Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

4. Conclusions. 
A close reading of Rashaz’s teachings uncovers their historiosophical underpinnings. 
Contrary to their common depiction as an a-temporal mystical doctrine, focused on 
integration in the divine transcendence within the here-and-now, the teachings 
examined in this chapter show that Rashaz’s model of spirituality depends on his 
understanding of history: the Jewish exilic past preconditions the present mode of 
divine service, the purpose of which is to bring about the messianic future. 
Admittedly, actual historical events or current affairs do not feature in Rashaz’s 
writings as much as one might have expected, given his involvement in the life of the 
hasidic communities of Belarus and the Land of Israel; to the extent that they feature 
at all, this is mostly in his letters rather than his mystical teachings. And yet history, 
understood primarily as the tension between the creation and the final redemption, 
plays a central role in his doctrine. 
The redemption, defined as God’s dwelling place in the lower worlds, is 
inherent in the concept of creation as its ultimate goal and purpose. The creation is 
thus, by definition, a state that requires redemption; it is the state in which the divine 
itself is in exile – the one and unique God who invests his infinite light in the 
multitude of finite, separate beings. All the historical exiles of the Jewish people 
serve Rashaz, first and foremost, as an allegory of the ontological state of exile that 
began with the creation itself and will end only with the final redemption. The exile 
in Egypt occupies a prominent place, as on the one hand, it conveys the idea of 
confinement within the limitations of the material world (based on the word play 
Mitsrayim
– 
metsarim
), and on the other hand, it shows the way that leads from 
slavery to redemption by means of hard labour through and within materiality. The 
hard labour of the Israelites in Egypt is an allegory of worship in the state of 
ontological exile: through the labour of divine service, the body and the material 
reality of the lower worlds will be filled with the divine presence and redeemed. For 
Rashaz, nomian worship has a distinctly redemptive value: prayer, Torah study and 
study to a low level in the hierarchy of values. I shall return to this issue in the chapter devoted to the 
mystical meaning that Rashaz invested in the precept of setting time for Torah study. See also 
Foxbrunner, 
Habad
, 148-9 on the interdependence of Torah study and other types of worship in 
Rashaz’s teachings. 

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the commandments (with special emphasis on the commandment of charity) 
transform the individual and his/her surroundings into the dwelling place of the 
divine. Every member of the community participates in this redemptive process, and 
the collective redemption is the sum total of their individual endeavours.

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