Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Rosh ha-shanah 
58d, 
Ha’azinu
75b, 
Shemini ‘atseret
92b, 
Shir ha-shirim 
45a, 
50a-c; MAHZ 
5562
, 274, 542. This concept is based on the Talmudic dictum “In the place where 
penitents stand, the completely righteous cannot stand” [
b
Berakhot 34b]. See also Tishby, “Ha-
ra‘ayon ha-meshihi,” 38; Tishby and Dan, “Torat ha-hasidut,” 794-5. 
135
See note 53 above. 
136
See LT
 Tsav
17c. Thus Moses is the first and the Messiah the last redeemer. See for example 
Seder 
tefilot
, 307a. 
137
As in the case of the seventh Habad rebbe, Menahem Mendel Schneerson, who to this day is 
believed by some to be the Messiah. On the messianic ferment in Habad of the 20
th
and 21
st
centuries, 
see Bilu and Kravel-Tovi, “The work of the present”; Dahan, “Dirah ba-tahtonim”; Dein, 
What Really 
Happens
; Elior, “The Lubavitch Messianic Resurgence”; Heilman and Friedman, 
The Rebbe
, 197-
247; Loewenthal, “Habad Messianism.”
138
This was the claim of J. Dan, who saw the idea of cleaving to the 
tsadik
as the way in which 
Hasidism in general neutralized apocalyptic messianism by transforming it into redemption through 
affiliation to a certain Hasidic court. In Dan’s view, the 
tsadik
’s court is a redeemed space, and its 
dynastic character guarantees the continuity of redemption over time. See Dan, “Kefel ha-panim,” 
300-10; Margolin, 
Mikdash adam
, 406-8. 

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151 
distinguishes between two types of 
tsadikim
.
139
The first type are the hidden 
tsadikim
, such as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai.
140
Their souls are so lofty that they are 
detached from the material world, worshipping God spiritually by performing 
unifications and ascensions of the soul. By contrast, the second type are the revealed 
tsadikim
, who worship through materiality. The two types are likened respectively to 
the Leviathan and the wild ox [
shor ha-bar
] – the two creatures that will be served 
up at the feast of the righteous in the future-to-come.
141
The hidden 
tsadikim
are 
called Leviathan because like the deep sea creature, they are concealed from the eye, 
and their lofty mode of worship links them directly to 
Ein Sof
.
142
The revealed 
tsadikim
, on the other hand, are called 
shor ha-bar
because they labour within 
materiality and have the strength required for carrying the yoke of Torah and the 
commandments. Even though in the present, the Leviathan type 
tsadik
seems to be 
loftier due to his otherworldliness, in the future-to-come the 
shor ha-bar 
type 
tsadik 
will be elevated above him by dint of his transformative work within materiality. 
Moreover, while the service of the former is based on his individualistic connection 
to God, the latter’s service is engaged with the world and is connected to other 
people. The former’s detachment from the lower worlds brings him “close to the 
level of prophecy,” while the latter, by virtue of his involvement in the lower worlds, 
draws down the light of 
Ein Sof 
and its vitality into them, and thus he transforms into 
divinity not only himself but also his surroundings.
The category of 
shor ha-bar
is thus applicable to the Hasidic rebbe who 
functions as leader to his community of Hasidim. The divine attributes are contained 
within the soul of such a 
tsadik
without being distorted by his corporeality,
143
and 
139
See LT 
Shemini 
18a-19d; MAHZ 
5571
, 163-9. 
140
Who studied in seclusion for twelve years. See 
b
Shabbat 33b. Rashaz includes in this category also 
the Patriarchs, who fulfilled the Torah spiritually before it was handed down on Sinai, as well as Isaac 
Luria and the Ba’al Shem Tov. 
141
See 
Vayikra rabah
, 13:3. 
142
Based on the deriving Leviathan etymologically from the root 
lamed vav yud
(or 
he
), which means 
to accompany or to connect. 
143
See T1, 29:36a, where Hillel treats his own body as if it was a strange object, which is based on 
Vayikra rabah
, Be-har
 
34:3. 

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152 
they are achievable by his followers through his “thoughts, speech and deeds.”
144
The 
tsadik 
“heals the souls of those who are of his ‘root’ […], imparts 
‘understanding of the divine’ and arouses the depths of the ears of those in his 
generation.”
145
Just as the philosopher who has emerged from Plato’s cave to see the 
light of day and to grasp the true nature of things returns to help other people share 
his insight, so the redeemed 
tsadik
shares his own grasp of the divine with his 
followers. Thus the social role of the 
tsadik 
as leader and teacher to his Hasidim has 
a deeper, mystical meaning: he can help an ignoramus [
‘am ha-arets
] who is not 
capable of cleaving to God by himself but who can cleave to the 
tsadik 
and scholar 
[
talmid hakham
], whose own soul is in complete unity with God, and through his 
mediation be united with God himself.
146
Moreover, the death of the 
tsadik
, too,
 
has 
a redemptive value. As the ultimate display of 
mesirat nefesh
, death is related to 
Torah study and prayer in total devotion.
147
Thus, when a 
tsadik
passes away, all the 
“light” that he accumulated through his divine service is fully revealed and grants 
atonement for sins to his generation in much the same way as the sacrifice of the red 
heifer.
148
The death of the 
tsadik
therefore becomes invested with messianic 
significance, just as the ritual of the red heifer is unambiguously connected to the 
messianic advent.
149
In contrast to Dan’s claim,
150
I suggest that for the 
tsadik
’s 
followers, the experienced of being redeemed was sustained over time not by their 
allegiance to the same dynasty of 
tsadikim 
(and there is no indication that Rashaz 
ever intended to found a dynasty), but rather by cleaving to the 
tsadik 
even after his 
144
See T4, 27:146b. 
145
See Loewenthal, “Self-sacrifice,” 460. 
146
See T1, 2:6b-7a. This resembles J. Dan’s idea of Hasidic redemption 
qua
cleaving to the 
tsadik
and 
joining his court. See note 138 above. 
147
Loewenthal, “Self-Sacrifice,” 463-5. 
148
See Rashaz’s epistle to Levi Yitshak of Berditchev, on the occasion of the passing of the latter’s 
son, T4, 28:148b.
149
See Maimonides, 
Mishneh Torah
, Hilekhot Parah Adumah, 3:9. 
150
See note 138 above 

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153 
death, as “when the 
tsadik
departs he is present in the world more than during his 
life-time.”
151