Sefer Etz Chaim and Tanya

Both texts accept tzimtzum as real and necessary. Text 1 (Etz Chaim) emphasizes the geometric perfection and symmetry of tzimtzum—why it must be circular and uniform ('בהשוואה א''), and how this enables balanced divine influence. Text 2 (Tanya) emphasizes the functional purpose: how tzimtzum enables memalei kol almin (divine immanence) to clothe even inanimate matter through successive levels of contraction. Text 1 focuses on the mechanism and form of tzimtzum itself; Text 2 focuses on its consequence—enabling divine life-force to descend. Both agree sovev-kol-almin surrounds the emptied space, but Text 2 explicitly clarifies that memalei (immanence) operates *after* tzimtzum, while sovev (transcendence) is the surrounding aspect. This is complementary, not contradictory.