15. The Soul of the Matter

The father and son in the following narrative are Rebbes, or Hasidic masters, of a previous generation.

One day in the summer of 5656 (1896) I was strolling with my father in a field in the country resort of Bolivke, near Lubavitch. The crops were almost ripe, and the grain and the grass were nodding in a gentle breeze. “Behold G-dliness!” said my father. “Each movement of every single ear of grain and blade of grass was included in the Primal Thought of the partzuf of Adam Kadmon, in Him Who watches and gazes until the end of all generations; and Divine Providence brings this thought to realization for the sake of a certain divine intention.”

As we walked on we found ourselves in a forest. Deep in contemplation of what I had now been told concerning Divine Providence, and overwhelmed by the gentleness of my father's explanation, I plucked a leaf from a tree that I passed by, and held it for a while in my hand. As people often do and without taking particular notice, I tore off little pieces from the leaf every so often as I walked on, ensconced in thought, and tossed them to the ground.

My father now said: “..not only is every leaf of a tree a creature with divine vitality, which the Almighty created with a certain end as part of the ultimate purpose of Creation; but, moreover, every single leaf contains the spark of a soul that descends to This World for the sake of a tikkun – in order to become spiritually restored. . . Just now we discussed the subject of Divine Providence – and quite without thinking you plucked a leaf, held it in your hand, played with it, turned it around, squashed it, tore it up into little pieces, and scattered it in various places.

“How can a person be so light-minded in relation to a creature of the Almighty? This leaf is something created by the Almighty for a particular reason. It has a G-d-given vitality, it has a body, and it has a life. In what way is the leaf's ‘I’ smaller than your ‘I’? True, the difference is a big one. The leaf is a plant and you are human, and there is a great difference between the two categories. Nevertheless, one should always remember the mission and the divine intention of every created thing – what is the task the plant has to fulfill in this world, and what is the task that the human has to fulfill in this world.”

It was on this occasion that my father expounded the Talmudic phrase “The gnat has precedence over you,” explaining that there is a way in which creatures belonging to the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms are superior to man, in that each of them fulfills the mission assigned to it be the divine intention. Whenever we went strolling together throughout the following several days my father discussed this theme, until he arrived at the subject of divine knowledge and mortal free will – how the course of action which a man will choose is revealed and known Above, yet this divine foreknowledge does not direct the choice, for a man is granted free will to choose good and spurn evil.

From Likkutei Dibburim Vol. 1, p.179. (Kehot Publications) by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe.