Individuality and the Divine Spark

Question:

If the core of my being is a "spark of G‑d," then where is the me in me? In what way is one person unique from another? Is this idea that I have of myself as an "individual" a lie?

Answer:

Why do you assume that the divine spark expresses itself identically in all people? Perhaps the opposite is true: It is that divine spark that makes each of us unique and gives us purpose.

The emotional and intellectual "self" we parade with through life is nothing more than an adaptation to our society, environment, upbringing, etc. We tend to think "that's me". But it's not. When we look beyond that outer self, we find a divine purpose—how we are meant to impact that society, environment and personality. For each person that is an entirely unique mission—and that is the G-dly spark within us.

Yes, G‑d is one. But, to share an analogy from the Maharal of Prague, from a simple point an infinite number of lines may be drawn through infinite dimensions.

So, too, with that divine spark within: On the one hand it is the same simple point within each one of us. Yet how that point expresses itself within you—another facet of the diamond, another ray of the light—that is unique. Both aspects, the point and its expression, are equally divine.

These two facets of the divine spark are expressed in every mitzvah: On the one hand, the act of the mitzvah is the same for each person--corresponding to the simple, essence-point of the soul. But the mental focus and passion you invest into the mitzvah, that is uniquely yours, expressing the unique mission of your soul.