Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

avon bitul Torah
], permitting only the 
scholars [
talmidei
hakhamim
] to learn it occasionally, for the sake of divine 
service.
29
Rashaz’s pragmatism is conspicuous in further concessions, as regards Torah 
study, that he was willing to grant those who were particularly troubled. Perhaps in 
25
An analogous typology appears in MAHZ
 5562
, i, 182-3, where Rashaz lists two 
mitsvot 
included 
in the Torah: reasoning and study [
higayon ve-‘iyun
], and reading out loud [
keri’ah be-dibur
]; see also 
Hallamish, “Mishnato ha-‘iyunit,” 276 n. 7. 
26
HTT, 
Kuntres aharon
, 3:1, 843c. However, in TO 108d-109a, Rashaz dismisses this view and 
presents the verbal articulation of Torah as superior to comprehension, for through “speech” of Torah 
one draws down 
Keter
(divine nothingness and the source of 
Hokhmah
) into 
Malkhut
(speech) and 
achieves self-nullification. On the mystical re-evaluation of Torah study by laymen, see below. 
27
HTT 1:4, 831b-832a. Elsewhere Rashaz presents knowledge of Torah in general as a regulative 
idea rather than something that anyone could really achieve, given the infinity of the Torah: “No one 
can reach the end of the Torah [
takhlit ha-Torah
], which in itself does not have an end or limit.” Even 
if someone would memorize the entire corpus of Written and Oral Torah, he should continue with 
learning its possible interpretations. See HTT
 
2:5, 835a. 
28
HTT 3:6, 847b-848a; T1, 8:13a. 
29
HTT 3:7, 848a. See also T1, 8:13b, where Rashaz brings the examples of Maimonides and 
Nahmanides, who studied gentile wisdom in order to use it in the service of God. 

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175 
response to the social and economic hardships experienced by his followers,
30
he 
expanded the scope of the circumstances in which fulfillment of the obligation of 
Torah study might be limited to two chapters a day or even merely to the recitation 
of the 
Shema’
. Not only the sick and the elderly, whose poor health makes lengthy 
periods of study impossible, but even scholars, when occasionally burdened by work 
necessary to secure their livelihood, should set special times for study.
31
This last 
leniency, however, refers specifically to unplanned situations and does not stand in 
contradiction to the earlier obligation to suffer deprivation rather than give up on the 
commitment to full-time study. Interestingly, Rashaz imposes the obligation of full-
time study on everyone who is sustained by others or lives off charity, regardless of 
his intellectual skills. Although in certain conditions one can limit study to allow 
time for work, people who live off charity and do not work at all should spend their 
time on study and on nothing else, even if their capabilities prevent them from 
mastering the Torah.
32
However, their obligation to study permanently is not bound 
by the commandment of knowing the Torah [
mitsvat yedi‘at ha-Torah
], but rather by 
the commandment “Thou shalt meditate therein day and night” [
ve-hagita bo yomam 
va-lailah
] literally [
ke-mishma‘o
].
33
In addition to obligating individuals to study at 
set times, Rashaz obligated entire communities to study the whole of the Talmud 
every year, by apportioning the tractates among the congregants.
34
30
In letters sent to his followers, Rashaz acknowledges their worsening economic situation. See for 
example T4, 16:124a-b; Hillman, 
Igerot Ba’al ha-Tanya
,
 
32, 94, and 320, where Dov Ber, Rashaz’s 
son, notes that not even the most gifted and intelligent young men are being spared the toil of trade, 
and he fears that before long, they would forget everything that they had learned. Similarly, according 
to the Habad chronicler Hayim Meir Heilman, Rashaz began working on his 
Shulhan ‘arukh
in order 
to ensure that his contemporaries would be able to learn all 613 commandments despite the economic 
situation which deprived them of the time necessary for deep halakhic studies. See Heilman, 
Bet rabi
, 
3b. See also Hallamish, “Mishnato ha-‘iyunit,” 309, where Rashaz’s affirmative attitude toward 
tradesmen among his followers is said to have been motivated by his compassion [
salhanut
] and 
understanding of the circumstances in which they lived. 
31
HTT 3:4, 847b. 
32
HTT 3:5, 847b. 
33
Shulhan ‘arukh Rabenu ha-Zaken
, Orah hayim, Seder masa u-matan, par. 156. 
34
T1, 4:102a; T5, 163a. 

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176 
The distinction between 
mitsvat yedi‘at ha-Torah 
and 
hagita bo
in Rashaz’s 
halakhic works effectively identifies two parallel modes of Torah study: elitist and 
egalitarian. The former, available to the few, is based on continuous study with the 
purpose of memorizing the entire Torah. The latter, intended for the majority, is 
based on limited study sessions, focused on the laws that govern proper conduct.
35
The majority is not obliged to comprehend the entire Torah; the criterion for 
determining whether they have fulfilled the commandment of knowing the Torah 
[
mitsvat yedi‘at ha-Torah
] depends on their particular intellectual disposition. The 
main focus of their study is on the second part of the commandment of Torah study: 
“Thou shalt meditate therein day and night” [
ve-hagita bo yomam va-lailah
], which 
means reciting the Torah twice a day at fixed times.
36
Following the main codices of 
the Law, Rashaz identified the time immediately after prayer as being the most 
appropriate for a fixed period of study.
37
 
35
HTT 3:4, 847a. 
36
The distinction between these two modes of Torah study is rendered in Rashaz’s mystical writings 
as a distinction between two types of souls: the souls of scholars [
talmidei hakhamim
] and the souls of 
those who perform the commandments [
ba‘alei mitsvot
]. The former are committed to full–time 
study, the latter devote a limited time to learning, but make up for this by performing other 
commandments, especially charity (T4, 5:109a; LT 
Ha’azinu 
74b; see also Lamm, 
Torah Lishmah
, 
149-50). The scholars’ souls derive from limitless 
Hesed
, whereas the souls of 
ba
‘
alei mitsvot 
derive 
from the constraining 
Gevurah
, which is the reason for the precept of fixing limited times for study. 
However, in Rashaz’s doctrine, every Jew contains both traits, which in practical terms means that 
ba‘alei mitsvot
should complement their constrained Torah study with generous charity (T4, 
13:119a). This charity should facilitate Torah study by scholars and credit the donor “as if he truly 
studied himself” (HTT 3:4, 847a). See also Ornet, 
Ratso va-shov
, 181-2 on the two types of souls, 
those of scholars and businessman, and their respective obligations in relation to the biblical 
distinction between the the tribes of Issachar, predestined to study the Torah, and Zebulun, 
commanded to support the Issacharites. On Issachar and Zebulun in rabbinic literature and Hasidism, 
see S. D. Breslauer, “Zebulun and Issachar.” 
37
Shulhan ‘arukh Rabenu ha-Zaken
, Orah hayim,
 
Hilekhot talmud Torah, par. 150. 

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177