Have you ever wondered why a rabbi like me would choose to live in Folsom? Why did I move my family from a vibrant Jewish community to an area that is not (as of yet) known for its Jewish community?
It was due to the inspiration of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe uplifted the worldwide Jewish community that was devastated by the Holocaust. The Rebbe’s inspiration gave life and hope to a people whose prospects were bleak in a hostile world. An integral part of the Rebbe’s work was his encouraging young rabbis to move to communities whose Jewish infrastructure was lacking, to reach out to the unaffiliated and uninspired Jew and awaken their dormant Jewish soul.
Today, the 10th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar, marks the anniversary of his accepting the mantle of leadership of the Chabad movement. In his landmark inaugural address, the Rebbe outlined his outlook on the world and our mission within it.
In Shir HaShirim (Solomon’s Song of Songs) the world is described as a garden. Many may perceive the world to be more similar to a jungle, a haphazard place where wild animals dominate. They look around and see the base behavior and immorality that prevails. They see the violence, the hatred, the pain and the suffering. And they conclude that this world is a jungle, a wild place that has no good in it.
However, the Torah describes the world as a garden, a place that Hashem refers to as My garden. It is essentially good.
When we perceive the world in this way, we can have the hope to better this world. We recognize the good that is within it and we work on revealing the good that is there. We work on cultivating G-d’s garden. Just by looking with this perspective, even before we start the work, we begin to recognize the good that is out there.
I’m reminded of a great quote from Winston Churchill: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”.
Let’s reveal the good in this world and help cultivate Hashem’s garden.
ב"ה