Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Malkhut 
of 
the World of Emanation from the internal aspect of the Godhead. Rashaz 
differentiates here between the internal and external aspects of the Divine. The 
internal aspects are 
Hokhmah
, 
Binah
, 
Da’at
, the intellectual attributes described 
collectively as 
mohin
, together with the six lower 
sefirot
, corresponding to the 
emotional attributes [
midot
]. Together, 
mohin
and 
midot
represent in this sermon the 
unity of the transcendent God. The external aspects of the Divine are the sparks of 
holiness trapped in the world since the breaking of the vessels. They represent the 
state of separation from the divine unity and correspond to bodily functions, such as 
digestion. 
Malkhut
, given its role of mediator between the Divine and the created 
worlds, binds together the external and the internal aspects. During the daytime she 
transmits the internal influx, while at night, in the absence of the internal influx, the 
overflow of the divine vitality is transmitted from the external aspect of 
Malkhut
of 
the World of Emanation, which purifies the 288 sparks trapped in the lower worlds. 
This is how Rashaz interprets the biblical verse [Prv 31:15]: “She riseth while it is 
yet night and giveth food to her household,” where “food” [
teref
], whose numerical 
value is 288 plus one, indicates the 288 holy sparks.
121
Rashaz compares this to 
sleeping: when a man is asleep, his emotional and intellectual faculties depart from 
him and are contracted into his heart; at the same time his less vital faculties become 
117
On the correspondence between 
sefirot
and divine names, see Scholem, 
Kabbalah
, 107-08. 
118
See T1, 41:58b; MAHZ
 5567
, 347. 
119
MAHZ 
5566
, i, 105-6; see also TO 12c. 
120
Based on Zi, 92a, 172a, 242b.
121
See also MAHZ 
5566
, i, 107. For another example of translating 
teref 
as 288+1 see TO 110. 
Elsewhere Rashaz explains that 
teref 
(pray) alludes to the power of Judgements by means of which 
Malkhut
purifies the lower worlds [Ez 22:25] “like a roaring lion ravening [the pray]”. See LT 
Emor
36b and MAHZ
 Parshiyot
,
 
ii, 678. 

---

235 
active, and he digests more intensively than while he is awake, digestion in turn 
functioning as a ubiquitous metaphor for purification in Rashaz’s lore.
122
Nevertheless, the nocturnal activity of 
Malkhut
should not necessarily be read 
as if it bestowed upon her a certain degree of independence; quite the contrary – 
even the image of 
Malkhut 
as a housewife, on whose shoulders rests the 
responsibility for sustaining the entire household, is used to stress her dependence 
and subordination to the male. Thus the nocturnal descent of 
Malkhut 
to purify the 
lower worlds is compared to the wife who is adorning herself at night to please her 
husband.
123
Moreover, insofar as the gender perspective is imposed on the weekly 
time cycle, the role of the female is diminished even more:
It is known that in truth, woman, namely 
Nukba 
of the World of Emanation, 
in herself [
b
Yevamot 65b] “it is not in her nature to conquer.” Rather, the fact 
that 
Malkhut 
of the World of Emanation purifies [the husks of] 
noga
in the 
worlds of Creation, Formation and Making on the week days is only by 
virtue of her being enclothed by 
Ze‘ir anpin
’s purifying attributes, for 
Sunday is the radiance of 
Hesed
of 
Ze‘ir anpin
in her, giving her the power to 
purify; Monday is the radiance of 
Gevurah
, etc. […]. This is due to the 
powerful potency of the male, who purifies throughout the six days of the 
week, which are called [Ez 46:1] “working days” [
yemei ha-ma‘aseh
], by 
enclothing the female [
Nukba
]. The proof of this is that the Sabbath is the 
seventh day corresponding to the female [
Nukba
] of 
Ze‘ir anpin
, as Scripture 
says [Ex 31:14]: “For it is holy unto you” [
kodesh hi
], using the feminine 
form [in reference to the Sabbath], which is followed by [Lv 23:3, 23:31; Nm 
29:7] “You shall do no work therein,” for sorting [
borer
] is forbidden at that 
time,
124
and every type of work [
melakhah
] out of the thirty-nine types of 
work, including purification, arises from the fact that with regard to the 
female, 
Nukba 
of 
Ze‘ir anpin
herself, “it is not in her nature to conquer” but 
122
This is because digestion separates the life force from waste in food. See for example: TO 47d; LT 
Emor
36a. 
123
See MAHZ 
Ketuvim
, ii, p. 239. 
124
Maimonides, 
Mishneh Torah
, Hilekhot Shabat, 8:11–13, 21:17;
Shulkhan ‘arukh Rabenu ha-
Zaken, 
Orah hayim, 319.

---

236 
only to elevate the purified [sparks] that have already been purified during 
the week days, “the days of work,” by means of the radiance of the name of 
45 - the male of 
Ze‘ir anpin
– within her.
125
Rashaz reiterates the view of the female as weak and passive by claiming that even 
the purifications of the lower worlds associated with her nocturnal activity in fact 
derive from the powers bestowed upon her by her male partner.
126
In terms of the 
inner dynamic within the Godhead, this means that every day corresponds to the 
influx from one of the six 
sefirot
constituting 
Ze‘ir anpin
, whereas the seventh day – 
the Sabbath – corresponds to 
Malkhut
. The purification takes place on the six week 
days, defined by Scripture as the days of work and characterised by Rashaz as 
masculine, whereas on the Sabbath, the day whose feminine character is alluded to 
by the feminine personal pronoun 
hi 
(she), every type of work [
melakhah
], including 
the work of purification, must cease. Rashaz applies the halakhic
 
prohibition on the 
work of “sorting” to the purification of the sparks by way of separating them from 
the “husks,” and he draws the conclusion that just as sorting is prohibited, so the 
purification of sparks cannot take place on the Sabbath. This arises from the fact that 
according to the Sages, “it is not woman’s nature to conquer,” it is the male (
Ze‘ir 
anpin
, 45) who carries out this work through her during six days of labour, so that 
she would later carry the sparks up with her as she rises on the Sabbath.
125
MAHZ 
Parshiyot
, ii, 671 [Appendix 17]. See also MAHZ 
5568
, 223-24; 
Ethalekh
, 11; 
Ketsarim
, 
346-47.
126
See also LT 
Shir ha-Shirim 
9a, where Rashaz explains the roles of the male and female in 
procreation: “As a matter of fact, the essence [
‘ikar
] of the foetus comes from the seed of the woman, 
even though the woman is called the aspect of receiver, for she does not have the power to coagulate 
[
le-hakpi
] [her seed] and form a foetus of it. This can be done only by the seed of the man, which is 
like milk that coagulates when one adds rennet to it” [Appendix 18]. Thus the seed of a woman, of 
which the foetus is formed, is a passive matter shaped by the active power of the male seed. 
Consequently, pregnancy and birth are used by Rashaz as an allegory of exile and redemption, for 
they represent, on the one hand, the concealment and diminution of consciousness [
katnut de-mohin
],
 
and on the other hand, the disclosure and augmentation of consciousness [
gadlut de-mohin
]. See for 
example 
Seder tefilot
, 295a-c.
Similarly, birth pangs [
hevlei ledah
] become the tribulations that would 
precede the coming of the Messiah [
hevlei Mashiyah
], which arise from the purification and 
separation of the new-born (souls of Israel) from the impure female blood (husks). See MAHZ 
Ketuvim
, i, 63-64; TO 106a-b, 55a-d.

---

237