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Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

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Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi Time in the Teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi Wojciech Tworek UCL Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies September 2014 A dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University College London 1 I, Wojciech Tworek, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 ABSTRACT This thesis concerns the teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (known by the acronym of his title and name as Rashaz; 1745-1813), founder of the Habad movement, which remains to this day one of the largest and most influential schools of Hasidism. It focuses on his concept of time, which features in various contexts in both his mystical and his legal writings. The thesis challenges the commonly held view that Rashaz’s teachings form primarily a mystical doctrine concerned with supra-temporal transcendence. It begins with a description of his teachings as an integration of the philosophical definition of time into his kabbalistically informed worldview. Next, it analyses the historiosophical underpinnings of these teaching, claiming that messianic redemption played a key role in Rashaz’s model of spirituality. His messianic awareness is further explored in a critical discussion of his view of the imminence of the messianic advent, the role of the messianic figure, and the various ways in which the redeemed world will be experienced in the future-to-come. By focusing next on the significance that Rashaz ascribed to setting regular times for normative Torah study, the thesis demonstrates his keen awareness of the crucial role of time in the service of the divine, an insight which enabled him to turn Habad into a movement that attracted not only the spiritual-intellectual elite but also many ordinary, non- scholarly Jews. Finally, the thesis explores the nexus of time and femininity in Rashaz’s teachings, attempting to establish whether the significance he attached to the kabbalistic female aspect of God in the world to come entailed the prospect of any actual change in the position of women within his own community, either before or after the anticipated redemption. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... 8 A note on the presentation of source materials......................................................... 10 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 11 1. Habad’s relationship with time. ........................................................................ 11 2. Literature review. ............................................................................................ 15 2.1 Primary sources. ...................................................................................................... 15 2.2 The secondary literature. ........................................................................................ 18 3. Overview of the dissertation. ........................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................... 26 1. Time of creation and creation of time. .................................................................. 26 1.1 Time as a created entity. ......................................................................................... 26 1.2 The timing of the creation of time. .......................................................................... 28 2. An eternal God in a temporal world. ..................................................................... 30 2.1 World, year, soul. .................................................................................................... 32 2.2 The eternal Torah. ................................................................................................... 34 2.3 Time and the divine names...................................................................................... 37 2.4 Malkhut as the source of time. ................................................................................ 40 2.5 The order of time, or time which is above time. ...................................................... 46 3. The flow and division of time. ............................................................................... 52 3.1 Continuous creation. ............................................................................................... 52 3.2 Time as ratso va-shov. ............................................................................................. 55 3.3 The division of time. ................................................................................................ 58 4. Conclusions. ......................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................... 65 1. The historical dimension of Rashaz’s teachings. ..................................................... 65 1.1 Redemption as the purpose of creation. ................................................................. 66 2. Exile and redemption............................................................................................ 71 2.1 The exile qua creation. ............................................................................................ 71 2.2 Four historical exiles. ............................................................................................... 75 4 2.3 Egypt – the paradigm of exile. ................................................................................. 81 2.4 The Exodus. .............................................................................................................. 85 2.4.1. Egyptian bondage as preparation for redemption. ...................................................... 87 3. Messianic efforts in Rashaz’s teachings. ................................................................ 95 3.1 Between the Exodus and the final redemption. ...................................................... 95 3.2. Purification of sparks in the time of exile. .............................................................. 97 3.3 Building God’s dwelling in the lower worlds. ........................................................ 101 3.4 The role of the individual in the messianic effort. ................................................. 109 4. Conclusions. ....................................................................................................... 116 CHAPTER 3 ......................................................................................................... 118 1. The days of Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. ........................................ 118 1.1. The days of Messiah. ............................................................................................ 118 1.2. The resurrection of the dead. ............................................................................... 121 1.3. Redemption and the gentile nations. ................................................................... 126 1.4 The imminence of the messianic advent. .............................................................. 136 1.5. Personal redemption. ........................................................................................... 141 1.6 The messianic figure. ............................................................................................. 149 2. The world-to-come. ............................................................................................ 153 2.1. The world-to-come and this world. ...................................................................... 153 2.2 Gehinom and Paradise. ......................................................................................... 157 2.3 The end of time at the end of days. ....................................................................... 162 3. Conclusions. ....................................................................................................... 166 CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................................... 168 1. Setting Times for Torah Study ............................................................................. 168 2. Setting time for Torah study in halakhah............................................................. 169 2.1. In pre-hasidic halakha. ......................................................................................... 169 2.2 In Rashaz’s halakhic writings................................................................................. 170 3. Setting time for Torah study in Rashaz’s mystical teachings. ................................ 177 3.1 Setting time for Torah study as repentance. ......................................................... 177 3.2 The theurgical significance of setting times for Torah study. ............................... 181 4. The relation between Torah study at set times and full-time study. ..................... 183 4.1 Torah study at set times as a complement to full-time study. .............................. 184 4.2 Torah
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