And this is also the meaning of "He encompassess all worlds."

[This does not mean to say (heaven forfend) that G-d is not found within the worlds but merely encompasses them. Rather]:

This means, by way of analogy: When a person reflects upon an intellectual subject in his mind or upon a physical object in his thoughts, then his intellect and thought encompass that subject whose image is formed in his thought or in his mind, [inasmuch as they are found within his thought and mind], but they - [his intellect and thought] - do not encompass that subject in actual fact.

[They merely encompass his image of the subject, not the actual subject.

When one envisions a table, the actual physical table is of course not found within the brain; it is merely its image that is encompassed there].

The Holy One, blessed be He, however, of Whom it is written, [22] "For My thoughts are not your thoughts ....," His thought and knowledge of all created beings actually encompass each and every creature; for [G-d's knowledge] is verily its life-force and that which brings it into existence out of nothingness, in actual reality.

[G-d's thought, unlike man's, thus encompasses the actual subject of His thought - in this case, all created beings. It brings about their creation and continued existence, even though it does not descend to their level and become internalized within them, but remains in an exalted state].

   

Notes:

22. (Back to text) Yeshayahu 55:8.