ויש מאין נקרא בריאה בלשון הקדש
The coming about of substantiality ex nihilo (yesh me’ayin) is in the Holy Tongue called beriah (“creation”).
As the Ramban points out in his commentary to the Torah,26 beriah is the only term in the Holy Tongue for absolutely innovative creation, creation ex nihilo.
In any progression from ilah (“cause”) to alul (“effect”), the alul existed previously as well, albeit in a distinctly different state. The term “creation”, by contrast, describes the coming into existence of something that until now did not exist, for, as mentioned earlier, it is impossible for yesh (“created substantiality”) to be found within ayin (“nothingness”). Were it to be otherwise, the ayin itself would cease to be ayin and would itself become yesh.
The Alter Rebbe now goes on to anticipate a query. In point of fact, created substance is also truly nullified to the G‑dliness that creates it, for “All is before Him as naught.” Why, then, do we say that creation ex nihilo cannot result from ilah and alul because the effect — the created substance — would be nullified to its source, when in truth even as the substance exists as a yesh, created ex nihilo, it is in any event nullified to the Divine source that is responsible for its creation and that continuously vests itself within it to constantly create it anew?
The Alter Rebbe goes on to explain that while the above is indeed true, nevertheless, this is so only “before Him,” i.e., as it exists in G‑d’s knowledge (for G‑d, of course, views things as they truly are, so that created beings are “before Him as naught”: they are “like the non-existence of the sun’s rays while they are still found within the orb of the sun”).
A created being itself, however, regards its own existence in an entirely different light: it “knows” and “feels” beyond any shadow of doubt that it enjoys true and independent existence. This (entirely fallacious) view can only come about when it is created ex nihilo as a yesh. Were it instead to be created by a process of ilah and alul, it would be impossible for it not to be fully cognizant of its Creator; in its own view as well, it would exist in a state of bittul bimetziut, a state of utter self-nullification.
והגם שהיש הנברא הוא גם כן כלא חשיב קמיה
And although created substance is also as naught before Him, for everything, including the created yesh, is as naught before Him —
דהיינו: שבטל במציאות לגבי הכח והאור השופע בו
that is, it is essentially non-existent (Insertion by the Rebbe: “not only in relation to G‑d’s Essence, which utterly transcends worlds and creation, but also within creation”) in relation to the energy and light that flow into it,
מהכלים דיו״ד ספירות דאבי״ע, שהקו אור אין סוף ברוך הוא מאיר בהם
this force and light deriving from the kelim of the Ten Sefirot of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, into which the Kav of the [infinite] Ein Sof-light radiates,
Though we are speaking only of the creative force — the kelim of the Ten Sefirot — that animates created beings, this too may be termed “before Him,” since within these kelim is found the radiance of the Ein Sof-light.
כזיו השמש בשמש
and thus the degree of nullification of created beings is like that of a sunray while still in its source, within the sun,
While they are still in the orb of the sun, sunrays are essentially non-existent: there they contribute no independently identifiable illumination. Nothing exists there but their source, the orb of the sun, the luminary from which they derive.
כמו שכתוב בליקוטי אמרים, חלק ב׳
as explained in Likkutei Amarim (Tanya), Part II27 — that all created beings are truly nullified in relation to their source to the same degree as the sun’s rays are nullified within their source.
In light of the above, how can we possibly say that if creation were to result from ilah and alul, created beings would not exist in a manner of yesh but would be nullified to their source, when in truth, even after they were created ex nihilo they are still truly nullified within their source, like the sun’s rays within the sun?
היינו קמיה דוקא, שהיא ידיעתו יתברך, מלמעלה למטה
[The Alter Rebbe answers:] however, this is only “before Him,” as seen from the heavenly perspective (daat elyon) from which G‑d knows creation, His knowledge [perceiving] from above netherwards.
אבל בידיעה שממטה למעלה
But as seen from the earthbound perspective (daat tachton) of created beings, with a knowledge [that perceives] from below upwards,
היש הנברא הוא דבר נפרד לגמרי, בידיעה והשגה זו שממטה
created yesh is an altogether separate thing, in this knowledge and apprehension from below.
A created being perceives itself to be altogether separate and apart from the Source that creates it, not recognizing its ongoing dependence on it. Though aware that it came into being by virtue of a G‑dly Source, it nevertheless considers its own existence to be yesh (“being”), and its G‑dly Source, ayin (lit., “nothingness”).
This does not mean to imply, explains the Alter Rebbe, that a created being regards its Source is non-existent. Rather, the term ayin has a twofold connotation:
(a) “incomprehensible”: A created being is incapable of comprehending its Source. When it calls Him ayin, it means that He does not exist within its range of comprehension.
(b) “existing differently”: The Source exists so differently, so far beyond the pattern of existence familiar to the created being, that the latter calls its Source “non-existent” — He in fact does not exist within that earthbound frame of reference.
