Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

halakhah
: the exemption of women arises from the 
fact that they derive from the category of ‘female’, associated with 
Malkhut
and the 
source of time. This association makes the female a lower element of the Godhead: it 
158
See note 81 above. 
159
See Zi, 34a. 
160
MAHZ
 5572
, 136 [Appendix 20]. 
161
See for example TO 111b; 
Seder tefilot 
75a; MAHZ
 5567
, 78; 
Parshiyot
, i, 138 and 353; 
Ketsarim
, 
43. 

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244 
is dependent on the male (
Ze‘ir anpin
) and nests within the lower part of the male 
body in order to attain inclusion in the male mind [
da‘at
]. The inclusion of the 
female in the male mind is reminiscent of the concept of women’s light-mindedness, 
which makes it necessary for the female to be complemented by the male.
Moreover, Rashaz defines 
da‘at
by its function of joining opposites together
162
- here 
the five Judgements and five Kindnesses, the roots, respectively, of the negative and 
positive commandments. Consequently, the male, who comprises both attributes, is 
obliged to perform both types of commandments.
163
The female, on the other hand, 
is predominantly associated with Judgements, and therefore she is obliged to perform 
only the negative commandments, while relying on the flow of Kindnessess from the 
male, which determines her performance of the positive commandments. To be 
specific, the female, incorporated within the male, accesses the Kindesses from 
below the male’s chest, namely from the feminine – and consequently the time-
bound- part of the male body. Practically speaking, she does not need to perform the 
positive time-bound commandments, for she receives the influx of Kindnesses 
flowing from the time-bound commandments performed by her husband, but she is 
still obliged to fulfil the positive commandments which are not time-bound, for her 
union with the male does not grant her the Kindnesses that lie above the chest of 
Ze‘ir anpin
. Notably, the female’s spirituality is again shown to depend on legitimate 
sexual union, for on the practical level, a woman’s service of the divine is 
complemented by her husband’s service, while on the theological level, the female 
category is incorporated in the male body, an incorporation which is underscored by 
the category of 
da‘at
bearing sexual connotations, as Rashaz stresses throughout his 
works.
164
Notably, Rashaz assumes the possibility that, in the messianic future, 
women, too, will fulfil the time-bound commandments. This will happen when the 
difference between time and what-is-above-time ceases to exist within the eternity of 
redeemed reality, where the consequent distinction between men and women in 
respect of the commandments no longer obtains. Temporality as we know it will 
have no impact on this redeemed reality, and therefore it will not impede women’s 
162
See note 74 above. 
163
See Vital, 
‘Ets hayim, 
Sha‘ar 50,
 
ch.
 
4, 398. 
164
See for example T1, 3:7b; LT 
Bamidbar 
9a; MAHZ
 5572
, 46. 

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245 
observance of the time-bound commandments. In this regard, women and men will 
be equal in the world-to-come.
165
5.2 The Sabbath candles. 
Jewish law exempts women from a certain group of commandments, an exemption 
which Rashaz explains by the interconnection of time and femininity, limiting 
women’s spiritual capability by definition. As against this, the modern Habad 
movement has designated certain tasks, considered crucial to Habad’s twentieth 
century renewal of Judaism project, as being specifically feminine, emphasizing the 
immense spiritual potency of the traditional women’s commandments: immersion in 
the ritual bath, the lighting Sabbath candles, and the separation of a portion of dough
when baking bread.
166
This emphasis on the participation of women in the spiritual 
enterprise of the Jewish people seems to be absent from the writings of Rashaz, 
where the actions performed by a woman are generally presented as merely 
facilitating the enhancement of men’s spirituality rather than being spiritually 
significant in their own right.
Such a change between early and late Habad can be seen in the attitude to the 
commandment of lighting the Sabbath candles, which in recent years has been 
propagated by Habad Hasidim as the quintessential feminine commandment, even 
though Rashaz did not seem to attribute any special significance to it. Following 
early rabbinic tradition, Rashaz states in his