Ein Sof (Kabbalah)
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Ein Sof or Ayn Sof (Hebrew אין סוף, literally "without end", denoting "boundlessness" and/or "nothingness"), is a Kabbalistic term that usually refers to an abstract state of existence preceding God's Creation of the limited universe. This Ein Sof, typically referred to figuratively as the "light of Ein Sof" ("Or Ein Sof"), is the most fundamental emanation manifested by God. The Ein Sof is the material basis of Creation that, when focused, restricted, and filtered through the sefirot, results in the created, dynamic universe.
According to the Zohar, the ten sefirot (the Divine "emanations") as found in what is figuratively termed Adam Kadmon (the original "primal man" created by God) emanate from Ein Sof.
Less precisely, the term Ein Sof is sometimes used to instead refer to God.
[edit] The ten emanations
The ten aspects of the Divine can be described as (also see Sephirah):
- Keter (Crown; כתר)
- Chokhmah (Wisdom; חכמה)
- Binah (Intelligence; בינה)
- Chesed or Gedulah (Love or Mercy); חסד)
- Din or Gevurah (Power or Judgement); גבורה)
- Tifereth or Rakhamim (Compassion); תפארת)
- Netzach (Lasting Endurance); נצח)
- Hod (Majesty); הוד)
- Yesod (Basis or Foundation); יסוד)
- Malkuth or Shekinah (Kingdom); מלכות)
Well-known explications of the relation between Ein Sof and all other realities and levels of reality have been formulated by the Jewish mystical thinkers of the Middle Ages, such as Isaac the Blind and Azriel.
[edit] Cultural impact
Mathematician Georg Cantor labeled different sizes of infinity using the Aleph. The smallest size of infinity is aleph-null (
), the second size is aleph-one (
), etc. One theory about why Cantor chose to use the aleph is because it is the first letter of Ein-Sof. (See Aleph number)
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