1993
1993 158 21 january 1993 Dear George, [ … ] I was, lately, helped by, finally, understanding the psychological relevance of the old Kabbalistic idea of Zim-zum (or tzim-tzum) which puzzled me for years. In case you are rusty about this here is what I think it (originally) meant, as a theistic notion. If God is everywhere in the universe how could he create anything else for which there would be no room!? A knotty little problem for some of our rabbis of old … Well, they came up with the ingenious idea that the omnipotent, infinite, allencompassing , etc. (the Ein-Sof) in his/her/its etc. wisdom (or ‘generosity ’) imposed shrinkage on itself in order to provide the necessary Lebensraum for creation. Isn’t this neat as a cosmological-theological notion? Until now it had no attraction-meaning for me. Then, suddenly, years after having encountered the idea, this came to mind: the Zimzum , as many (most? all?) other Kabbalistic notions, concepts, has also a psychological dimension. In this case, the withdrawal (voluntary) of the ‘creator,’ to allow something else to be born, and expand, can also mean the voluntary ‘withdrawal’ of a parent, a teacher, another figure of ‘authority’ from the emotional, etc., space of a dependent (real, imagined, or potential) in order that the latter could realize the self. Now, you might smile at my primitive psychology here. [ … ] But this interpretation of the Zim-zum (1) helped to reinforce my instinct and (2) made me appreciative of some of these rabbis (Isaac Luria of Safed, foremostly) of old. This brings me to your “declaring for Taoism” … This intrigues me greatly, and I am disadvantaged by near total ignorance of the Tao| 269 belief-systems, mysticism, philosophy, religion, etc. The tiny bit I recall appeals to me, although I shall probably never achieve the “slowing down,” the “distancing,” the “calming of passions” and the “indifference to memory,” etc. it contains, or at least I think it contains. But I share your distancing from “religion” if the word means dogma, observance, liturgy, prayer, etc. For me reading about the Kabbalah shows this kind of viewing of the world as a syncretic accumulation of Far-Eastern (some Taoist ones also) Zoroastrian, gnostic, Jewish ideas held together, as if in a sponge. I am interested in comparative religion which I view as an important part of the history of ideas. But this sounds false: it suggests some kind of knowledge which I don’t have. From time to time I dabble in this or that; probe into this or that, trying to connect up these bits & pieces into my own little vehicle that carries me along from day to day. [ … ] I found myself last summer so full of feeling about some people’s woes in our world that I wrote a text-title: Tikkun, also a Kabbalistic notion, ca. 1,500 words. [ … ] The text-story is, I believe, very colorful and cries out for a musical “setting.” After the premiere of Doors … shadows on Sept. 24th, I set to work on Tikkun and wrote out the first draft of a piece (I call it a ‘pluri-drama’) for lyric baritone and orchestra in the following 3½ months. It is quite an extensive work, not less than 35 minutes . It will be quite a taxing vehicle for the singer-reciter who will have to convey a sing-song, etc. of half-dozen+ different personae in the piece. But the great problem might be that in the text I could be regarded as stepping on the tender toes of some establishment ideas … Yes, there is an implied ethical—and perhaps unavoidably also political—dimension to some of the things in this text. Some members of the “Culture of Contentment ” (John Galbraith) or of the “Manufacturing Consent” (Noam Chomsky)1 set might take strong exception to some parts of this text. If so, I would have difficulty in finding a venue for the performance(s) of Tikkun given the circumstance that most (all?) of our orchestras increasingly depend on corporate donations to keep afloat. And it would not be the corporate executive who would say “nay” to Tikkun, it would be the orchestra (i.e., the artistic “decider(s)”) who would bar it from inclusion on a program. But I might be overly pessimistic about this. So far, I have received plenty of signs of appreciation for what I was writing. I was (am) sustained by it and am grateful for it. Perhaps Tikkun will, also...
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