This class will delve into the intricate concept of tzimtzum, exploring whether the notion of infinity, Ein Sof, as presented by Isaac Luria and his followers, can ever be fully contained or understood within a finite framework. Ein Sof is described as both the ultimate minimum and maximum, a vast infinity that is beyond comprehension and incapable of either increase or decrease. A central idea we’ll examine is how tzimtzum—the process through which the infinite light of Ein Sof is withdrawn—creates a "vacuum" that appears empty, yet still retains the essence of infinity in a singular point at its center. The class will consider various interpretations of this doctrine, seeking to unpack the paradox of how the boundless can also be so profoundly concentrated.

This class is for anyone looking to explore ideas of infinity, ineffability, and paradoxes.

Elliot R. Wolfson, a Fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and Distinguished Professor of Religion Emeritus at University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of many publications including most recently The Duplicity of Philosophy’s Shadow: Heidegger, Nazism and the Jewish Other (2018); Heidegger and Kabbalah: Hidden Gnosis and the Path of Poiēsis (2019); Suffering Time: Philosophical, Kabbalistic, and Ḥasidic Reflections on Temporality (2021); The Philosophical Pathos of Susan Taubes: Between Nihilism and Hope (2023); and Nocturnal Seeing: Hopelessness of Hope and Philosophical Gnosis in Susan Taubes, Gillian Rose, and Edith Wyschogrod (2025).