Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

gan ‘eden tahton
and 
‘elyon
]. See ibid., 703 and LT 
Nitsavim 
50d. Elsewhere, however, he distinguishes Garden of Eden from the world-to-come [
‘olam ha-ba
] 
that will follow the resurrection: in the former the souls of the righteous enjoy the radiance of the 
Shekhinah
, whereas in the latter all Jews take part, with both soul and body. See MAHZ 
5569
, 193. 
The distinction between the soul’s reward after death and after the resurrection will be discussed in 
section 2.1 below. 
25
Resurrection by dew is a common motif in rabbinic literature. See for example 
b
Shabat 88b, 
b
Ketubot 111b; 
Pirkei de-Rabi Eli’ezer
, ch. 34, 34a
.
See also T1, 36:46a-b, where Rashaz compares 
the revelation on Sinai to the resurrection of the dead in the future-to-come. On Sinai, each utterance 
of the Torah, at which the Israelites’ souls took flight, was followed by another utterance, which 
restored their souls to them with the dew, by means of which God will effect the resurrection of the 
dead (see 
b
Shabat 88b). Then, however, the Israelites sinned by worshipping the golden calf, and this 
dragged them back into materiality. Only in the future-to-come, when materiality and corporeality are 
purified, will they merit the dew of resurrection and the full light of Torah. 
26
See for example LT 
‘Ekev 
13d; MAHZ 
5562
, 103; 
5565
, i, 22-4, 33, 37, 39, 412-13, 427; 
5566
i, 
420, ii, 624; 
5567
, 282-3, 420. 

---

123 
transcendent aspect of God, the world it redeems is no longer subject to the laws of 
nature as we know them, and the bodies it resurrects are subtler than those of 
ordinary mortal.
27
The transformation of the body marks a transition point between the days of 
the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. It is comparable to the transformation 
of the soul, which ascends from the Lower to the Upper Garden of Eden, passing on 
its way through the River of Fire [
nehar di-nur
] so as to annihilate all its previous 
cognitions and delights.
28
Analogously, the transition from the messianic days to the 
resurrection comprises both the soul and the body, as they are both being prepared 
for the ultimate delight.
29
The promised delight of the future-to-come is the key to 
understanding the role of the body after the resurrection. In the previous chapter the 
body was presented as a necessary tool for the redemption: since its materiality and 
corporeality stem from the husks, only in and through the body would the husks and 
the evil side of reality be transformed into good.
30
An analogical reasoning underlies 
the persistence of corporeality in the redeemed world. Delight by its nature is 
associated with materiality and corporeality, as all delights are experienced 
sensually. Now, material delights are only the debris of the supernal delight [
pesolet 
ha-ta’anug ha-‘elyon
].
31
When a righteous person dies and casts off the external 
husk of his body, his soul can experience an inner, spiritual pleasure in Paradise,
32
which is derived from all the commandments he had performed during his lifetime.
33
However, this spiritual delight is merely the immediate source of the material 
delights confined within the framework of the emanated worlds, which are further 
27
On the subtle body at the time of the resurrection, see Schwartz,