Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

3. Conclusions. 
The chapter explored the eschatological ideas that feature in Rashaz’s teachings. Not 
unlike the earlier rabbinic sources, Rashaz often fails to distinguish clearly between 
various traditional eschatological concepts. However, some of his teachings that deal 
with practical issues related to the redeemed future make it possible to distinguish 
the messianic era from the subsequent era of the resurrection. The messianic era is a 
transitionary stage between exile and redemption, in which the world moves along 
its customary lines, and Jewish law is as much in force as in the time of exile, but the 
Jews are no longer subjugated to the power of other nations and are free to perform 
all the commandments and to study the deepest layers of the Torah. Following the 
resurrection, the sublimated revived bodies receive the full revelation of the divine 
light and experience the supernal divine delight. The sublimation of bodies is a part 
of the transformation and purification of the world, as a result of which materiality is 
sublimated and no longer obfuscates the divine light as it did during the exile. 
Rather, it becomes a perfect vehicle for the full revelation of the light. Rashaz’s 
concept of the redemption involves also the non-Jews, who – purified by Israel in the 
time of exile – will be resurrected thanks to the the surplus of the divine light. 
Rashaz’s teachings do not convey a sense of acute messianism, such as has 
been present in the teachings of the 20
th
-century Habad leaders. They display no 
urgent expectation either of the imminent, abrupt and apocalyptic end of the world or 
of the immediate advent of the Messiah. On the contrary, the Messiah seems to play 
no part in the process that culminates in the redemption but acquires a significant 
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See TO 18d. 

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167 
role only as leader of the liberated Jewish people in the redeemed Land of Israel. 
And yet the redemption is a tangible reality for Rashaz. He is convinced that the 
world stands on the threshold of redemption, a situation to which he refers as being 
the generation of the “footsteps of the Messiah.” This generation has already lasted 
for hundreds of years, but it may nevertheless complete the task of purifying the 
world at any moment now, and thus finally bring about the messianic era. Moreover, 
even in exile, the individual can reach the divine by way of personal redemption. As 
repentance, according to Rashaz, is above temporal limitations, it can redeem the 
individual, and indeed, the whole world, at anytime. 
The exilic world is a world of confusion, as opposed to the redeemed world, 
in which the hierarchy of beings is fixed. This worldly confusion has both negative 
and positive aspects, e.g. the enslavement of the Jews by the nations on the one hand, 
and the possibility of repentance and self-improvement, on the other. The process of 
the soul’s purification does not end with death, which is followed by the purifying 
torments of 
Gehinom 
or the “hollow of the sling.” Only then does the soul ascend 
through the numerous Gardens of Eden, constantly uncovering new aspects of the 
light of the 
Shekhinah
. In the redeemed world, however, after the resurrection of the 
sublimated bodies, not only the radiance specifically of the 
Shekhinah
but the whole 
divine light of 
Ein Sof
will be fully revealed, which would mark the end of the 
process of the souls’ ascension. In the perfected world following the resurrection, the 
constant rhythm of the divine light’s descent and withdrawal will cease, as the 
overflow of light will be never-ending. Time, which measures the pulse of the divine 
light, will come to a complete halt in the everlasting Sabbath – the holy day that 
transcends mundane time, or on the eight day of circumcision, that day that is 
“entirely good.” 

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