Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

ratso
,
172
 
of “great love”
173
[…], in the nature 
of the expiration of the soul [
kelot ha-nefesh
], and he did not want to be 
reduced to the aspect of 
shov
. For this reason he refused to marry,
174
saying 
that the world could be preserved by others,
175
and this is why he [
b
Hagigah 
14b] “cast a look and died,” for he completely withdrew [
nistalek
] from the 
vessel.
176
Ben Azzai’s example serves Rashaz to show that marital relations are a necessary 
element of life even for the most pious and devoted Jew, while at the same time also 
to reiterate the characterisation of woman as a material “vessel.” However, in his 
halakhic work, he states that a man should postpone marriage until he has learned the 
entire Oral Torah,
177
although, if the sexual urge distracts him from his studies, he 
may marry before mastering it all.
178
Indeed, even though Ben Azzai’s approach is 
discouraged,
179
marital union is seen either as a means to the end of performing the 
commandment of “be fruitful and multiply,” or else as the lesser evil that a young 
man may commit, to enable him to study in a state of purity.
172
Ratso 
and 
shov
represent here two opposed aspects of worship. 
Ratso 
stands for the striving of the 
worshipper to transcend his corporeality and unite with the Divine, whereas 
shov 
stands for his 
drawing down the Divine into the world by means of worship. On 
ratso va-shov
see above, chapter 1, 
n. 99. On 
ratso va-shov 
in the context of divine service, see above, Chapter 4, section 5. 
173
On the concept of “great love” in Rashaz’s teachings, see Foxbrunner, 
Habad
, 179-84. 
174
The candidate was the daughter of rabbi Akivah. 
175
See 
t
Yevamot 8:4; 
b
Yevamot 63b; 
Bereshit rabah 
34:14. 
176
TO 25b [Appendix 22]. 
177
HTT 3:1, 841a. 
178
HTT
 
3:2. 845b. 
179
HTT, Kuntres aharon
 
3:1, 841a. 

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248 
Rashaz attributes significance to the timing of sexual union, pointing to 
Friday night [
leil Shabat
] as the appropriate time for it in terms of the role of the 
Sabbath in the dynamic of genders within the Godhead. Already the talmudic Sages 
had singled out Friday night as the appropriate time for Torah scholars [
talmidei 
hakhamim
] to engage in marital intercourse,
180
and the idea was reenforced in the 
halakhic codices,
181
including Rashaz’s 
Shulkhan ‘arukh
.
182
In the 
Zohar
, and later 
on in Eliyahu de Vidas’ 
Reshit hokhmah
, the same idea was linked to the 
commandment of sanctifying the Sabbath. In addition, Torah scholars were 
considered as wanderers who leave their home and their wives in order to study for 
the six working days of the week, returning home only for the Sabbath. Their sexual 
union with their wives on Friday night causes the 
Shekhinah 
to descend upon them 
and stay with them during the subsequent days of the week, when they devote 
themselves to Torah study, which is considered as their sexual union with the 
Shekhinah
. Thanks to this, Torah scholars remain permanently in the state of union 
between male and female.
183
Rashaz, on the other hand, stresses the importance of 
sexual union in the process of restoration: the phallus [
yesod di-dekhura
] brings 
down Kindesses [
hasadim
] to sweeten the Judgments [
gevurot
] of the female, 
although these Kindesses can be drawn down only at specific times, for “the 
corporeal kindness [
ha-hesed ha-gashmi
], if drawn down in an inappropriate 
combination [
mizug
] and at an improper time, is not a kindness at all,”
184
and the 
proper times would be the Sabbath and the three pilgrimage festivals, described as 
[Ez 16:8] “the time of the lovers above”
 
[
‘et dodim le-ma‘lah
].
185
180
See 
b
Ketubot 62b 
181
See Ya‘akov ben Asher, 
Arba’ah turim
, Orah hayim, 240; Karo, 
Shulhan ‘arukh, 
Orah hayim, 
240:1 
182
 Shulhan ‘arukh Rabenu ha-Zaken
, Orah hayim, 280:1. In this passage Rashaz refers to the broader 
explication of the issue in paragraph 240 of his codex, which unfortunately has not come down to us. 
183
See Zi, 49b-50a; Zii, 89a-b; de Vidas, 
Reshit hokhmah
, Sha‘ar kedushah, ch. 16, 302-304. On this 
and other aspects of sexual union on the Sabbath in Kabbalah, see Fine, 
Physician
, 197 and 414 n. 32; 
Ginsburg, 
Sabbath
, 134-5, 289-93; Tishby, 
Wisdom
, 3:1357-8. 
184
Seder tefilot
,
 
54d. 
185
This follows the idea that the 
‘Amidah 
prayer is an aspect of the Sabbath. See for example TO 9b; 
LT 
Be-har 
44a, 
Yom ha-kipurim
68b, 
Shir ha-shirim 
19a; 
Seder tefilot 
213a. Rashaz adds that “during 

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