All the contractions constitute a “veiling of the [Divine] Countenance”; that is, they veil and conceal the “face,” i.e., the essential aspects of the light and life-force that are derived from G-d’s Word, so that it should not reveal itself with an intense radiance which the lower worlds would be incapable of receiving.
וְכָל הַצִּמְצוּמִים הֵם בְּחִינַת "הֶסְתֵּר פָּנִים", לְהַסְתִּיר וּלְהַעֲלִים הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת הַנִּמְשָׁךְ מִדִּבּוּרוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ, שֶׁלֹּא יִתְגַּלֶּה בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי רַב שֶׁלֹּא יוּכְלוּ הַתַּחְתּוֹנִים לְקַבֵּל,
Therefore, too, because it is thus obscured through tzimtzum, the light and life-force of G-d’s Word that is clothed in them appears to them as if it is something separate from G-d Himself
וְלָכֵן גַּם כֵּן נִדְמֶה לָהֶם אוֹר וְחַיּוּת הַדִּבּוּר שֶׁל מָקוֹם בָּרוּךְ־הוּא הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בָּהֶם, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא דָּבָר מוּבְדָּל מִמַּהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ,
a nd as though it only issues from Him, just as the speech of a human being issues from him but then becomes separated from him.
רַק שֶׁנִּמְשָׁךְ מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרֵךְ – כְּמוֹ דִּבּוּר שֶׁל אָדָם מִנַּפְשׁוֹ.
This false perception of the G-dly life-force as something separate from G-d is possible only because the life-force is hidden from creation by means of the tzimtzumim.
Yet, in regard to G-d, no concealment or veil hides or obscures anything from Him; to Him, “‘darkness’ (concealment) and ‘light’ (revelation) are alike,”;)
אַךְ לְגַבֵּי הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, אֵין שׁוּם צִמְצוּם וְהֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם מַסְתִּיר וּמַעֲלִים לְפָנָיו, וְ"כַחֲשֵׁכָה כָּאוֹרָה",
as it is written: “Even the darkness does not obscure [anything] from you.”;)
כְּדִכְתִיב: "גַּם חֹשֶׁךְ לֹא יַחְשִׁיךְ מִמֶּךָּ וְגוֹ'",
This may also be interpreted: “Even the darkness does not obscure because it derives from you”, i.e., the veil of tzimtzum is itself of divine origin, and therefore, it cannot obscure G-dliness. For as the Alter Rebbe goes on to say, only a foreign body can constitute an obstruction; one cannot hide from his own self.
For the tzimtzumim and the “veils” are not things distinct from Him, heaven forfend, since nothing is separate from G-d, but are “like the turtle (or: ‘snail’), whose garment i.e., its shell is part of its body”;); so too, the very “shell”—the process of tzimtzum—that hides G-dliness is itself G-dly.
מִשּׁוּם שֶׁאֵין הַצִּמְצוּמִים וְהַלְּבוּשִׁים דָּבָר נִפְרָד מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרֵךְ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, אֶלָּא כְּהָדֵין קַמְצָא דִּלְבוּשֵׁיהּ מִינֵּיהּ וּבֵיהּ,
Thus it is written: “G-d—He is the L-rd,”;) as is explained elsewhere.;)
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "כִּי ה' הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים", וּכְמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.
In Hebrew: “The Divine Name, Havayah—Yud-hey-vav-hey—He is Elokim.” The Four-Letter Name of G-d denotes Divine revelation and transcendence, while the Name Elokim refers to G-d’s power of self-concealment by which he vests Himself in creation. The equation points out that they are one; Elokim is G-dly just as is the level of G-dliness signified by the other Name. Thus, Elokim does not act as a veil obscuring G-d, since it is essentially one with Yud-hey-vav-hey, the power of revelation.
Therefore, in His presence, all else is of absolutely no account.
וְלָכֵן קַמֵּיהּ – כּוּלָּא כְּלָא חֲשִׁיב מַמָּשׁ:
Since G-d is not affected by the tzimtzumim which make it possible for a created being to feel separate from Him, He perceives all the creations brought into being by His Word as being still within their source—Himself. There they are in a state of absolute nullification. From His perspective, they are still nonentities, and the fact of their creation in no way detracts from His absolute unity—He is One alone after Creation just as He was before Creation.
Footnotes
8.
Psalms 139:12.
9.
Bereishit Rabbah 21:5.
10.
Deuteronomy 4:35.
11.
Shaar Hayichud VehaEmunah, ch. 6.