [we read]: "He grasps all and none can grasp Him .... He encompasses all worlds .... and no one goes out from His domain; He fills [or permeates] all worlds ....; He binds and unites a kind to its kind, upper with lower, and there is no closeness in the four elements [of which this corporeal world is comprised] except through the Holy One, blessed be He, when He is within them."

[It is only through His power that these four inherently contradictory elements are bound together].

Until here are the words [of Ra'aya Mehemna].

"None can grasp Him" means that there is no one, [even] amongst all the "Supernal Intelligences," [i.e., the incorporeal creatures of the higher spiritual worlds whose apprehension of Divinity is superhuman], who can grasp by means of his intellect the Essence and Being of the Holy One, blessed be He; as it is written in Tikkunim, "[He is] hidden from all the [spiritual worlds which are themselves] hidden [from physical creatures], and no thought can grasp You at all."

[The point being made here is that G-d cannot be grasped even by the heavenly thought processes of the "hidden worlds."

There is, however, yet another concept inherent in the word "grasp" - the ability to adhere and thereby effect a change.

Thus, the fact that one cannot "grasp" G-d also means that nothing can effect a change in Him.

When a person makes something he will inevitably be "grasped" by the object of his creation: he will undergo changes in accordance with the particular demands of the object which he is producing. In the case of G-d, however, His creation of all existing beings causes no change in Him whatever: they do not hold Him (so to speak) in their "grasp".

From this point of view, the creation of the lower worlds is even more telling, for their creation required a greater degree of tzimtzum and enclothement. Nevertheless, they cause absolutely no change in Him: they too do not "grasp" Him.

In the Alter Rebbe's words]:

And even in the lower worlds [there are none that "grasp" Him], even though "He permeates all worlds" [and animates them with a life- force suited to each individual created being in particular], [for this vestment] is not like [that of] the soul of a man [which clothes itself] within his body, and is grasped within [it] to the extent that it is affected and influenced by changes involving the body and its pain, such as from blows or cold or the heat of fire and the like].

The Holy One, blessed be He, however, is not affected by any of the changes of this world, from summer to winter and from day to night, as it is written, [21] "Even darkness does not obscure for You, and the night illuminates like the day," for He is not grasped within the worlds at all, even though He fills them.

   

Notes:

21. (Back to text) Tehillim 139:12.