The Torah reading of “Vayigash” tells us how Jacob and his family made their journey from the Land of Israel to meet Joseph in Egypt. This descent is an allegory of the soul descent from the higher realms to this physical world. Just as Jacob was hesitant to leave the Holy Land and his spiritual hub, the soul too doesn’t want to come down to this world. But H”S assures us and wants us to make this journey.
Why does H”S want this? Why did He want Jacob to go down to Egypt and us his descendants, to continue living in the different Egypts of the Diaspora?
We were created with the mission to make this place a home for H”S.
Within the material world there are sparks of G-dliness contained in everything. Our job is to release the G-dly sparks, for example: by eating kosher food and doing blessings we are elevating this G-dly sparks. By helping someone in need we are elevating the resources we use (ex: our car, home, money,etc..). By keeping Shabbat we elevate the whole purpose of the weekdays.
It’s like a fruit and a peel. The fruit is an analogy of the G-dly spark, this is what really matters. The peel is an analogy of the material substance of the world.
This is our whole mission and intent in the world- to refine the world by highlighting the existence of H”S by revealing this spiritual dimension. To show others and ourselves that there is a fruit beneath the peel.
Teachings from the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Shabbat Shalom
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