Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Mitsrayim
, e.g. 
as 
makom tsar – 
a narrow space,
68
or 
metsar yam
– a sea strait, to wit the “sea of 
wisdom” [
yam shel hokhmah
],
69
where the exile in Egypt stands specifically for the 
contraction of the 
sefirah
Hokhmah
into 
Binah
. When projected onto the 
anthropomorphic scheme of the sefirotic hierarchy, 
Mitsrayim 
is identified with the 
throat [
garon
] – a narrow channel that connects the brain (namely the intellectual 
sefirot 
of 
Hokhmah
, 
Binah 
and
Da’at
) with the heart (the emotional attributes 
associated with the 
sefirot 
of 
Hesed, Gevurah, Tif’eret, Netsah, Hod 
and 
Yesod
).
70
The association of Egypt with the throat yields several other interpretations. For 
example, Egypt is associated with Joseph's service and subsequent imprisonment at 
Pharaoh’s court. In this case, the function of Egypt as the throat is embodied in the 
chiefs of the butlers, bakers and butchers [
sar ha-mashkim, sar ha-ofim ve-sar ha-
tabahim
] of Gn 40
71
and related to the pleasures of this world that stand in the way 
of the disclosure in the heart of the divine light residing in the brain.
72
Following 
“the way of the kabbalists [
yod’ei hen
],” Rashaz also reads the Hebrew word 
garon 
66
LT 
Shelah
47c. See also LT 
Shir ha-shirim
14d. 
67
TO 103c-104c; see also TO 64d; MAHZ 
5562
, 148; 
5565
, 394, 444; 
5566
, 242. 
68
See for example TO 49d, 58b, 71d. 
69
TO 51a; see also TO 105a; 
Seder tefilot
8d. 
70
See TO 51a, 58c-d; LT 
Ba-midbar 
11d. See also Ornet, 
Ratso va-shov
, 127-8, where she discusses 
the role of the throat as a transitive point between intellect and emotions within the context of worship 
through love of God. 
71
These are the three protagonists of the story of Joseph's imprisonment [Gn 39:1-41:12]. 
72
TO 22c. 

---

84 
(throat) interchangeably with 
haron 
(anger), linking it to the story of Jacob, who set 
out for Haran from Be’er Sheva.
73
Haran, where Jacob spent twenty years working 
for Laban, is in turn associated with the separated beings that inhabit the lower 
worlds, while the verse “And Jacob went out from Beer Sheva and went toward 
Haran” [Gn 28:10] is interpreted figuratively as an illustration of the flow of the 
divine energy downwards, towards these separated beings. The established 
connection between Haran and the throat enables Rashaz to apply to it his own idea 
of creation by means of the divine speech:
74
the throat produces voice, which is 
identified with the life-giving energy of the divine; it continues to produce voice 
until it grows dry [
nihar geroni
], i.e., until the point at which the voice ceases to be 
audible, and it seems as if the words it had uttered exist in their own right.
75
From a 
broad perspective, this interruption of voice is reflected in the state of exile, and from 
the personal perspective, it is reflected in divine service that is not entirely selfless 
[
bi-vehinat nifrad ve-lo bi-vehinat bitul
].
76
Thus the exile can be perceived on two levels, sometimes referred to as 
Upper and Lower Egypt [