Rabbi Dovid of Lelov once told a young man who witnessed him studying the Talmudic Tractate of Bava Kama:

“Know, my son, that just as you are now studying the Tractate of Bava Kama, so in the future, when Mashiach comes, there will be a tractate of Dovid of Lelov—a tractate in its own right.”1

This poetic teaching reveals a radical perspective on Torah and its role in our lives. The Torah we study in the World to Come will include a “personal” Torah, compiled from the lessons we learned by applying the word of G‑d to the unique circumstances and story of our lives.

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In order to succeed in our mission to reveal the Divine essence within all, G‑d provided an operating manual for life on earth called the Torah, which was given to help us decipher our place in the world and identify our unique contribution to its sanctification and betterment.2

The Rebbe referenced this point in a letter written to a prominent doctor who questioned the intelligent design of the universe, saying:

“[Anyone] who contemplates the solar system, for example, or the complexities of an atom, must come to the conclusion and conviction that our universe did not come about by some “freak accident.” Wherever you turn, you see design and purpose.

Since the Creator created the world with a purpose, it is also logical to assume that He wished the purpose to be realized, and therefore, would reveal to…humankind, what this purpose is, and how to go about realizing it.”3

And how did G‑d reveal this purpose and the potential paths to its fulfillment? By bestowing the Torah to humankind.

The word Torah, the Rebbe stressed repeatedly, stems from the Hebrew root horaah,4 which means instruction. It is the roadmap given to help each of us align with our unique role in unveiling the Divinity within all things.

Within the Torah there are 613 mitzvot. The simple meaning of the word mitzvah is command, referring to the 613 Divine commandments given to the Jewish people, along with seven commandments given to all humankind, defining specific actions that we should or shouldn’t take.

A few examples among the Torah’s many mitzvot include such diverse activities as wrapping tefillin, declaring G‑d’s Oneness, observing Shabbat, eating kosher, and helping the poor and needy.

There are also mitzvot that include prohibitions against slander, gossip, and theft, for example.

In Chasidic thought, however, the word mitzvah is correlated with the Aramaic word tzavta5 —to connect or attach—shedding light on the fact that these practices empower us to progressively reorient and reunite our inner and outer realities to align and harmonize with the obscured omnipresence of G‑d.

This perspective—that Torah and mitzvot are the manual and tools for clarifying and sanctifying everyday life—transforms everything we do into an opportunity to repair the world. Blessings before and after eating, for example, become powerful intention setting practices. We get to choose whether to engage with the act of eating in a manner that is hedonistic or holy, indulgent or illuminating, healthy or harmful, energizing or enervating.

Here is a great secret: Why did G‑d create various types of food and drink that human beings desire? Because they, too, contain Divine sparks that long to be returned to holiness.6 Commenting on the verse, Hungry and also thirsty, their souls enwrapped in them,7 the Baal Shem Tov taught that, in fact, it is the soul that makes us hungry and thirsty. Our desire for food is a response to a sort of spiritual magnetism, leveraging our physical appetite to draw us toward the spiritual work of elevating Divine sparks hidden within the most basic elements of the material world. We are thus invited to find G‑d everywhere, even in a glass of water.

Mitzvot governing our social interactions—giving charity or acting with care and generosity—reveal and ground us in the essential interconnectedness of all human life. A simple nod and smile to someone on the street subtly repairs the fraying edges of our social fabric. A moment of expressed kindness to someone who is suffering does the same. Reaching out to an estranged family member becomes a spiritual act of cosmic repair. We are sent to find G‑d within the lives of our friends, our family, and the strangers that cross our paths.

Every mitzvah, no matter how seemingly insignificant, brings us closer to fulfilling our ultimate purpose—the revelation and reunification of the Infinite One. We don’t need to achieve greatness, earn status, or accomplish extravagant feats to repair the world. Even the least of us can contribute profoundly to the purpose of creation by following the slightest of commandments given to us by G‑d.

The Inner Dimension

However true and beautiful the above paradigm, it left little room for the individual to apply the wisdom of Torah to the specific nuances of their lives.

For much of the previous 3,200 years, it was traditionally understood that when individuals engaged with the Torah, its various texts and traditions largely focused on external actions (behavioral or ritual) and spoke to the Jewish people as members of a collective, but not necessarily in a holistic or personal sense.8 In short, the Torah was largely perceived to address the average person as a member of a broader community bound by a shared set of laws, teachings, traditions, and practices.

However, our understanding of the Torah’s power to address and illuminate our individual trajectory and purpose in life began to shift radically in the eighteenth century with the advent of the Chasidic movement, founded by the Baal Shem Tov. This perspectival evolution reached a further momentous breakthrough and poetic crystallization with the founding of the Chabad Chasidic movement by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe.

The proverbial upwelling of Chasidism sparked a profound paradigm shift in the hearts of the masses and the minds of scholars, wherein the Torah was revealed to address not only the external practices of Judaism but also the inner life of each individual soul.

Chasidism helped elucidate and illuminate the radical idea that there is an inner dimension to the Torah—an intimate, Divine manual that addresses the depths and destinies of each unique soul. Through this lens, every facet of one’s internal life can be connected to their ultimate purpose, evoking the sparks of Divine potential within each and every encounter, experience, and aspect of their life story.

This revelation was revolutionary in its simplicity, courageously acknowledging the inescapable reality that everyone grapples with internal challenges and emotions for which there are no Biblical commandments or explicit guidance. The Baal Shem Tov, and his many disciples after him, went to great pains to validate the fact that these personal struggles are an essential part of every person’s daily life and must therefore be written into their sacred story. Overcoming them, in turn, constitutes a powerful and personal spiritual triumph. The Alter Rebbe, in particular, declared that these acts of internal redemption—of connecting our inner world to G‑d at all times—are essential components in our service of G‑d. This internal space represented the last frontier of spiritual pursuit, the last unclaimed aspect of each person’s quest for spiritual growth and redemption.

Through this transformative new lens, the Torah was now seen as a source of wisdom and a bespoke beacon to illuminate the particular path of each person, including the specific conditions of their individual lives and purpose. Furthermore, this holistic approach to the role of Torah in our lives was conceived in such a way that nothing was lost. Rather, the new Chasidic approach added depth and dimension to existing lenses. Additionally, it invited every single person to become a contributing participant and integral part of the living tradition.

Where Are You?

A profound and paradigmatic example of this individually focused approach to Torah occurred in 1798, when the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned on false charges that his teachings undermined the imperial authority of the czar of Russia.9

He was held in the Peter-Paul Fortress in Petersburg for fifty-three days. Given the severity of the charges, the unforgiving political climate of the time, and the dehumanized status endured by Jews throughout Russia, the Alter Rebbe had resigned himself to the inevitability of his execution and began to prepare himself for martyrdom via prayer and deep contemplation.

Meanwhile, among the Rebbe’s interrogators was a government minister who happened to possess a broad knowledge of the Torah and its commentaries. During one interrogation, the minister posed a question to the Alter Rebbe that had perplexed many scholars and sages regarding the exchange between G‑d and Adam after the latter ate from the forbidden tree.

The Torah says, And G‑d called to the man and said to him: “Where are you?”10

“Did G‑d not know where Adam was?” the minister asked.

The Alter Rebbe quoted the traditional answer attributed to R. Shlomo Yitzchaki, the revered French scholar and commentator, known widely as Rashi.

“‘Where are you?’” he explained, “was G‑d’s gentle way of approaching Adam, preparing for a delicate conversation about the consequences of eating from the Tree of Knowledge.”

“I already know what Rashi says,” the minister replied. “I wish to hear how the Rebbe understands the verse.”

The Alter Rebbe asked, “Do you believe that the Torah is eternal? That its every word applies to every individual, under all conditions and at all times?”

“Yes,” said the minister.

R. Schneur Zalman was gratified to hear this affirmation of the Torah’s eternal and individual applicability—one of the core teachings for which he was now standing trial.

“‘Where are you,’” explained the Rebbe, “is G‑d’s perpetual call to every human being. Where are you in the world? What have you accomplished? You have been allotted a certain number of days, hours, and minutes in which to fulfill your mission in life. You have lived [so many] years and [so many] days”—here the Alter Rebbe mentioned the exact age of the minister, to the day. “Where are you along your life’s journey? What have you achieved so far [in your mission in life]?”

Upon inquiring of Adam, “Where are you?” G‑d was not only addressing a particular person who lived at a particular time, but He was also addressing each of us at every moment of our lives!

At that very moment, the Alter Rebbe made a monumental turnabout. Only moments earlier, he had been ready to step out of the stream of his life’s journey. But the interrogator’s question—which the Alter Rebbe interpreted as a direct message from above to remind him of the importance of his own earthly mission—inspired him anew and encouraged him to channel his spiritual yearnings into even more intensified dedication to his life’s purpose in this world.

The auspiciousness and deep synchronicity of the unexpected encounter were taken as a sign by the Alter Rebbe that it was time to redouble his efforts to spread the spiritual doctrine he had just shared: Every individual has a unique purpose to fulfill in this world, and the Torah is the manual by which each of us can decipher and align with our sacred purpose and find real-life, real-time guidance toward it’s fulfillment.11

Where are you on the path of your Divine purpose? For those seeking guidance, there is a multidimensional map given to us by G‑d called the Torah, which is waiting for you to traverse its many paths and drink from its endless wellsprings of wisdom. The invaluable lessons it contains for those who choose to both follow in its path while blazing their own trail will undoubtedly help clarify, guide, and inspire you to become who you were meant to be.