Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

3. The flow and division of time.
 
3.1 Continuous creation.
The transposition of the order of time to the theosophic structure utterly changes the 
sense of the concept as explained by the Sages. Rashaz does not see the emergence 
of time out of the infinite divine into the order of time and then into time proper as a 
chain of events in cosmic history but rather as an order of ontological relations 
between time and its source. This does not mean that he is not interested in cosmic 
history at all, which indeed he discusses in his teachings, as will be shown in some 
detail below. But, it is important to emphasize that for Rashaz, the order of time did 
not cease with the creation of the world or with the establishment of the luminaries 
in the firmament. Rather, the order of time continues to exist in the upper realms and 
to influence the passage of time in the lower worlds. This aspect of Rashaz’s 
discourse on time is related to his view of the creation as a continuous rather than a 
91
LT 
Balak
70c. 
92
See Schneersohn, 
Derekh mitsvotekha
, 57b. 
93
This idea is attested in various kabbalistic sources. See for example Wolfson, 
Alef, Mem, Tau
, 73, 
on the order of time as the root of time in Cordovero’s 
Pardes rimonim
; see also Idel, “Time and 
History,” 162. 
94
Seder tefilot
, 76b. This 
ma’amar
is further developed by Dov Ber Shneuri in 
Imrei binah
, Sha‘ar 
Keri’at Shema‘, 42c-d. 

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53 
one-off event.
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Not only does the model of continuous creation present time as 
being constantly renewed rather than enduring unchanged from the moment of 
creation, but it also yields a tentative definition of what time means for Rashaz.
According to Rashaz, the idea of a continuous creation can be apprehended 
through contemplation of the works of the creator: 
The knowledgeable person should contemplate the fact that truly “They are 
new every morning” [Lam 3:23] etc., and that “He renews the creation every 
day continually”
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ex-nihilo
[
me-ayin le-yesh
], and [he should also 
contemplate] the falling of darkness at night, and its departure when the light 
of day dawns. Similarly, the individual should discern in himself that when 
he sleeps at night his life force [
hiyut
] departs from him, while when he 
wakes up he becomes a new creation. From this he should understand that the 
same applies to all the created beings of the world, and that their life force 
[comes and goes by way of] 
ratso va-shov
.
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A similar interpretation of the same statement from the prayer book, to the effect that 
God renews His creation daily, appears in the letters of Rashaz’s teacher, Menahem 
Mendel of Vitebsk (d. 1788). He, however, modifies the meaning of the verse to 
suggest that since the world’s existence is entirely dependent on God’s will, it is only 
“as if” [
ke-ilu
] He creates and destroys it at every moment.
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In contrast to his 
teacher, Rashaz understands the statement quite literally: the divine life force 
descends and ascents again on a regular basis, annihilating the created beings and 
bringing them back to life at each and every moment anew. To describe the rhythm 
of the world’s perpetual alternation between materialisation and annihilation, Rashaz 
employs the term 
ratso va-shov
.
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This biblical expression, meaning literally “run 
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On the continuous creation in Rashaz, see Schwartz,