The worlds were unable to receive the revelation of Hashem’s Infinite Light as it existed previously within Himself, and they would have lost their own seemingly independent existence.
Therefore, Hashem retracted the Light so that it should be included within “the Luminary,” (so that it exists only in potential, but not actually revealed,) and thereby concealed it, so that the Light would not be revealed, rather, only “the Luminary” would be “revealed.”
(However, in “the Luminary the Infinite One Himself, there is no possibility of Tzimtzum-Withdrawal or concealment, G-d forbid.)
On the contrary, “the Luminary” is revealed even more than before the Tzimtzum.
There are three levels in understanding this statement, that “on the contrary, the Luminary is revealed” through the Tzimtzum:
1. The Basic Level
A basic level of understanding this is that the Tzimtzum did not affect the Luminary, Hashem’s Essence. This is because He transcends the category of Light, He is not a “Light” and therefore cannot be hidden. He is not an idea or concept that can be too lofty to be grasped. He is the “True Existence” of anything that can come into being, and nothing could possibly exist unless He is already there, bringing it into existence. According to this, the emphasis is on the fact that Hashem’s Essence is not affected by the Tzimtzum, and, in fact, He is found everywhere just as before. (See the Rebbe Rashab’s notes on this statement in Notes on Pasach Eliyahu, p. 54 of the new edition (p. 52 previous edition, p. 73 of first edition.) This understanding of the statement is similar to the Alter Rebbe’s explanation in Shaar HaYichud Vehamenua, that the concept of Tzimtzum does not apply to Hashem’s Essence.
2. A Deeper Level
A deeper level of understanding: Hashem is more “found” after the Tzimtzum than before. This is because the Light “distracts” from Essence. (See Hemshech Beshaa Shehikdimu chap. 349, Parshas Lech Lecha 5775 page 717.) In many places (see beginning of Sefer Hamaamarim Yiddish) there in analogy for this concept: When a person wants to test water to see if it is too hot, he does not use his head, which is very sensitive, but rather his feet. This is because the power to jump into hot water regardless of the what will happen comes from a deep part of the person, the essence, that can tolerate anything. However, because the head (and other body parts) have their own function and sensitivity that dervies from lower aspects of the soul, they are not “tuned in” to the essence. Only the foot that has no other revealed soul powers “distracting it” can “tune in” to the essence. This is also why the power of self-sacrifice, mesirus nefesh, is found specifically in the simple people and in the lowest generation, and not as much in the the great intellectual scholars. The wisdom and understanding they perceive “distracts” them from the core-level essential connection of a Jew to Hashem, which is expressed in Mesirus Nefesh.
3. The Deepest Level
A deeper level of understanding: Its not just that the Tzimtzum caused us to be less “distracted” from His Essence because He hid His Light. More than that, the awareness and connection to His Essence is specifically found in the physical world, in people who overcome their ego for Hashem. The reason: The source of the notion of ego, that something exists by itself, seemingly independent of anything else, as though its existence is from itself, is derived from the Essence of Hashem, the absolute True Existence, whose being is from Himself, and has no outside source at all. In all the spiritual levels, everything has a source. All the souls and angels recognize their spiritual source. Emotion shows on intellect that is its source, conscious intellect shows on subconscious intellect, etc. Only physical creatures in this world, people, have a notion of existing without a source. Even though this is illogical, because something cannot create itself, nonetheless, this notion exists as a (backwards reflections and) derivative of the fact that Hashem’s Essence has no source. When a person overcomes the foolishness of his ego, and chooses to serve Hashem, he transforms the ego itself to reveal its source in Hashem’s Essence. Similarly, every physical object that seems to not have a source, by transforming it into something holy through using it for a mitzvah, we reveal its source, its special connection, to Hashem’s Very Essence, that has no source. In that sense, the “Luminary,” Hashem Himself is found specifically after the Tzimtzum, in the physical world, in physical people serving Hashem. (See Basi Legani 5729 chap. 7-9 and in the footnotes there.)
This is why even young children know that Hashem exists, even though they have no intellectual grasp or understanding how He exists or what His existence entails. This is because there is no revelation of intellectual light within these young children. Nevertheless, “the Luminary” itself exists below just as it is Above.
This concept, that the Tzimtzum only applies to the Light, but not to the source of the Light, is one of the fundamental novelties of Chassidus. (In the time of the Alter Rebbe there were certain other Torah scholars that believed that Tzimtzum could apply on some level to Hashem as well, and this opinion was shown to be erroneous, as explained in Tanya, Shaar HaYichud Vehaemuna, mentioned above.)
The Alter Rebbe’s proof brings this out: If Hashem was a “Light,” a revelation, and idea or concept, then some people would know about Him and some people not. Smarter people would be more aware of that concept, and those of lesser intelligence would be less aware. However, all people are equally aware of the fact that Hashem exists. This is because Hashem in not a Light, not an Infinite Light, or any kind of Light or spiritual level or revelation. Rather, Hashem is just Himself, and He is also the source of all revelations. Since He is not a Light, no Tzimtzum can affect Him at all, He cannot be hidden or concealed in any way whatsoever.
Based on this, what does it mean that “the Luminary” is revealed, if He is not a revelation? He is not revealed in the intellectual sense of understanding how He exists, or what He is. He is only revealed in the basic fact that He does exist. Every person has an intuitive sense of the fact that there is a Creator, even if they have no intellectual explanation for Him at all. This is because His Essential Being is “felt” at the essential level of the soul, at the core-being of every creature, at a level higher than explanation.
This is true in a very profound way in Jewish people, who have an inherent connection to Hashem on a level that transcends intellect. But even non-jews have some intuitive awareness of this most basic truth of existence, that there is a Creator, even though we cannot understand Him.
Therefore, this Tzimtzum is called “An empty space and void,” meaning that it is empty and devoid of Light, and contains no Light or revelation, whatsoever. Rather, the Light remains entirely in a potential state, within “the Luminary.”
As will be emphasized further in the maamar, the effect of the Tzimtzum is only in terms of our perception. It created a space where we do not perceive the Light. It did not actually cancel out the Light, it just hid it from us, so that from our perspective, it seems as though the Light was retracted back into its source, since we do not see it. In that sense, the Tzimtzum created a “space” that looks empty from the Light. This is needed so that the worlds do not become overwhelmed by the intensity of the Infinite Light.
