Abstract
Bittul ha-yesh (self-nullification) is a teaching prominent and integral to Judaism, its literature, and its philosophy from biblical to modern times. The Sfat Emet stated, "the foundation for everything is bittul [submission] to the Creator." I hope to briefly demonstrate the pervasiveness of self-nullification in Jewish thought: how it originated int eh Bible and in the Oral Law, is prominent in rabbinic Judaism, mysticism, and Hasidism, and, lately, in contemporary scholarship. In the process, an attempt is made to unravel the many facets and paradoxes of this concept.