Reshimu (רשימו) — the Impression remaining after the tzimtzum

Core definition

Reshimu ("impression," "trace") is the remnant that remains in the chalal (the vacated space) after the tzimtzum — the primordial contraction by which the Ohr Ein Sof withdrew, as it were, to make room for worlds. "The intention [of the tzimtzum] is in order that this light come afterward in measure and limit — and it is through the level of the reshimu that remained in this chalal after the tzimtzum" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 21–22]. "And the matter of the reshimu is in the level of koach hagvul (the power of limit) in Ein Sof: for He, may He be blessed, is all-capable, and there is in Him also koach hagvul" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 23–25]. In short: the reshimu is the Divine power of limitation, revealed by the tzimtzum as the residue of the Infinite light within the void.

How the Rebbeim develop it

The classic treatment (the Rebbe Rashab's Tiku hemshech, 5674) begins from the tzimtzum's purpose: "The Ma'atzil's intention in the tzimtzum cannot be the light's removal... After the tzimtzum: 'לא תהו בראה כי אם לשבת יצרה' — the world of Tohu is not the true intention — the true intention is Tikun" — settled, measured being — "in revealed light. So the tzimtzum's intention is that this light come afterward in measure and limit — through the reshimu that remained in the chalal after the tzimtzum" [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview]. The reshimu is thus not an accident of withdrawal but its point: the mechanism by which the unlimited can be drawn into measure.

What is it, in essence? "This is in the level of the reshimu from Ohr Ein Sof before the tzimtzum, remaining after the tzimtzum — for this is in the level of koach hagvul in Ein Sof — which is truly ein sof like the unlimited power — only that this is His power, may He be blessed, in unlimited, and this is His power, may He be blessed, in limit" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 104–109]. The power of limit is itself infinite — an infinite capacity for finitude — and it stood hidden before the tzimtzum, when the revelation of the unlimited overpowered it and it was "not discerned at all" [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview].

Why is it called only "reshimu" (an impression, a mere trace)? "In revelation, the level of the limit is beyond comparison to the unlimited — for every revelation is in the level of unlimited... and koach hagvul is in the level of concealment... nevertheless it is a hidden power — therefore it is called by the name 'reshimu' alone" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 110–119]. "The reshimu in general — that it is in the level of a hidden power" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 121].

The reshimu is a hidden and separate power. The standing parable is the thrower: "the analogy for the reshimu from the power of throwing: as in the analogy of one who throws a stone from below upward: the hand's power in it is separate from the essence of his power entirely — unlike one who depicts or makes a vessel — joined with the hand's power" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 122–124]. Applied: "the nimshal from this is in the level of the reshimu: which is in the level of a hidden power — that is, in the level of a power separate from the essence: as written in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (ch. 3): 'he took pebbles and threw them, and from them the earth was made'" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 177–180]. While the revelation of Ohr Ein Sof is in unlimited, "koach hagvul is specifically a hidden and separate power" — and "after koach hagvul was revealed — the reshimu — it limits also the unlimited Ohr Ein Sof: the contracted and concealed light — the unlimited light — comes in limit through the reshimu" [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview].

The reshimu is also described as letters — but engraved letters, not written ones: "as stated, 'galif glifa betehu eila' (He engraved an engraving in the supernal Tohu)... that is, the engraving of the letters in Ohr Ein Sof before the tzimtzum" — "called by the name 'chakikah' (engraving): to indicate the absence of being" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 38–43]. Written letters add something onto the parchment — a being, like Atzilus's kelim — while "engraved letters are not in the level of a thing's being," like "the letters in the soul's essence — that the soul is full of letters — and they are not in the level of being at all" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 44–55]. Within engraving there are two kinds: engraving on a precious stone, where the letters have a hold in the stone's own being (these correspond to Adam Kadmon's kelim); and engraving through and through, like the letters of the luchos, with "no hold at all — not in being at all" — these are the letters of tehu eila before the tzimtzum, the reshimu proper, "the absence of being entirely," yet letters [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview].

A third parable: the craftsman's sketch. "The reshimu's matter [is] in the analogy of the sketch that craftsmen make for a great building: they make short sketches indicating the building, and by this they build the building" (Midrash Rabbah 1:1: the craftsman has diftera'os and pinkasos); "the analogy from this is the matter of the reshimu — to limit the level of the unlimited Ohr Ein Sof" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 204–210]. And "that is, the matter of the kelim's formation from the reshimu: for the kelim too are in the level of concealment" — "light and vessel = revelation and concealment — therefore the kelim's root is from the reshimu" [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 213–215]. Since the kelim's whole matter is "to be in being" — in distance and separation — their formation must be "specifically from the reshimu — a hidden power separate from the essence — in distance," the thrower's power: "he took pebbles and threw them, and from them the earth was made" [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview]. Through the reshimu the kav (line) drawn after the tzimtzum becomes "kav hamidah" — the measuring line — "after the tzimtzum the kav's light came in measure and weight" [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview].

Key distinctions

• Reshimu vs. the light: the light is revelation (giluy), unlimited; the reshimu is concealment (he'lem), the hidden power of limit — yet it is itself truly ein sof, an infinite power-for-limit [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 104–109].
• Why "impression": because in revelation the limit is incomparable to the unlimited, koach hagvul stays hidden — hence only a trace [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 110–119].
• Engraving vs. writing: the reshimu's letters are chakikah — absence of being, like letters in the soul's essence — not kesivah, which adds being onto a substrate [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 38–55].
• Two engravings: on a stone (hold in being — Adam Kadmon's kelim) vs. through-and-through (no being at all — the reshimu proper) [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview].
• Throwing vs. making: the acting power works in closeness and joining (like depicting or forming a vessel); the throwing power works in distance and separation — this is the reshimu [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 122–124, עב׳ 177–182].

Related concepts

• Tzimtzum: the contraction whose purpose the reshimu serves — that light come afterward in measure and limit [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 21–22].
• Kav: the line drawn after the tzimtzum, becoming "kav hamidah" through the reshimu [58838/maamar_005 :: Overview].
• Kelim (vessels): their root and formation from the reshimu, the power of concealment [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 213–215].
• Koach hagvul / koach habli gvul: the two infinite powers — limit and unlimited — both in Ein Sof [58838/maamar_005 :: עב׳ 104–109].

Sources

• 58838/maamar_005, עב׳ 21–25: the tzimtzum's intention — light afterward in measure and limit through the reshimu; the reshimu = koach hagvul in Ein Sof, who is all-capable.
• 58838/maamar_005, עב׳ 38–55: "galif glifa betehu eila" — the engraving of letters in Ohr Ein Sof before the tzimtzum; chakikah indicates absence of being; engraved vs. written letters; letters in the soul's essence.
• 58838/maamar_005, עב׳ 104–121: the reshimu as koach hagvul, truly ein sof like the unlimited power; why called "reshimu" alone — limit incomparable to unlimited in revelation; a hidden power.
• 58838/maamar_005, עב׳ 122–124, עב׳ 177–183: the throwing parable — the hand's power separate from the essence's power; the nimshal — the reshimu as hidden, separate power; "he took pebbles and threw them, and from them the earth was made."
• 58838/maamar_005, עב׳ 204–215: the craftsman's sketch (diftera'os/pinkasos); the reshimu to limit the unlimited Ohr Ein Sof; the kelim's formation from the reshimu — light/vessel = revelation/concealment.
• 58838/maamar_005, Overview: the tzimtzum's purpose (Tikun, not Tohu); the two kinds of engraving (on stone vs. through-and-through, the luchos); the kelim's root in the reshimu; the kav as "kav hamidah."