Sunday, December 21, 2008

"We do not see things; we see their light"


"Everything is born of light, and it would be more accurate to say that everything we see is only a category of light.

In other words, we do not see things; we see their light.

This is also true for the foremost symbol of light in Jewish mysticism: the Infinite Light, Ohr Ein Sof.

We cannot know the Infinite, but only what emanates from it--its light, which is both the principle and the essence of all reality.

Just as we can perceive only the light of the physical world, we cannot know the Infinite God, only His emanation."

--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz


From The Seven Lights, p. 332 by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz