哈巴德传统中，扎爾曼的监禁被詮释为上天懲罰他過度揭示了神聖的奧秘。犹太神秘主义传统建立在卡巴拉質點概念上。慈悲(Chesed)一面無限制地给予身心靈上的祝福；而另一方面，嚴厲(Gevurah)與之制衡，衡量、限制流向接受者的祝福。随后的宏偉(Hod)質點加以限制，以维护神圣威严的荣耀。在多夫·貝爾（英语：Dov Ber of Mezeritch）的哈西迪故事中，一名門徒看到哈西迪著作的一页在院子里飘荡。他因神聖奧秘被哈西迪揭露而褻瀆神聖感到遺憾。在故事中，門徒的想法代表上天对說教師的指责，指責說教師透露了太多奧秘。年轻的扎爾曼用一則著名的哈西迪寓言回答指責[14]，表示縱使會遭到神聖的報應，哈西迪也要拯救猶太人的心靈。
身為塔木德主义者，施奈爾·扎爾曼努力将卡巴拉和哈西迪置于理性基础上。在他的重要作品《普通人的書》(Tanya)，他将自己的進路定义为「心靈統治情感」(מוח שולט על הלב)）。他稱這個進路為「哈巴德」(Chabad)，來自幾個質點的希伯来语缩写：智慧(Chochma)、理解(Bina)與知識(Da'at)。扎爾曼認為，人既不是静态被动的实体，而是個充满活力的人，必须努力发展自己的潜在，才能完善自己。 [18]
^Lionel Menuhin Rolfe The Menuhins: a family odyssey - 1978 "Judah Leib and Sara had a son named Moshe, who had a son named Schneur Zalman. This first Schneur Zalman married a woman named Rachel and they had a son named Baruch. Baruch married Rebeka, a descendant of The MaHarShal."
^Lubavitcher Rabbi's memoirs: The memoirs of Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn 1971 "Judah Loewe, as follows: Rabbi Judah — Betzalel — Samuel — Judah Leib — Moses of Posen — Shneur Zalman — Baruch — Shneur Zalman of Liady "
^ 9.09.1Should Napoleon be victorious...": Politics and Spirituality in Early Modern Jewish Messianism, Hillel Levine, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 16–17, 2001
^Napoleon and the Jews, Kobler, F., New York, 1976.
^Audio recording talk, "the Beginning of the End" of the Jewish year, by Yitzchak Ginsburgh, explaining the Kabbalistic meaning of 18th Ellul. Ginsburgh connects the 2 later descending revelations of the Baal Shem Tov and Shneur Zalman on 18th Ellul, with the earlier ascending light of the Maharal who died on that day, 18th Ellul 1609. The Maharal taught a Kabbalistic philosophy of Divine paradox, later revealed and explicated by the Baal Shem Tov and Shneur Zalman
