Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

keneset Yisra’el
]
 
(
Malkhut
) to a sheep [
rahel
], and 
reads the verse “As a sheep before her shearers is dumb” [Is 53:7] as a hint at the husks that draw the 
life-giving energey from the hair [
se’ar
] of 
Malkhut
, namely, from its external part, which has no 
connection to its essence (as the cutting of hair does not cause pain). The silence of the sheep at the 
shearing symbolizes the absence of the creative divine speech [
dibur
] in the realm of husks, the 
wilderness [
midbar
] (see LT 
Mas’ei 
88c)
. 
The link between the wilderness and the [divine] speech, 
based on the fact that these two Hebrew words are derived from the same root (
dalet
, 
bet
, 
resh
), 
appears throughout Rashaz’s teachings, e.g. in TO 23b, where the generation of the desert [
dor ha-
midbar
] is blamed for not willing to perform the commandments by means of both speech and deed 
[
dibur u-ma’aseh
] but only by means of thought, that is, exclusively by way of spirituality 
[
ruhaniyut
]. Interestingly, a similar attitude is described (see LT 
Shelah
38b) as the sin of the spies 
[Nm 13:1-14:9]. 
104
See note 8 above. 

---

94 
His likeness [see Gn 1:26]. These two aspects correspond to the Upper and Lower 
Unifications he embodies [
yihuda ila’ah
and 
yihuda tata’ah
],
105
and further to the 
two kinds of divine light that he draws down: 
sovev 
and 
memale
.
106
By drawing 
down these lights and performing these unifications in the wilderness, the Israelites 
reveal that the forces within the world are indeed fully united with God as His 
attributes, and thus they “transform the darkness into light” [
le-hapekha me-
hashukha li-nehora
]. This, in turn, explains the number of their forty-two journeys, 
which represent the seven attributes of 
Ze’ir Anpin
multiplied by six, for each one of 
these attributes itself consists of six others. The transformation of the attributes in the 
wilderness [
midbar
] concludes symbolically with the transformation of 
Malkhut
from mute entity to God’s creative speech [
davar
].
107
In short, the wanderings of 
Israel in the wilderness can be perceived as a transitive period in Israel’s redemptive 
history. Over the course of their wanderings, the Israelites transform the realm of 
husks into a realm of divinity, by re-uniting the seven lower attributes with the 
Godhead. The forty-two stages of their journey represent the seven lower attributes 
(each composed of six other attributes), and the final stop on their journey before 
entering the Promised Land (Jericho by the Jordan [Nm 33:48-49]) marks the final 
stage of the process of transforming these attributes. Thus the crossing of the Jordan 
and the ascension to the Land is theosophically paralleled by the rectification and 
ascension of the last of the 
sefirot
, 
Malkhut
. 
To sum up, the exile in Egypt, which serves as a paradigm of exile in general, 
is a metaphysical precondition of the divine revelation on Mt. Sinai. This exile, 
manifested by engrossment in materiality and nature, creates the illusion that man 
105
On the Upper and Lower Unities, see chapter 1 n. 50. 
106
On the lights of 
sovev 
and 
memale
, see chapter 1, n. 36. 
107
See also LT 
Re’eh
32b-c, where Rashaz plays on the proximity of the terms wilderness [
midbar
] 
and speech [
davar
]. The wilderness, that is fallow land, stands for thoughts, speech and deeds that are 
not directed at God and do not function as worship
.
Midbar 
is also the place into which the sparks of 
holiness have fallen. In this allegory, the dispersion of the sparks of holiness is compared to the loss 
of precious objects, and they can be recovered from the wilderness [
midbar
], that is, from the “words 
[
diburim
] of the letters that make up prayer” and through the study of Torah. One should therefore 
look deeply into one’s thoughts and words, searching for any wrongdoing, in order to trigger the flow 
of God’s mercy and thus elevate the sparks. 

---

95 
and his world are independent of God. But this state of degradation and ostensible 
separation from God is merely a necessary step towards a further revelation of 
godliness. The descent of the Israelites to Egypt and the humiliation they 
experienced while engaged in slave labour prepare them for the ascent to Sinai and 
entry into the Promised Land. The purpose of the enslavement is to break their ego 
and prepare them to receive the divine will as their own, as well as to purify the 
world around them and the divine attributes active within it so as to enable them to 
re-unify with the divinity. The Egyptian exile is thus perceived not as national 
tragedy but rather as a necessary condition, which must be fulfilled, to facilitate a 
fuller and more encompassing revelation of God than ever before.