Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

gerim
in the messianic future. As 
gerim
in the Bible gain protected status by 
virtue of living among Israel, and in exchange, they take it upon themselves to observe some of the 
precepts of the Torah [see 
b
‘Avodah zarah 64b], so the gentiles are included in the days of Messiah 
and need to study and conform to the 
halakhah
. The emphasis on the partial participation of gentiles 
in the life of Torah and 
mitsvot 
suggests that they will achieve the status of 
ger toshav
– resident alien, 
rather than that of 
ger tsedek
– a convert to Judaism. It should also be noted that in many places 
throughout Rashaz’s lore, there appears the idea that the duration of the exile has been granted to 
Israel as an opportunity to save 
gerim
from the nations (see for example TO 6a, 11a-b, 26c; MAHZ 
5566
, i, 231, based on: 
b
Pesahim 87b). Nevertheless, in most of these instances, 
gerim 
symbolise the 
divine sparks, and the saving of 
gerim
by Israel stands for the purification and refinement of the 
sparks. In TO 20c, however, the term 
gerim
appears in the same context in its literal meaning, with 
the examples of such proselytes as Rabbi Meir, Onkelos, Shema’ya and Ovadiah, whose souls were 
sparks confined within the soul of Esau. But in this case, the conversion to Judaism of certain non-
Jews is not seen as part of the wider transformation of the gentile world but rather as the recovery of 
the particular sparks of certain Jewish souls that fell into gentile bodies. On a similar motif in the 
thought of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, see Wolfson, 
Open Secret
, 261-2. 
65
See also note 25 above. 

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132 
The sin [of the Golden Calf] caused both [the Israelites] and the world to 
become gross again – until “the end of days,” when the dross of the body and 
of the world will be purified, and they will be able to apprehend the 
revelation of the divine light which will shine forth to Israel by means of the 
Torah, called “might.” And, as a result of the overflow of the illumination on 
Israel, the darkness of the gentiles will also be lit up, as Scripture says, “And 
the gentiles should come to thy light” etc. [Is 60:3] and, “O, house of Jacob, 
come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord” [Is 2:5]; and again, “And 
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” etc. 
[Is 40:5].
66
In this excerpt Rashaz evokes the relation between the Giving of the Torah and the 
final redemption. The Israelites first experienced the resurrection at Sinai, when, 
according to tradition, every divine utterance caused them to expire, but God was 
continuously bringing them back to life. They died because they achieved complete 
self-nullification, but God resurrected them with the dew of the Torah, suffusing 
their existence with His will, which allowed them to live as individual beings and yet 
to be at one with Him through the Torah. Thus the giving of the Torah was an 
experience of God’s union with His creation, while the sin of idolatry, committed 
soon afterwards, was its ultimate negation.
67
Idolatry brought the Israelites back to 
the state in which they considered themselves separate beings and were again 
becoming engrossed in materiality. This situation will persist until the resurrection, 
when corporeality and materiality will be purified, and they will no longer limit or 
obscure the intensity of the divine illumination suffusing the entire world. As a 
consequence, the world will no longer be experienced as being non-divine. This will 
inevitably have an impact on the gentile nations, as the light permeating the 
transformed world will be so intense that at least some of it will be bound to reach 
them, too, and thus they, too, will be incorporate in the final redemption.
66
T1, 36:46b [Appendix 5]. 
67
In 
Tanya
Rashaz extends the meaning of idolatry from idol worship or service of other gods to the 
negation – in thought or conduct – of God’s oneness, His uniqueness, and His unity with the world. 
Pride is the root of idolatry because proud individuals see themselves as independent beings in their 
own right rather than a part of the pleroma. See T1, 22:28a. 

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133 
Still, the manner of their participation in the redemption remains problematic. 
The transformation of the world will change the relation between Israel and the 
nations, although – as Rashaz seems to suggest – Isaiah’s prophecy whereby “all 
flesh” shall see the glory of God “together” will not efface the difference between 
Jew and gentile. For not only will the messianic advent reverse the relations between 
the nations as rulers and the Jews as their subjects, but the nations will also learn the 
divine wisdom of Torah from the Messiah, which means that while casting off the 
burden of foreign rule, the Jews will become spiritual leaders to all other nations.
68
Notably, Rashaz’s use of the verse calling on the “House of Jacob” to “walk in the 
light of the Lord” [Is 2:5] is understood in the Habad tradition as referring to the 
voice of the gentiles as they address the house of Jacob with the words: “You go 
first, and by dint of this we, too, will follow in the light of God.”
69
Moreover, “the 
house of Jacob” is understood as a reference to the lowest of the Jewish souls, since 
the name Jacob [