Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

ke-negdo
] is 
simultaneously his helpmate [
‘ezer
]. Indeed, in the time of redemption the female is 
elevated to a state in which the two gender opposites coincide, and while the female 
retains her separateness from the male, she is rid of her negativity. 
In some places Rashaz further reinforces the idea of the empowerment of the 
female in the future-to-come. In the time of exile, he says, the bride remains silent 
during the rite of marriage, but in the future-to-come, she will gain her voice: 
One also says [in the last of the Seven Blessings] that the voice of the 
bridegroom and the voice of the bride will be heard, for in the future [to-
come] the bride will have a voice. The voice stands for drawing down and 
revelation [
hamshakhah ve-hitgalut
], as in the case of the material voice that 
is drawn down and revealed from the breath of the heart to the trachea. In the 
future, when [Prv 12:4] “a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband”, the 
bride will have the voice of drawing down and revelation.
94
The transfiguration of genders in the future to come, expressed by the quotation from 
Proverbs whereby the “virtuous woman,” to wit 
Malkhut
, will ascend to be a crown 
to her husband, namely to 
Ze‘ir anpin
, will invest the female with a voice. That is to 
say, it will turn the female from passive to active. References to activity versus 
passivity in terms of silence versus voice or effacement versus the drawing down of 
the divine influx, recur in Rashaz’s sermons.
95
Analogously, when 
Malkhut
is 
elevated in the future-to-come, it will be transformed from a receptive vessel of the 
influx into its transmitter to the 
sefirot
. 
94
LT 
Shir ha-shirim
, 48b [Appendix 12]. For a discussion of this motif, see Levin, “Kol ha-kalah le-
‘atid,” 365-368. The notion of the exile as the time when the congregation of Israel [
keneset Yisrael
] 
is speechless, appears in Zi, 36a. See also Wiskind Elper, “Be-tselem Elohim,” 21. 
95
For the voice as the drawing down and revelation of the divine influx, see for example LT 
Shir ha-
shirim 
15b, 48b; MAHZ
5566
, ii, 677. For the idea of silence as nullification, see for example TO 
45c; LT 
Tsav
15c; MAHZ
 5564
, 238; 
Seder tefilot
, 116a, 132c, 148c, 237d. 

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228 
The disclosure of divinity in the future-to-come reveals the negative feminine 
force as being entirely good. While in the present time of exile, the female, and 
particularly feminine carnality, is linked to “the other side,” in the future-to-come it 
will be tempered and directed to the side of holiness only: 
It is written [Dt 21:13]: “And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from 
off her,” [Dt 21:12] “and pare her nails,” for she is [Dt 21:11] “a woman of 
goodly form” [
ishah yefat to’ar
] [in reference to] whom, currently [Is 50:3] 
“I clothe the heaven with blackness”. But in the future “she shall put off” 
etc., “and pare her nails,” which refers to the rectification of the nails [
tikun 
ha-tsipornayim
] so that there will be no aspect of excess [
motarot
] at all.
96
The passage juxtaposes the present, in which the woman – here symbolizing the 
congregation of Israel – conceals her beauty, and the future-to-come, when she will 
cast off her clothing, pare her nails, and enter her marriage with God. The otherness 
of woman is enhanced by a reference to the biblical verse which deals with a gentile 
woman seized as a captive and subsequently taken as bride by an Israelite soldier. 
However, the male – God – has the power to release her from captivity – 
undoubtedly a reference to the exile of the Jewish nation, to uncover her hidden 
beauty, and to unite with her in a halakhically sanctioned marriage. Moreover, the