Zim Zum

I like this word! It apparently emerges from the Kabbalistic tradition and refers to God’s action of standing back from creation sufficiently enough to allow breathing room and freedom of choice for his creatures. This term neatly avoids the deism of a god that is uninvolved in his universe at one extreme and a smothering overly-attentive god at the other. Neither does it ignore the paradox of a God who is transcendent in being beyond the reach of human perception and immanent in an intimacy that it is so palpable he is as the breath of life itself. Zim-zum – it rolls nicely off the tongue!