Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

rite de passage
from captivity to freedom prescribed by Scripture includes the paring 
of nails. The nails, like hair,
97
stand for the divine vitality when it is drawn by the 
external forces; hence, in the future-to-come, by paring the “excess” of the nails, the 
female will cut off the flow of divine vitality to the “external forces,” and all her 
carnal beauty will be revealed for the enjoyment of the male. Hence, the elevation of 
the female in the future to come is related to the transformation of evil into good in 
the end of days.
98
96
MAHZ 
Ketsarim
, 69 [Appendix 13]. 
97
See note 45 above. 
98
See Wolfson, 
Open Secret
, 209 where he notes this transformation. 

---

229 
3.2 The female and the purifications of sparks.
The elevation of the female in the end of days is an outcome of the continuous 
process of purification of sparks, in which the gender dichotomy plays an important 
role. Although the final redemption is to come at the end of days, there are special 
times in the as yet unredeemed world which temporarily bring closer, or anticipate, 
the time of the redemption. This temporal gender dynamics is illustrated, again, with 
the image of a wedding: 
And behold, in the future-to-come there will be [Is 62:5] “as the groom 
rejoiceth over the bride” (…), there will be [Jer 31:22] “a woman shall 
compass a man [
nekevah tesovev gaver
],” the bride will ascend with her 
vessels to the aspect of canopy surrounding all the worlds [
sovev kol ‘almin
], 
and then there will be “he gladdens the bridegroom with the bride” – by 
means of the bride; […] whereas now there is [
b
Ketubot
 
16b] “how does one 
dance before the bride,” as in the example of the dance, during which one 
draws near [to one’s partner] and then moves away, and this is the essence of 
delight, as in the case of two lovers who have not seen each other for a long 
time, but who later draw near [to each other], which gives rise to great 
delight. Similarly, since she [the bride] has descended and clothed herself 
below by way of distance, when later she draws closer to her groom and rises 
up, great delight arises from it, and [Eccl 2:13] “light excelleth darkness,” for 
she has [Lv 22:13] “returned unto her father’s house.
99
In the passage quoted above, Rashaz employs the image of a wedding ceremony to 
express the idea of ultimate redemption, in which the female – 
Malkhut
, the 
congregation of Israel – ascends to the wedding canopy. Since the image of the 
canopy spread over the bride and groom represents the transcendent aspect of God 
(“surrounding all worlds”), and the bride (
Malkhut
) stands for the immanent aspect 
of the divine (“filling all worlds”),
100
the ritual of the ascent of the bride to the 
canopy symbolizes the unification of transcendence and immanence at the end of 
days. In addition, the words of the prophet proclaiming that “Woman shall compass 
99
MAHZ
 Hanahot ha-Rap
, 64-5 [Appendix 14]. 
100
See Foxbrunner, 
Habad
, 65-66 and the sources enlisted there. 

---

230 
a man,” traditionally rendered by the bride during her customary encircling of the 
groom seven times, in Rashaz’s exposition gain an eschatological meaning as 
referring to the elevation of the female above the male – the state envisioned by the 
final wedding blessing, “gladden the bridegroom with the bride.” 
The future delight derived from the union between the groom and his bride, 
God and Israel, can be foretasted in the present, but their present union is not 
permanent, as they constantly draw near and then separate from each other, a 
dynamics reflected in Rashaz’s homily as the