Nature and the Miraculous

There is a thread, a chain of souls with a common mission, each one completing what the other left undone.

Seven generations back, 200 years ago, lived the first Schneerson, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Schneur Zalman was a great philosopher with the unique ability to draw into the words of intellect that which others could only feel deep in the soul. So he wrote a short book -a classic now known as “The Tanya”-in which he explained how there is nothing but G-d.

He explained that every detail of existence is constantly created at every moment, each detail by a particular force of G-d invested within it. He asserted that if the power of existence would be removed, that thing would cease to exist. In fact, it would never have existed -its past would also cease, since time, too, is a creation.

Which means that everything that happens comes from Above. Which means that G-d can be found anywhere, at any time, in any thing and by anybody. Which means that splitting the Red Sea or stopping the sun in its path are minor miracles when compared to the very fact that we all continue to exist. Because every moment we are all created anew, something from nothing.

Eventually, even the students of opposing teachings accepted his views, which swiftly became mainstream thought. The ideas found their way into secular thought as well. Today, few realize where the idea of constant creation came from.

So, when the Rebbe expressed these same thoughts, and applied them to modern life, he came by them honestly. They were in his blood.