Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

3. Messianic efforts in Rashaz’s teachings.
 
Far from being a narrative of things past, in Rashaz’s teachings, the biblical account 
of the Exodus serves as a point of departure for speculation on the nature of the 
present exile and the future redemption. The Egyptian exile, the miraculous 
deliverance from it, and the experience of communion with God at the Giving of the 
Torah are all analogous to the current exile and the anticipated final redemption. 
Moreover, as the Exodus is re-enacted and re-experienced both communally – each 
Passover and individually – every day,
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it determines the ritual patterns of 
everyday life for every Jew. The latter aspect and its implications for the possibility 
of achieving personal redemption in an unredeemed world will be discussed in the 
next chapter. In the following section I propose to discuss the messianic idea as a re-
enactment of the Exodus in our time, and the role ascribed to the Jewish community 
in this process. 
3.1 Between the Exodus and the final redemption.
According to Rashaz, the Exodus is a prefiguration of the final redemption, and this 
is, hinted at in the biblical text: 
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See note 60 above. 

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96 
Now, Scripture says: “We came indeed down” [
yarod yaradnu
, Gn 43:20], 
etc., [namely,] one descent followed the other. And about the Exodus and the 
redemption it says: “And I will also surely bring thee up” [
‘a’alekha gam 
‘aloh
, Gn 46:4], etc., [and] “Let us go up at once,” [
‘aloh na’aleh
, Num 
13:30] etc. In other words, [these verses refer to] two ascents, one following 
the other. In truth, during the Exodus, [the Israelites] ascended only once, as 
Scripture says: “I will bring you up [
‘a’aleh etkhem
] out of the affliction of 
Egypt” etc., “unto a land flowing with milk and honey” [Ex 3:17]. But the 
second ascent alludes to the future redemption, may it come speedily in our 
days, amen.
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In this interpretation of the biblical text, even ostensibly stylistic features carry deep 
meaning. The duplication of a verb for rhetorical effect, which occurs commonly 
throughout the biblical corpus, is generally interpreted as an emphatic device. 
Rashaz, however, employs the traditional exegetical method that ascribes to every 
every such rhetorical repetition an additional meaning. He therefore reads 
yarod 
yaradnu
literarily as referring to two descends into exile, and 
‘a’alekha gam ‘aloh
or 
‘aloh na’aleh
as
 
two ascents to the state of redemption. But since the biblical 
account of the Exodus mentions only one ascent from Egypt to the Land of Israel, 
the allusion to the second ascent must point to a redemption that is yet to take place, 
while the fact that it did not happen at the time of the historical Exodus suggests that 
exile is to some extent an enduring state. 
Both the character and the purpose of the Egyptian exile reveal something 
about the future redemption. Firstly, the exile in Egypt was a preparation for the 
future revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai; secondly, the hard labour and the 
bitterness of this exile were meant to bring about the revelation of the Torah in the 
external aspect of reality. The analogy, therefore, goes as follows: the future 
redemption will surpass the Sinaitic revelation inasmuch as it will bring about the 
revelation of the innermost aspect of the Torah (including its most abstruse element, 
the reasons for the commandments [
ta’amei ha-mitsvot
]). Moreover, not only will 
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TO 49a [Appendix 18]. 

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97 
this future revelation be heard, it will also be perceived visually.
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In addition, while 
hard labour during the Egyptian exile paved the way to the Exodus, “enslavement for 
the sake of one’s livelihood” [