The seventh millennium is described as "completely Shabbos and rest." How will this affect the Torah study of talmidei chachamim, who "have no rest in this world and in the next"? • The inner meaning of "going from strength to strength."

This week's Torah portion, Mishpatim, discusses the "Hebrew slave" and prescribes the terms of his service. "Six years he shall work, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing" (Shemos 21:2). According to Chasidus, the verse refers to the Jewish people, the servants of the Creator. "Six" relates to the first six thousand years of the world's existence, and "seven" to the seventh millennium. The first six thousand years are devoted to Divine service, the respite from which will come in the seventh millennium, when the Jewish people "shall go out free" and no longer need to engage in this perpetual struggle.

After a lengthy discussion of the Divine service of every Jew and the transformation of the animal soul, the Alter Rebbe writes in Torah Ohr: "All of this applies [only] to the six thousand years of this world, the ‘six years he shall work,' concerning which our Sages declared, ‘The righteous have no rest, as they are always going from strength to strength.' In the ‘seventh year,' however, the seventh millennium, ‘he shall go out free, for nothing.' ‘Free' implies free of the commandments and everlasting rest, the highest level above which there is nothing higher."

For six thousand years the world is in constant movement, steadily ascending from one spiritual level to the next. The seventh millennium represents the culmination of this process, when the Jewish people will be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labors. This chapter will explore some of the practical implications of the seventh millennium vis-a-vis the mitzvah of Torah study.

The Concept of Rest

The Maharsha (Chidushei Aggados, end of Tractate Brachos) points out an apparent contradiction. On the one hand, the seventh millennium is described as a period of rest and tranquility, as it states in the Mishnah (end of Tamid): "'A song for the Sabbath day' - for the day that is entirely Shabbos and everlasting rest." On the other, we are told by our Sages that "Torah scholars have no rest, neither in this world nor the next," as it is written in Tehillim (84:8): "They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before G-d in Zion." According to this second statement, the seventh millennium will be characterized by spiritual growth and ascension, the opposite of rest and inactivity.

The Maharsha resolves the contradiction by interpreting rest in the purely physical sense. There will never come a time when we can rest from studying Torah; the rest promised by our Sages in the seventh millennium means rest from physical labor and exertion. Rather than signify an end to Torah study, this physical relaxation will greatly enhance the quality of our learning, as we will no longer be distracted by the need to provide a livelihood.

A question is asked: If the seventh millennium, "the day that is entirely Shabbos and everlasting rest," will be characterized by rest from physical labor, how does it differ from the "Days of Moshiach," the period immediately preceding the seventh millennium? In the "Days of Moshiach" the prophecy of Yeshayahu will be fulfilled: "And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and tend your vineyards." At that time, according to the Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 89; end of Hilchos Melachim), the Jewish people "will find respite and relief and acquire great wisdom," as they will be "free to engage in Torah study and the pursuit of knowledge."

Moreover, as the Rambam writes, respite from hard work is not something that is reserved for Messianic times. "We are promised in the Torah that if we obey its precepts...all distractions and diversions will be removed...our Torah study will be facilitated by positive and conducive circumstances...that we need not toil all our days to maintain the physical body, but can sit untroubled and carefree and engage in study."

It therefore follows that in addition to implying respite from physical exertion, "the day that is entirely Shabbos and rest" must also refer to Torah study. Furthermore, the statement "Torah scholars have no rest, neither in this world nor the next" can apply only during the period of exile, the "next world" being synonymous with Gan Eden, which exists even now in the afterlife. According to this interpretation, there will also be "rest" in the realm of Torah study in the seventh millennium.

This is in consonance with the Arizal, who interprets "Torah scholars have no rest" as referring to the afterworld (Likutei Hashas, end of Brachos): "In the world that follows death, talmidei chachamim engage in Torah study and ascend from one level to the next, and rise from one yeshiva to another... For just as G-d is eternal and without end, so too is His Torah endless." The Arizal concludes: "In the future, after the Resurrection of the Dead, they too will rest, for the world will be filled with knowledge."

Thus according to the Arizal's approach, all of the upward spiritual movement "from one level to the next, and from one yeshiva to another" is only occurring at present, albeit in Gan Eden, the afterworld that exists simultaneously with our world. In the future, however, "after the Resurrection of the Dead," these spiritual ascensions will also cease, and all of Creation will enjoy "a day that is entirely Shabbos and rest."

Objective Truth

Nonetheless, the Arizal's explanation is still insufficient. If G-d's Torah is infinite and eternal, and the possibility for spiritual ascension is endless, how can there ever come a time when there will be no more spiritual ascensions?

The Rebbe explains:

The fact that there are an infinite number of potential ascensions is not due to the Torah per se. The Torah consists of a certain length and breadth, but it is still within the realm of human capability to learn all of it. Rather, the infinite number of possible ascensions is related to the Torah's depth. The Torah is the Torah of the Creator; because the distance between the creations and the Creator is infinite, so too are there an infinite number of levels of understanding. No matter how much we already know there are always deeper and more profound layers of meaning.

As the Alter Rebbe taught, based on a saying of the Baal Shem Tov, there is no end to the process of pilpul, dialectics and debate. There will always be another question and a more revealing answer. "This is because the Torah exists on many levels simultaneously, having descended from world to world until it came into ours. In this respect the Torah is different in each of these worlds, adapted to its particular spiritual nature. What is valid and understood in one world is an unanswered question in the world immediately below it. This cycle of questions and answers goes all the way up from world to world until it reaches the Supernal Wisdom from which the Torah itself is derived, the epitome and perfection of understanding" (Maamarei Admor Hazakein -Inyonim).

This being true, it follows that the infinite number of levels of understanding can only exist at present, when there is a considerable distance between the Jewish people and G-d. In the seventh millennium, when we will finally attain the highest level, the Torah's truth in the objective sense, i.e., as it exists within G-d Himself, the ascensions will automatically cease, as there will be nowhere higher to go.

In the words of the Rebbe: "In the future, after the completion of Divine service in this world and in the World to Come, the Jewish people will arrive at the Torah's truth as it exists within Him (for at that time, "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, Blessed be He, are one entity" will be revealed), effectively ending our present situation of constant movement and lack of rest. This absence of rest is due to the effort we must expend in order to understand the Torah; once the Torah's ultimate truth will be attained, there will no longer be a need to toil...at which time there will be complete rest, ‘the day that is entirely Shabbos and rest.'"

This also helps explain the verse, "They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before G-d in Zion": At present, we must labor to ascend from level to level in order to understand the Torah's profundity. This process will continue until "every one of them appears before G-d in Zion," i.e., the Jewish people will have returned to Zion and attained the ultimate level of understanding and wisdom, at which point our labors will cease.

An End to Torah Study?

In practical terms, does this mean that Torah study as we know it will end? Or that Torah scholars will have nothing to do in the seventh millennium, and just sit idle?

In the Rebbe's words:

"What will talmidei chachamim do in the ‘day that is entirely Shabbos and everlasting rest,' that is, in the seventh millennium? To pose the question somewhat differently, how can it be that in the seventh millennium, the culmination of the six thousand years that preceded it, talmidei chachamim will no longer be able to augment their learning? Another point: The very concept of time implies movement and change. How can there be an entire thousand-year period - a very long time - without change and increase?"

The only possible answer is that even after attaining the ultimate, objective truth of the Torah there will still be room for innovation. The only question is, what kind of innovation can there be after ultimate truth?

In order to understand, we need to go back to the famous saying of our Sages, "Everything that a veteran scholar would innovate in the future was given to Moshe at Sinai." At first glance the statement seems inexplicable. How can something that was already "given" be considered an "innovation"? One explanation is that G-d gave Moshe all of the rules and principles for interpreting the Torah, which would therefore include everything that was derived later. In this sense, while a particular detail may not have been given at Sinai, its potential was.

Nevertheless, there are many mitzvos that our Rabbis instituted without apparent basis in the Written Torah. One example is the lighting of Chanukah candles. Is this mitzvah a true innovation, and if so, how can it still be considered "given to Moshe at Sinai"?

In truth, most of the innovations that have been instituted over the centuries were derived from the principles given to Moshe at Sinai, and are therefore not genuine innovations in that sense. However, there have been others that were truly "new" - and yet they are considered "given to Moshe at Sinai"! How do we resolve this apparent contradiction?

Revealed and Concealed Innovations

The answer lies in G-d's omniscience. Because G-d is all-knowing, He already knows "everything that a veteran scholar would innovate in the future." These innovations were "inserted" into the Torah when it was given to Moshe at Sinai, albeit in a hidden manner.

Consequently, both characteristics of innovations are true: On the one hand they are truly "new," original concepts and ideas discovered and promulgated by Torah scholars over the course of history. An innovation in this category is the mitzvah of Chanukah, which was established by our Sages on their own initiative. At the same time, even these mitzvos "pre-existed" at Sinai, as they were already included in the entirety of Torah by an all-knowing G-d. (Nevertheless, because our world operates under the limitations of time, from our perspective they did not exist before they were innovated and are therefore "new.")

Based on the above, we can now begin to understand what kind of innovations there can be even after the ultimate truth of Truth of Torah is attained:

In the seventh millennium we will have perfect understanding of the Torah in the objective sense, as it exists within G-d, as it were. In this respect there will no longer be a need to strive or expend effort, and a state of "rest" will have been achieved. At that point, however, the Jewish people will go even further by continuing to innovate on their own initiative. These innovations will not be "pre-existing" in the Torah per se, but will derive from our underlying, essential connection with G-d. [Note: The Rebbe doesn't explain the nature of these innovations, and at first glance the notion of innovations that aren't based on precedent sounds extremely radical. However, it must be pointed out that we are talking about a time when the Jewish people will be completely united and attuned with the Creator, and thus our thought processes will be quite different than they are now.]

In the Rebbe's words:

"Once the objective truth of Torah is attained (in the ‘day that is entirely Shabbos and rest,' after the perfection of Torah study in this world and in the World to Come), the study of Torah will consist primarily of innovations by the Jewish people which add to the profundity of Torah per se. These innovations will derive from their being rooted in G-d's Essence, which is an even higher level than the Torah's source in the supernal Attribute of Wisdom. In this respect there will never be an end to innovations, and the Jewish people will ascend and increase in knowledge perpetually (‘Torah scholars have no rest')."

Indeed, this is alluded to in the verse, "They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before G-d in Zion": Even after "every one of them appears before G-d in Zion' and "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, Blessed be He are one entity" is openly revealed, the Jewish people will continue to "go from strength to strength," increasing in knowledge and ascending upward forever and ever.

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