Ein Sof

Ein Sof, or Eyn Sof (, Hebrew: אֵין סוֹף ʾēn sōf; meaning "infinite", lit. '(There is) no end'), in Kabbalah, is understood as God before any self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, probably derived from Solomon ibn Gabirol's (c. 1021 – c. 1070) term, "the Endless One" (שֶׁאֵין לוֹ תִּקְלָה, šeʾēn lo tiqlā). Ein Sof may be translated as "unending", "(there is) no end", or infinity. It was first used by Azriel of Gerona (c. 1160 – c. 1238), who shared the Neoplatonic belief that God can have no desire, thought, word, or action, emphasized by the negation of any attribute. This is the origin of the Ohr Ein Sof or "Infinite Light" of paradoxical divine self-knowledge, nullified within the Ein Sof before creation. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the first act of creation, the tzimtzum or self-withdrawal of the divine to create a space, takes place from there. In Hasidic Judaism, the Tzimtzum is only the illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof, giving rise to monistic panentheism. Consequently, Hasidism focuses on the Atzmut "divine essence" rooted higher within the Godhead than the Ein Sof, which is limited to infinitude and reflected in the essence (etzem) of the Torah and the soul.