ספר שמות

Exodus 24,10. “and beneath His feet there was something ‎resembling a brick made from sapphire.” There is an ironclad ‎rule that every “spark”, limb, movement, in this physical ‎universe as well as the activity of every angel, i.e. disembodied ‎creature of G’d, needs to be an instrument used in the service of ‎the Lord. Seeing that He is unique and solitary and eternal, ‎anyone serving Him will experience satisfaction and pleasure of a ‎kind that no creature could attain by its own efforts.‎It is axiomatic that when speaking of the ‎אין סוף‎, the essence ‎of the Creator, concepts such as time, space and quantity, do not ‎apply, seeing that these concepts define limitations, and the ‎Creator, by definition, is “unlimited” i.e. does not suffer from the ‎constraints imposed upon His creatures by time, space and ‎quantity. These concepts become applicable only when the ‎Creator, in order not to destroy His universe and the creatures in ‎it, must impose restraints upon Himself, known as ‎צמצום‎. These ‎restraints that the Creator imposes upon Himself vary with the ‎parts of the universe in which He desires to become manifest at ‎different times. Concepts such as time, space, quantity, are useful ‎in measuring the degree of such constraints G’d imposes upon ‎Himself at different “times,” and in different “spaces.”‎All living creatures are required to “gaze upon,” i.e. to relate ‎to the ‎אין‎ from within the parts of the universe that is their ‎habitat, to their roots, the cause from which all their ‎חיות‎, life-‎force, draws its animation or vitality. In other words, speaking ‎allegorically, man must keep in contact with its Creator, much ‎like an unborn baby must remain in contact through its navel ‎with its life-giving mother. By maintaining such contact, the life ‎force of the creature keeps being renewed. This “process,” though ‎assuming different forms, is common to all creatures whether ‎mobile, inert, free-willed or “programmed” by its Creator. The ‎means by which these various creatures maintain this contact ‎with their origins are the ‎אותיות‎, “identifying letters,” for want of ‎a better word, which represent the individuality of the various ‎kinds of creatures. In the celestial regions there are “outlets,” ‎marked as appropriate for each type of creature to connect to. ‎When each one “concentrates,” i.e. sees with its mind’s eye this ‎outlet whence they “recharge” their “batteries,” they thus ensure ‎their continued existence and function in the parts of the ‎universe that has been allocated to them.‎It is important for these creatures to establish a system ‎whereby their contact with their origin remains unbroken, so ‎that their continued existence is not endangered.According ‎to the Kabbalists, this method or system is known as ‎קמץ‎, like the ‎vowel in the Hebrew alphabet. This method is discussed in the ‎‎Tikkuney Hazohar. According to what is explained there, the ‎אין סוף‎, infinite essence of G’d, is also known as ‎קמץ‎. This ‎אין סוף‎, ‎seeing that it has no colour, is considered in the category of ‎‎“white,” as “white” forms the basis of all other colours. Any other ‎colour may be perceived as having been superimposed on the ‎original white.