Ein Sof, or
Ayn Sof (,
Hebrew: אין סוף), in
Kabbalah, is understood as
God prior to his self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual
realm, probably derived from
Ibn Gabirol's term, "the Endless One" (
she-en lo tiklah).
Ein Sof may be translated as "no end", "unending", "there is no end", or
infinity. It was first used by
Azriel ben Menahem, who, sharing the
Neoplatonic belief that God can have no desire, thought, word, or action, emphasized by it the
negation of any attribute. Of the Ein Sof, nothing ("Ein") can be grasped ("Sof"-limitation). It is the origin of the
Ohr Ein Sof, the "Infinite Light" of paradoxical divine self-knowledge, nullified within the Ein Sof prior to creation. In
Lurianic Kabbalah, the first act of creation, the
Tzimtzum self "withdrawal" of God to create an "empty space", takes place from there. In
Hasidism, the Tzimtzum is only
illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof, giving rise to
monistic panentheism. Consequently, Hasidism focuses on the
Atzmus 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.