The Meaning of Being in Exile in Kabbalah

Exile is the state of separation: separation from light, separation from God, separation from the awareness of the Creator's presence. Jacob points to a different understanding. Standing in what appeared to be an empty place, he had not known that within the vacant space there is the presence of the Creator.

Yet the vacant space is not empty. It holds the Creator's deepest wish: that human beings, His vessels, would want to be partners with Him in completing creation. Complete creation means that all life extends itself until it reaches the point of Tzimtzum Aleph.

This is what Jacob grasped and gave priority to. Within the earthly and seemingly empty place lies the possibility of recognizing the Creator's presence and joining in the work of completing creation.