Reshimu

Reshimu is also called Otiyot HaReshimu (letters of the Reshimu). It is the name of the reality created after the first Tzimtzum (contraction), when only a Reshimu - an "impression" and memory remained from what existed before the Tzimtzum.

Its Concept

In this reality which existed after the first Tzimtzum, there are two different aspects, both called Reshimu.

The Power of Limitation

The first aspect of the Reshimu is the essential power of limitation. Regarding the essence of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is said, "Just as He possesses infinite power, so too does He possess the power of limitation." Until the Tzimtzum - when the expansion of G-dliness illuminated all of reality - only the infinite power was felt, but through the withdrawal of this light, the power of limitation was revealed.

The reason why the power of limitation is described as Reshimu, even though it is equal to the infinite power, is because in terms of light revelation, the infinite power has immeasurably greater revelation than the power of limitation, which actually has no revelation at all, since it is not truly a power of revelation but rather of limitation and prevention of revelation. Therefore, the power of limitation compared to the infinite power is considered merely a Reshimu.

A Point of Light

The second aspect of the Reshimu is the point of light that remained from the light before the Tzimtzum. The power of limitation restricts all the light that expanded before the Tzimtzum and includes it in one point. An analogy for this is a symbol that a person writes to hint at a complete concept, with the entire full and complete content contained within the symbol's point. Similarly, the power of limitation takes all the great light that illuminated reality and places it into a single point. [This is not in the category of Tzimtzum]

The Root and Source of the Vessels

From the Reshimu, which is the power of limitation within the Infinite, the existence of vessels came into being. Not that the vessels were drawn from it, but that the thickening of the Kav light (from which the vessels were actually formed) is through the power of the Reshimu.

The Function of the Vessels in the Kav Light

Through the enclothement of the Kav light in vessels, it divides into Sefirot and lines. The light before the Tzimtzum is not at all in the category of enclothement and division, but the light after the Tzimtzum is in the category of enclothement and division. That is, the Tzimtzum affects the Kav light so that although even after the Tzimtzum it is still simple light, nevertheless it can already clothe itself in vessels and thereby come to division.

An explanation of the Reshimu by way of analogy is from the transmission of intellect from teacher to student. In order to transmit the concept to the student, first the teacher must restrict his own intellectual capacity, and the revelation must be included in the concealed potential force within him, leaving only a tiny portion of the light of that intellect that is transmitted to his student, so that the student can bear it.

Another analogy is from the power of memory, like the thought-letters that remain after the intellect withdraws. This means that the Tzimtzum is like the analogy of lights clothed in letters, and when the intellect and light of the letters depart, only the letters themselves remain, which are in the category of Reshimu that hints at the intellect and light.

The Reshimu and the Tzimtzum

In Likkutei Torah on the Three Parshiyot, the Rebbe Maharash explains that the Tzimtzum did not affect the letters of the Reshimu - when the Holy One, blessed be He, began the first Tzimtzum, He "moved" part of His light and began to "arrange" it in various Tzimtzumim and levels. But the Holy One, blessed be He, left a "Reshimu" of what existed before the Tzimtzum, and in this "Reshimu" He did not touch, move, or change anything from what existed previously. This explains why the root of the vessels is higher than the lights - because the vessels were drawn from the Reshimu which the Tzimtzum did not touch, unlike the lights which are drawn from the Kav which was preceded by the Tzimtzum.

The Admor of Kapust, the Magen Avot, disagreed with the Rebbe Maharash on this matter and believed that the Tzimtzum in the Reshimu is literally as described. Rabbi Dan Tomerkin, a chassid of the Rebbe Maharash, debated with the Admor of Kapust on this matter to prove from the words of the Alter Rebbe that the Rebbe Maharash's view was correct. The correspondence between him and the Admor of Kapust was extensively presented in HaMelech BiMesibo, where the Rebbe also offers a reconciliation between the approaches and instruction in divine service from these concepts.

In any case, the Rebbe Maharash writes that in the function of the letters of the Reshimu there is indeed a slight Tzimtzum. But in the letters themselves (not in their function), the Tzimtzum did not touch them at all.

External Links

• Rabbi Shimon Gofin, The Tzimtzum and the Letters of the Reshimu, in the collection 'Savanu MiTuvecha', Tevet 5781, page 51