Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

4. The relation between Torah study at set times and full-time study. 
Rashaz acknowledged that nonscholars would always constitute a substantial 
proportion of the Jewish community, be it because of the socioeconomic situation, 
the intellectual limitations of common folk, or because of their place in the hierarchy 
of souls. Moreover, in the 
Tanya,
Rashaz stated explicitly that there was only a 
handful of true 
tsadikim
,
59
divided from the 
beinonim 
by a clear-cut and 
nonnegotiable border.
60
He did not perceive as problematic the existence of 
tradesmen who were engrossed in materiality and immersssed in the troubles of 
everyday life. On the contrary, their inferior position presented them with 
opportunities and tasks that the full-time scholar would never have.
61
Hence setting 
times for Torah study can serve complementary yet different purposes from full-time 
Torah study; it can incorporate laymen in activities that were previously restricted to 
the spiritual vanguard, and can even offer them opportunities that are beyond the 
reach of the scholarly and pneumatic class. 
58
See for example Dubnow, 
History
, 113, and Introduction, n. 7 above. 
59
T1, 10:16a 
60
See T1, 14:20a, 27:33b-34a, and Polen, “Charismatic Leader,” 57-59. Rashaz, however, does not 
deny the possibility that by means of repentance, the wicked person [
rasha’
] could be transformed 
into a 
beinoni
or even into a 
tsadik
in some particular cases, such as that of Eleazar ben Durdaya 
[
b
‘Avodah zarah 17a] (
Seder tefilot
, 226c; LT 
Aharei 
26c, 
Va-ethanan
9b, 
Nitsavim
46d, 
Shemini 
‘atseret 
84d-85a; TO 20d; MAHZ 
Razal
106-07). See also chapter 3, note 159 above. 
61
 
MAHZ 
Ketsarim
, 119; see also Loewenthal, 
Communicating
, 69. 

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184 
4.1 Torah study at set times as a complement to full-time study. 
In one of his late discourses, Rashaz resorts to the kabbalistic imaginary in order to 
express the interdependence of scholars and laymen.
62
He takes a passage from the 
Song of Songs as his point of departure: “Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my 
bride; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one bead of thy 
necklace” [Sg 4:9]. In his interpretation, this passage refers to two separate groups 
among the Jewish people: the “eye” denotes leaders of the community, namely the 
scholarly elite, whereas the “bead of thy necklace” represents the laymen. Such an 
interpretation aims to bring to the reader’s attention the equal status granted by the 
biblical author to both these groups. In spite of the fact that “Ostensibly there can not 
be any comparison between them at all” [
li-kh’orah ein ‘arokh benehem kelal u-
khelal
],
63
they capture the heart of the Song’s groom equally, or in other words, they 
are equally cherished by God. As Rashaz continues to explain, both these groups are 
assigned different, albeit complementary roles. The scholars, as “the eyes of the 
congregation,” bring down Wisdom [
Hokhmah
] from its source in direct light [
or 
yashar
], while the laymen respond by elevating the Torah in reflected light [
or 
hozer
].
64
Rashaz stresses not only two different modes of study (“drawing down” in 
full-time study and “elevation” when it is pursued at set times), but also two different 
dispositions: the scholars’ study is intellectual, for they bring down the wisdom of 
the Torah, whereas the power of the laymen’s Torah lies in their voice, and they 
draw it from their deeds. Rashaz explains that the laymen purge the husks of