Tzimtzum is the first act of creation in Lurianic Kabbalah: the infinite light of Ein Sof contracts to leave an empty space in which a world can exist. A trace of the light remains, and a single ray re-enters to form the worlds. Later thinkers debated whether the contraction is literal or only apparent.
Tzimtzum
Contraction: Isaac Luria’s teaching that God withdrew into himself to make space for creation.
Also: Tsimtsum, contraction