Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

nogah 
by means of conducting faithful business transactions [
masa u-matan
]
 
and achieve 
the state of “polished precious stones”—hence the “bead of thy necklace”— which 
are capable of reflecting the divine light.
65
For these reasons, ordinary men 
participate alongside the scholars in a theurgical act of bringing the flow of divine 
light and the Torah’s wisdom into the world. Through their effort to study Torah at 
62
MAHZ
 5571
, 204-05. 
63
Ibid. 
64
On Cordoverian notions of direct and reflected light see Scholem, 
Major Trends
, 261-273; 
Scholem, 
Kabbalah
, 131. 
65
On extracting the sparks of holiness from the husk of 
nogah
, see Foxbrunner, 
Habad
, 22. 

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185 
fixed times they enable the reunification of the light of the Torah with its supernal 
source, once it has been drawn down to the world by the scholars’ study. Therefore, 
their Torah study at set times is perceived as a necessary element of the dynamics of 
the divine light, and it serves as a kind of counterbalance to the learning of Torah by 
the scholars. 
The picture, in which ordinary people purify the material world around them, 
becoming a mirror that reflects the divine light encapsulated in the sound of the 
Torah they recite, demonstrates not only the interdependence of scholars and 
laymen, but also the correlation of Torah study and deeds. The excerpt cited above 
from MAHZ
5571
states that purification through deeds paves the way for the 
reunification of the Torah with its supernal source in the reflected light; yet in 
another discourse, the relation between deeds and Torah study appears to be 
reversed: setting times for Torah study actually provides strength [
‘oz
] for purifying 
the sparks of holiness, which fell into the husks during the cosmic process of the 
breaking of vessels.
66
At this point mystical imagination intertwines with halakhic 
pragmatics: According to Rashaz’s halakhic works, those who fix times for study 
should concentrate on practical laws that regulate their everyday lives and determine 
the way they act. Accordingly, it is precisely their 
halakhah
-abiding deeds that 
purify the sparks of holiness entrapped in material reality. Rashaz anchors this idea 
in the talmudic saying: “Study is greater [than practice] for it leads to practice” 
[
b
Kidushin 40b], and explains: “A deed without study cannot prevail; however, 
study without a deed is not the essential thing [
ha-‘ikar
] either, for ‘The essential 
thing is not study [
midrash
], etc. [but deed] [
m
Avot 1:17].”
67
This saying has 
evolved with time into one of the popular slogans of Habad-Lubavitch: “Deed is the 
main thing” [
ma‘aseh hu ha-‘ikar
], while the attitude that underlies it has led some 
scholars to present Rashaz’s doctrine as relegating Torah study to a secondary 
place.
68
However, both excerpts from MAHZ
 5571
69
seem to prove the opposite, for 
66
MAHZ
 5571
, 105. On the breaking of the vessels in Lurianic Kabbalah, see Scholem, 
Kabbalah, 
135-40; idem
, Major Trends
, 265-68. 
67
MAHZ
 5571
, 105 [Appendix 6]. 
68
Lamm, 
Torah Lishmah
, 152. 
69
MAHZ 
5571
, 105 and 204-05. 

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186 
they show Rashaz’s efforts to reveal the hidden significance of fixed times of study, 
both mystical, as reflected light [