Nefesh HaChayim and Tanya

Both texts affirm tzimtzum and sovev-kol-almin as valid descriptions of divine relationship to creation. Text 1 emphasizes that sovev-kol-almin arises specifically because of tzimtzum—God transcends creation precisely due to His contraction ('צמצם ברצונו'). Text 2 reverses the explanatory direction: it uses multiple tzimtzumim as the mechanism enabling memalleh kol almin (divine immanence filling worlds), explicitly stating that sovev-kol-almin is NOT the aspect in question ('מה־שֶּׁאֵין־כֵּן בְּחִינַת סוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין'). Text 1 frames sovev-kol-almin as the transcendent outcome of tzimtzum; Text 2 frames memalleh as the immanent outcome while explicitly bracketing sovev-kol-almin. This reflects different theological emphasis: Text 1 stresses transcendence through contraction, Text 2 stresses immanence through successive contractions.