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Ein Sof

אין סוף

The Infinite One (Ein Sof)

The name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof.

The word אין סוף literally means “without end” (אין לו סוף), and as a name is usually written א״ס ב״ה. Distinguish א״ס from אור א״ס (the light, a radiance) and from מל׳ דא״ס (Malchus of Ein Sof, its lowest level). It is also used relatively: Atik is called Ein Sof relative to Atzilus (Shir HaShirim 25:8), and Keser is sometimes called Or Ein Sof (Shir HaShirim 8:3).

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶3The light that brings the Sefiros into being is like the sun’s radiance, which makes no change in the sun itself; so it is called Or Ein Sof, a mere radiance. Light from the essence of the Emanator comes to be revealed, even in Atzilus, only through an intermediary, Keser, which holds the lowest level of the Emanator: His Name, the power to radiate included in His essence.ואף האור המהוה כל הספירות הוא רק כמו זיו השמש אשר אינו פועל שום שינוי בעצם המאור לכן נקרא בשם אור א״ס שהוא לשון זיו והארה בעלמא
  2. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶24Of the essence of Ein Sof one cannot say even “encompasses all worlds” or “You are wise”: it is utterly simple, unchanged since before creation. All drawing down and revelation is only from Malchus of Ein Sof, from which Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah descend by a leap, through the kav.כי עצמות א״ס פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות
  3. Likkutei Torah, Masei 8, ¶11The “supernal Atzilus,” which is Or Ein Sof, is called Malchus only as Etz Chaim says: it is the lowest of all levels of Ein Sof, as if Malchus of Malchus, though there is no form or Sefirah there, said only “to ease the ear.” The kav, though a radiance of Ein Sof itself, comes only after the tzimtzum and the empty space.הוא הבחי׳ היותר תחתונה ושפלה מכל בחי׳ א״ס
  4. Likkutei Torah, Balak 2, ¶14No necessity applies to Ein Sof; He is omnipotent, and limited beings can come into being from Him, through His Malchus, which withdraws and conceals Ein Sof; were it not hidden, they would be nullified like a candle before a torch.שעל בחי׳ א״ס אין שייך ענין הכרח כלל אלא הוא ית׳ כל יכול ויכול להתהוות מבחי׳ א״ס בעלי גבול
  5. Torah Ohr, Yisro 10, ¶28A created, limited soul that is stirred by Ein Sof, who is without limit and beyond all thought, is a “voice,” a drawing from the unlimited into the limited; the mixed multitude were moved only by the size of the heavenly spheres, a yesh, not by Ein Sof.א״ס ב״ה שאינו בבחי׳ גבול ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל

Stated differently

Whether the name Ein Sof describes His essence, or only His Name, the light drawn from Him

Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2, ¶22ותירץ דמה שאנו קורין אין סוף אין ר״ל לתאר מהותו ועצמותו יתעלה ח״ו

Citing the Ramaz and Pelach HaRimon: we do not say Ein Sof to describe His essence, of which “silence is praise,” but of His Name, the light drawn from Him, which has no end; that is why it is called Ein Sof rather than “without beginning.”

Torah Ohr, Bo 1, ¶1הנה ידוע שמהותו ועצמותו של הא״ס ב״ה הוא פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות

The very essence of the Ein Sof is utterly simple; attributes like wise or merciful do not apply to it at all, and even Chochmah is like physical action before Him.

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42, ¶3אך המאציל א״ס ב״ה הוא למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ אור

The Emanator, Ein Sof, is far above light, even above surrounding light; the lights (chayohi) come from Him, and “He” (ihu) is the essence of the Emanator.

Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 7, ¶1שא״ס ב״ה כשמו כן הוא אין לו סוף כו׳ כי נשגב שמו לבדו

Ein Sof, as His name so is He: without end; He alone is exalted, and only the radiance of His Name is on earth and heaven, the lower and upper Gan Eden.

Discussed by

  • The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Maamarei Razal (Inyanim), p. קעה

    The Tzemach Tzedek explains why the name is Ein Sof and not ‘without beginning’: it names His ‘Name’, which has a beginning in its Owner, while His essence cannot be called Ein Sof at all.

    שהרי באמת יש לו תחלה, הוא בעל השם, וכמארז״ל הוא ושמו, משא״כ מהותו ועצמותו לא שייך לקרות כלל א״ס

  • The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim Basi LeGani, vol. 2, p. תכט

    The Rebbe sets out both readings, the light of the One called Ein Sof or a light that is itself infinite, and brings the question and answer of the Rema of Fano (Rama”a) that the name Ein Sof refers only to His Name, the light, and not to His essence.

    בענין אור א״ס יש שני פירושים. פירוש הא׳, אור של אין סוף, ופירוש הב׳, שהאור עצמו הוא אין סוף

Further in Chassidus

  1. The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Maamarei Razal (Inyanim), p. מח

    Summarizing a maamar of the Alter Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek explains that ‘Or Ein Sof’ means the light itself is infinite, not the light of One called Ein Sof, since endlessness applies only to what spreads forth; that light is His ‘Name’ through which our love reaches Him.כי המאור עצמו לא שייך לקרותו בשם אין סוף, כי אין סוף אין שייך רק על האור והזיו הנמשך ומתפשט

  2. The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Maamarei Razal (Inyanim), p. קעה

    The Tzemach Tzedek asks why the Kabbalists say Ein Sof and not ‘without beginning’, a higher praise, and answers through the dispute over Keser: His ‘Name’ that was before Atzilus, Keser, is what bears the name Ein Sof.שבחי׳ שמו שהי׳ ג״כ עד שלא נברא העולם אצילות היינו בחי׳ כתר והוא הנק׳ אין סוף

  3. The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim Basi LeGani, vol. 2, p. תכט

    The Rebbe resolves how a mere radiance can be truly without limit: the light is infinite not of itself but because it resembles its source, unlike shefa, which carries the substance of the giver.שזה שהאור הוא אין סוף, אין זה מצד עצמו, אלא לפי שהאור נמצא מהמאור והוא מעין המאור

Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶24Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2, ¶22Likkutei Torah, Masei 8, ¶11Torah Ohr, Bo 1, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42, ¶3

Where it appears

In 648 paragraphs of 258 maamarim.

Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.

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