Yud Tes (19th) Kislev 5786
What happens to us in this world is a reflection of the spiritual worlds above. This is a fundamental belief of Judaism. Nothing is random. Hashem is constantly creating the world, and Hashem’s energy is the life-force of everything. It follows that whatever is happening around us is happening for a purpose. Just as our purpose in life is to make a home for Hashem in this world by doing Mitzvot and acts of goodness and kindness, the purpose of all events that happen around us are in order for us to fulfill this purpose. This belief was evident in Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s attitude when he was arrested on suspicion of treason in Russia in the year 1798. Here was the most revered, saintly and scholarly Jewish leader in his generation, and one of the foremost influencers of Judaism of all time, being carried away in a black wagon reserved for capital criminals. He had been slandered to the Czarist government by a fellow Jew who didn’t agree with his philoso...