Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Yehudi
hints at 
hoda’ah
– the thanksgiving 
redemption by performing rituals all over world will became a trade-mark of the Habad movement in 
the 20
th
century. See for example Wolfson, 
Open Secret
, 356 n. 67. 
48
Poles are identified here with Esau, whom Isaac blessed with the words: “By thy sword shall thy 
live” [Gn 27:40]. See MAHZ 
Ketsarim
, 438-40, and Mondshine,
Migdal ‘
oz, 506-7, discussed in 
Foxbrunner, 
Habad
, 91-2. A similar text appears in Mondshine,
Migdal ‘oz
, 454. See also MAHZ 
5570
, 30, discussed by Mondshine, 
Masa’ Berditshov
, 56-57, according to which Jews redeem the 
sparks from the nations by paying them off [
she-notnin la-hem damim
]; this way they give a part of 
themselves to the 
sitra ahara
in order
 
to stop the flow of the divine vitality to it, and thus they act as a 
scapegoat for Azazel [
se’ir ha-mishtalah
]. The association of paying off the gentiles with self-
sacrifice is underscored by the use of the Hebrew word “
damim
,” which means both money and 
blood. 
49
Rashaz’s approach differs from the approach of 20
th
century Habad, which actively encouraged 
gentiles to perform the seven Noahide commandments as their contribution to the advancement of the 
redemption. See Wolfson, 
Open Secret
, 229-231; Heilman and Friedman, 
The Rebbe
, 214. In 
Rashaz’s teaching this concept is only marginal, appearing in his 
Shulhan ‘arukh
in the context of the 
prohibition on theft that is valid also for non-Jews, which is one of the seven Noahide laws [
Hoshen 
mishpat
, Hilekhot gezelah u-genevah, par. 23, 881], and again, in a discussion about the prohibition 
on hiring a 
ger toshav
(a non-Jew who took upon himself the seven Noahide laws) as a slave [
Orah 
hayim
, Mahadura batra, 411a]. 
50
T1, 1:6a. See also Wolfson, 
Open Secret
, 231-2, 235. 
51
T1, 1:6a. 

---

128 
benediction which is a mode of acknowledging God that equals complete self-
nullification, a capacity that guarantees every Jew a share in the world-to-come.
52
The inherently base characteristics of the gentiles would seem to be at odds 
with Rashaz’s notion of a universal redemption: as entities associated with absolute 
impurity, they should, presumably, be annihilated at the end of days, when all 
impurity as such would cease to exist. Yet Rashaz often weaves into his sermons 
references to Biblical prophecies that suggest the opposite. At least as far as the days 
of the Messiah are concerned, the presence of the impure gentiles is compatible with 
Rashaz’s vision, which reiterates Maimonides’ description whereby the world will 
continue to move along its customary lines, the only exception being the ability of 
the Jews to live and worship freely under the rule of the king Messiah. In one 
passage from 
Torah or
, Rashaz compares the rule of the king Messiah to the rule of 
king Solomon: as in the time of Solomon, so in the time of the Messiah, the nations 
will flock to the royal court to learn the king’s wisdom – a vision which echoes the 
Maimonidean concept of a Messiah who improves the world by motivating all the 
nations to serve the one and only God.
53
Rashaz’s idea of the king Messiah who teaches wisdom to the gentiles raises 
the question of the boundaries between the nations and the Jews in both the days of 
the Messiah and beyond. After all, the Messiah’s wisdom must stem from the Torah, 
which suggests that, through the Messiah’s mediation, the nations, too, will access 
the Torah. Furthermore, some passages in Rashaz’s teachings suggest that the 
gentiles will be even more deeply involved in the life of Torah and commandments. 
For example: 
[In the days of the Messiah] the principal occupation with Torah will […] be 
with the inner aspect [