Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

shekulah ke-neged kol ha-mitsvot
].
171
The prominent status 
of charity results from its association with giving the necessities of life, which in turn 
corresponds to the general purpose of all the commandments – to draw the divine 
life-force down, into the world. Commenting on this role of the commandments, 
Rashaz writes: 
What is it that causes the drawing down and the descent of the light of the 
Lord into the lower worlds truly, by way of such a revelation? Surely, it is all 
the practical commandments in general […], and in particular the 
commandment of charity, which is equivalent to them all.
172
This is why it is 
called simply “the commandment” [
mitsvah stam
] in the Palestinian Talmud, 
for its purpose and essence is to bring life, grace and kindness to him who 
has nothing of his own,
173
and “to revive the spirit of the humble,” etc. [Isa 
57:15].
174
Giving charity in our own world is indeed a life-giving act whereby the donor 
provides “the humble,” that is, the poor, with the necessities of life. As such, it is 
perhaps the most tangible example of the life-giving force of a commandment, for 
not only does it infuse the recipient of charity with the hidden divine vitality [
hiyut
] 
but it also provides him or her
175
with material sustenance.
176
As Rashaz stresses 
171
See for example T1, 37:48b, T4, 30:151a; 
Seder tefilot
19b. Based on 
b
Bava batra 9a. 
172
b
Bava batra 9a. 
173
An allusion to Zi, 249b, where these words refer to the 
Shekhinah
, who is like the moon, which 
“has no light of her own.” See also T4, 9:114a. 
174
Seder tefilot
19b [Appendix 28]. 
175
The formula “him or her” is used when the sources either include women in the spiritual 
experience or at least do not exclude them explicitly. Women’s participation in Rashaz’s model of 
spirituality will be discussed in chapter 5 below. 
176
This view of charity as an act of overflowing, life-giving kindness is quite distinct from Rashaz’s 
view elsewhere, presenting the giving of charity as a protective act, which shields the donor from the 
influence of the husks: “Scripture says: ‘For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of 
salvation upon his head’ [Is 59:17]. The breastplate is [made up of] many scales. Similarly, all the 
coins [given in charity] add up to a great amount’ [see 
b
Bava Batra 9b], to serve as a breastplate, 
which protects all those who shelter in it. So charity becomes a shield and protection from the 
suckling of the 
kelipah
and the Other Side” (TO 29c [Appendix 29]). See also T4, 3:104a. 

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114 
elsewhere, it is an act of 
imitatio Dei
, for just as God gives life by His act of 
creation, so does man give life by his act of charity:
With his act of charity, which is the provision of [material] plenty [
shefa’
] to 
those of low spirit, etc., he resembles in his actions the action of the Lord, 
which is the provision of the divine influx [
shefa’
] to all created beings, who 
are called “poor.”
177
However, there is more to charity than just a mimicking of God’s action, as it also 
has theurgic effect: the act of giving charity in the lower worlds is “the arousal from 
below” [
it’aruta dile-tata
], which instigates the “arousal from above” [
it’aruta dile-
’ila
], namely, the flow of the divine light from above downwards.
178
The revelation of the divine light caused by the practical commandments in 
general, and by the commandment of charity in particular,
179
has an overtly 
eschatological meaning. The revelation is described as the realisation of God’s 
“dwelling place in the lower worlds” [
dirah ba-tahtonim
] at the point at which the 
materiality of the world has become so refined that it can receive the revelation of 
God’s infinite light without dissolving in it immediately. The concept of the 
purification of materiality through the purification of one’s own body and one’s 
surrounding ‘four cubits’ of space was discussed above
180
in the context of the 
commandments in general. Here it is charity that is foregrounded as the 
commandment that plays the leading role in this process. 
The emphasis that Rashaz places on the commandment of charity is not 
surprising, given his involvement in collecting donations for the hasidic settlement in 
the Land of Israel.
181
His teachings are replete with direct references to charity as a 
177
Seder tefilot
4a [Appendix 30]. See also T1, 34:43b, where charity is recognised as “one of the 
attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is merciful,” and T4, 17:125a, where it is defined as 
the Lord’s commandment, for God causes the worlds to exist by an act of charity. 
178
See for example 
Seder tefilot
17a (where the attribute of mercy [
rahamim
] below triggers an influx 
of Upper Kindness [
hesed ‘elyon
] above), and 19b; T4, 21:133b. 
179
Seder tefilot
19b. 
180
See above, section 3.3 of the present chapter. 
181
See Etkes, 
Ba’al ha-Tanya
, 122-42. 

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115 
redemptive activity, and in 
Tanya
one encounters such expressions as: “Israel shall 
be redeemed only by virtue of charity,”
182
or “charity brings the redemption 
closer.”
183
In most cases, the redemptive aspects of charity, as the practical 
commandment whose fulfilment draws down the divine life-force into the world, are 
presented in the letters in similar terms to those found in 
Tanya
or throughout the 
corpus of Rashaz’s 
ma’amarim
. By referring also to the overtly redemptive 
characterisation of charity in the classical rabbinic sources, Rashaz emphasizes the 
importance of donating money to the hasidic settlement in Palestine. This seems to 
stem from the intrinsic value of the Land of Israel itself
184
rather than from any sense 
of the immediacy of the redemption or the power of charity as the last step required 
in order to bring it on at once. Even though Rashaz states in one place that charity 
constitutes the essence of divine service in the generation of the “footsteps of 
Messiah,” [
‘ikveta di-meshiha
]
185
it seems that his purpose in choosing this wording 
was to encourage his followers to donate regularly for the sake of their brethren in 
the Land of Israel. It seems that the practical commandments in general, and 
especially the commandments of charity, prayer and Torah study, were considered 
by Rashaz as no more than important components of divine service.
186
182
See T4, 4:105a, 9:114a, 10:116a, based on Maimonides, 
Mishneh Torah
, Hilekhot matenot ‘aniyim 
10:1.
183
T1, 37:48b-49a, T4, 21:134a. 
184
See for example T4, 5:106b. On the significance of the Land of Israel in Rashaz’s teachings, see 
Hallamish, “Ha-hasidut ve-Erets Yisra’el,” 240-55. 
185
See T4, 9:114a. The generation of the “footsteps of Messiah” is the last generation before the 
coming of the Messiah. This concept will be discussed in section 1.4 of the next chapter. 
186
On the basis of this particular passage in 
Tanya 
Norman Lamm claims that Rashaz, unlike his 
mitnagdic
contemporary, Hayim of Volozhin, holds charity rather than Torah study as the main 
religious value (
Torah Lishmah
, 151-2). Admittedly, in some instances (e.g. HTT 3.4, 847a) Rashaz 
does indeed suggest that charity can complement the divine service of a person who is not fit to study 
Torah extensively. However, such statements show, on the one hand, that Torah study was, in fact, an 
imperative for Rashaz, which had to be made up for in cases where, for objective reasons, it could not 
be fulfilled, and on the other hand, it demonstrates Rashaz’s pragmatism as a leader to a broad 
community consisting of people with a diversity of professions, talents and skills, rather than to an 
elitist circle of scholars. Rashaz’s strategy of opening up spiritual experience to all by attaching 
mystical or magical significance to the practical 
mitsvot
which are obligatory and – unlike full-time 
Torah study – attainable by all, should not, in my opinion, be understood as the relegation of Torah 

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