Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

hamshakhah
]
 
by means 
of deeds takes place when someone follows the 
halakhah
in performing practical 
commandments, while the initial drawing down by means of thought and speech is 
achieved by studying Torah at fixed times.
89
The reference to the delight [
ta‘anug
] 
derived from Torah study elsewhere provides the reason for studying twice a day 
rather than continuously. Rashaz refers to a hasidic maxim, whereby “constant 
delight is no delight” either to the donor or to the recipient.
90
For this reason, setting 
two times in the morning and evening is truly a source of delight, whereas 
continuous study turns delight into an affliction.
91
The discourse effectively juxtaposes studying Torah 
li-shmah
and at fixed 
times. Here, the meaning of 
li-shmah
is explicated as “drawing down the light of the 
Infinite [
Or Ein Sof
] into 
Hokhmah
and 
Binah,
” a goal achievable not only through 
detailed intellectual studies or mystical practices, but also by the repetition of the 
words of Torah at set times by an ordinary, 
halakhah
-abiding Jew.
92
Moreover, in 
some cases, Torah study at set times, described as “spiced wine” [
yein rokeah
], is 
cherished more than continuous study by scholars - “plain wine” [
yayin stam
], even 
88
T1, 4:8a. 
89
See also TO 47c on set times for study as disclosure of the divine will in thought and speech. 
90
See for example 
Keter shem tov
, par. 121, and Dov Ber of Mezeritch
, Or Torah
, 1:84d. For a 
discussion of this issue see Idel, “Ta‘anug,” 132-35, where he places this dictum in the context of 
avoiding routine worship. Notably, in his discourse Rashaz uses the same dictum precisely in order to 
empower religious routine. 
91
MAHZ
 Parshiyot
, i, Hosafot, Va-yetse, 7; 
5572
, 102-03. 
92
See also LT 
Ha’azinu
76a, discussed in Hallamish, “Mishnato ha-‘iyunit,” 274, where it is 
explicitly stated that a businessman can draw down the divine light by 
li-shmah
study at set times. In 
this case, the difference between a full-time student [
she-Torato omanuto
] and a businessman who 
studies at set times is annulled, for they both allow the Torah to speak through them. Businessmen, 
however, must complement their study with charity. Notably, some passages in Rashaz’s 
ma’amarim
seem to exempt those “who cannot set times for study at all” and are “empty of Torah,” but 
nevertheless draw down the influx through their 
mitsvot
, MAHZ
 5571
, 84, 92, 106, 119.

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191 
when they delve into the secrets of Torah, for the Torah of ordinary people crosses 
the boundaries of intellect and is brought into the material world: "This is the case of 
tradesmen [
‘oskei masa u-matan
] who occupy themselves with the Torah and 
commandments by means of their palate and tongue, as Scripture says: ‘And the roof 
of thy mouth (of the congregation of Israel, etc.) like the best wine’ [Sg 7:9], in the 
manner of scent that is above the delight limited to wisdom and understanding, 
which are the vessels.”
93
In this passage, Rashaz takes the opportunity to present the 
intellectual deficiency of nonscholars as their advantage. Indeed, their study is 
restricted to short sessions twice a day, and they do not enter the secret, inner 
pathways of the Torah; nonetheless, this should not be perceived as a disadvantage, 
but rather as a gift, by virtue of which they bring the Torah out of the ivory tower of 
intellectual cognition. In other words, the nonscholars do not comprehend the Torah 
fully, be it because of lack of time or because of their intellectual deficiency, but 
they can experience it sensually, or as Rashaz put it, with their “palate and tongue,” 
and therefore they disclose the Torah on the sensual, material levels, which are 
beyond the reach of the scholars. Greater delight results from such revelation of the 
Torah, than from its revelation on higher, intellectual levels, for the former 
transcends the “vessels” of the Torah—wisdom and understanding—and reaches 
down to the lower, sensual attributes.
94
Worship through setting times for Torah study is thus presented in three 
ways in Rashaz’s doctrine. Firstly, it is a necessary complement to worship through 
full-time Torah study or, in kabbalistic terms, the reflected light that complements 
the direct light in the economy of the divine light. Secondly, Torah study at set times 
resembles the Torah study of the spiritual elite inasmuch as it makes a human being 
the transmitter of divine influx to the world, or the sanctuary and abode of the divine 
in the lower worlds, allowing the ordinary man to attain in exile the spiritual level of 
the high priest in the Temple. Thirdly, particular features of Torah study at set times, 
when it is accompanied by deeds and immersed in materiality, determine its 
superiority to full-time study: Torah study mixed with materiality is more far 
reaching than purely intellectual study.
93
MAHZ 
5571
, 119 [Appendix 9]. 
94
MAHZ
 5571
, 119; see an alternative version of the discourse in TO 80c. 

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192