In Kabbalah, Ayin (Hebrew for "nothing," "there is not") is not the absence of God.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Daniel C. Matt, Ayin: The Concept of Nothingness in Jewish Mysticism (1995)
religion · Shared topic · Revision 0
Is Ayin the same as Ein Sof?
What Is Ayin? Nothingness in Kabbalah
The current answer
Why Jewish mystics chose the word "Nothing" as their deepest name for God, and what that word does and does not share with Buddhist emptiness.
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Ayin stands at the border where Ein Sof, the limitless hidden God, turns toward manifestation: the first stirring of divinity is called Nothing because nothing can yet be said of it.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Daniel C. Matt, Ayin (1995)
Within the sefirotic system, Ayin most often lands as a name for Keter, the first and highest Sefirah.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941)
Some Kabbalists identify Keter with Ayin outright; some treat Ayin as standing between Ein Sof and Keter; some effectively merge Keter upward into Ein Sof.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Daniel C. Matt, Ayin (1995); G. Scholem, Major Trends
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