A
Chassidic Ecology Lesson
In everything, even in the minutest circumstance which
we created beings reckon as nothing and do not take
at all into account, there is a Divine intention, a
Divine will; and Divine Providence arranges the circumstances
that will enable this intention to be realized in a
certain way.
One day in the summer of 5656 (1896 ce.) I was strolling
with my father (Rabbi Sholom Dov Ber, the fifth Lubavitcher
Rebbe, 1860-1920) 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 Godliness!" 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 (Primordial Reality) - in Him
Who watches and gazes until the end of all the 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 just been told concerning
Divine Providence, and overwhelmed by the tenderness
and the earnestness of my father's explanation, I plucked
a leaf from a tree as I passed by and held it 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, "The Ari z"l says
that 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 leaf contains the spark of a soul that
descends to this world for the sake of a tikkun
- in order to attain restitution.
"Just see how 'man is always liable for damages,
whether awake or asleep.' The difference between being
awake or asleep is to be found in the inward faculties
of seichel and middos, in the person's
intellect and in his emotional attributes. The external
faculties are to be found in a sleeping person, too;
only his inward faculties are confused - which explains
the presence of the paradoxes to be found in dreams.
And where does the difference between one who is awake
and one who is asleep become apparent? In the faculty
of vision. One who is asleep does not see; one who is
awake can see.
"When a person is awake, he sees Godliness; when
he is asleep, he does not. But 'man is liable for damages
whether he is awake or asleep.' Just now we discussed
the subject of Divine Providence - and quite without
thinking, you plucked a leaf, held it in your hand,
played around with it, turned it around, squashed it,
tore it up in little pieces and scattered it in different
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 God-given vitality; it has a body, and it has
life. In what way is the leaf's 'I' smaller than your
'I'?
"True, the difference is a big one. The leaf is
tzome'ach (vegetation) and you are medaber
(a human being), and there is a great difference between
the two categories. Nevertheless, one must always remember
the mission and the Divine intention of every created
thing - what is the task that the tzome'ach has to fulfill
in this world, and what is the task that the medaber
has to fulfill in this world"[1] (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak
Schneersohn of Lubavitch, Likkutei Dibburim I,
4a: 4 (Kehot 1987); trans. Rabbi Uri Kaploun).
NOTES
[1] The tzaddik, R. Aryeh Levin
of Jerusalem (1885-1969), recounts a similar experience.
As a young Talmud scholar, R. Aryeh left his native
Lithuania in 1905 and came to the city of Jaffa in the
land of Israel. He sought out his future mentor, Rav
Avraham Yitzchak Kook, who received him with great warmth.
Once, while they were walking together in the fields
engaged in Torah discussion, R. Levin picked a flower.
At this Rav Kook remarked, "All my days I have
been careful never to pluck a blade of grass or a flower
needlessly, when it had the ability to grow or blossom.
You know the teaching of our sages that not a single
blade of grass grows here on earth that does not have
an angel above it, commanding it to grow. Every sprout
and leaf of grass says something meaningful, every stone
whispers some hidden message in the silence, every creation
utters its song!" R. Levin concludes, "These
words of our great master, spoken from a pure and holy
heart, engraved themselves deeply in my heart. From
that time on, I began to feel a strong sense of compassion
for all things"; see Simcha Raz, A Tzaddik In
Our Time (Jerusalem: Feldheim 1976).
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