Contrary to popular belief, the roots of the underground spiritual movement that came to be known as Chasidism began nearly a century before R. Yisrael Baal Shem Tov was born on 18 Elul 5458 (1698).

Forgoing the complex palimpsestic histories of why, suffice it to say that this was a treacherous time to practice Jewish mysticism, especially within the communities in which the Baal Shem Tov had been raised and taught the intricacies of Kabbalah and Torah. Jewish mystics of the age were received with severe suspicion by some members of the Jewish community, so they went about their intense and devoted study in relative anonymity.1

For his part, the Baal Shem Tov was committed to concealing his holy light, preferring a private life of Torah study, deep contemplation, and holy mystical practice, while resisting all efforts by his mentor, R. Adam Baal Shem, to bring him out of his self-imposed obscurity.2

But there was a truth that lingered in the corners of the great master’s quiet life—an awareness about his soul’s purpose on earth, embedded within a story revealed to him by his teacher when he was a teenager.

As told to the young Yisrael in a letter:

In the year 1573, there lived a simple Jew in the holy city of Safed, in the northern reaches of Israel. This man lived in a state of simple piety and was uniquely devoted to serving G‑d, despite knowing almost nothing of Torah. At best, he was able to read well enough to manage his duties to prayer.

One night, while reciting Tikkun Chatzot—the midnight prayer of the pious lamenting the destruction of the Holy Temple—this man was surprised by a knock at his door.

After asking who was there, he heard the unbelievable reply, “It is Elijah the Prophet.”

Without a moment’s doubt, the young man quickly opened the door, welcoming Elijah as the room filled with Divine light and the joy of the prophet’s holy presence.

The glowing figure looked at him briefly before saying, “I have come to divulge to you the wondrous secret of when Mashiach will come. But only if you first reveal to me the special meritorious act you performed on the day of your bar mitzvah, for that is what moved the heavenly court to rule that you are worthy of hearing this great revelation.”

The truth of what the prophet said washed over him—that he had done something on the day of his bar mitzvah that had been so profoundly pure and holy that it had bypassed the sight of the loftiest souls and even the heavenly court, and as such was received and known only by G‑d Himself. These lofty souls, in turn, were willing to bless him with one of the greatest secrets kept in the heavens, all to know what he had done that was so singularly meritorious.

Incredibly, the young man turned down the prophet’s tremendous offer, saying, “I was raised to believe that the good deeds one does should be hidden from others to ensure they are done for the sake of G‑d alone.”

The great prophet then disappeared and returned to the heavenly court, where a significant tumult ensued over the man’s rejection, which expressed his astounding devotion to G‑d, even at the expense of an unfathomable reward. After consideration, the heavenly court ruled that the man should receive even greater holy rewards, including knowledge of all aspects and dimensions of Torah.

After receiving his spiritual boon, this previously simple man became a once-in-a-generation paragon of purity, scholarship, and G‑dliness, but he never lost his hallmark modesty, choosing to preserve his knowledge, inspiring deeds, and holy achievements solely for the glory of G‑d. He lived a life of solitude and inimitable piety, and when he passed, the man came before the heavenly court to be judged. Of course, he was widely pronounced worthy of the highest appointment in heaven.

After pondering the fate of the man’s soul, it was decided that he would descend again to the physical world, except that this time he would be forced to reveal his greatness, and his soul would be tasked with initiating a new path in the service of G‑d. His righteous mission would glorify G‑d in an unprecedented way, infusing creation with Divine wisdom in a manner that would greatly hasten the arrival of Mashiach.3

R. Adam Baal Shem concluded his letter to the young Yisrael, saying, “You are this Divine soul, sent to this world once more in order to bring it a new light.”

This soul, reborn as R. Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, delivered Chasidut—the path of loving-kindness—to humanity and gave birth to a tremendous revolution in Judaism. As a result, age-old Jewish conceptions of devotion and merit, practice and purpose were turned upside down and inside out.

How fitting that it was the Baal Shem Tov who would reveal the following stunning spiritual truth—one that the Rebbe would repeat endlessly and emphatically in an effort to crystallize the importance of a single act of service and kindness:

“A soul can descend to this world for seventy or eighty years just to do one favor for another.”4

Here was a soul who had risen to spiritual heights surpassing even those of the Patriarchs, who carried mastery of every dimension of the Torah and a life lived in perfect alignment with the Divine. And yet this soul, whose merit and holiness were beyond description, was sent back with a final commandment—you must share your wisdom with your fellow Jews.

The distillation of that wisdom, and its manifestation, is crystallized by each of us in one act of kindness, which the Baal Shem Tov privileged uniquely as justifying an entire lifetime.

One Good Deed

During a momentous Purim farbrengen in 1962, at a time when his vision of “outreach” had not yet fully taken hold, the Rebbe elaborated on the story of the Baal Shem Tov’s singular purpose in an effort to inspire and reorient a community of inwardly-focused Chasidim toward a life of shlichut and service:

“The descent of the soul ‘from a high rooftop to a deep pit’ is the greatest of descents, beyond comparison. As Tanya explains…[the soul’s state while embodied in this world is] not comparable to the soul before it descended to this world, and even less comparable to the soul as it is within its Source.

“…That being so, an explanation is required: What reason can there be to justify such a descent?”

Here the Rebbe referenced the hallowed words of the Baal Shem Tov:

“A soul can descend to this world for seventy or eighty years just to do one favor for another.”

Commenting on this revolutionary teaching, the Rebbe observed:

“Now think about this. We are speaking of a righteous Jew who studies Torah and fulfills mitzvot throughout a seventy- or eighty-year life span. Nonetheless, the descent of his soul to this world is essentially for just one or two actions! …And since the main point of the descent [of the soul] is for this action, it is understood that this action matters more, and by its means the soul reaches higher than through all the other matters during its lifetime in this world.

“That is also the lesson for each and every individual regarding their current service of G‑d…

“...Since none of us really knows with certainty [the reason their soul was sent to this world], it may just be that this action is that essential action for which his soul has descended for the span of seventy or eighty years.

“And when he argues that he has already lived many years, putting on tefillin, studying Torah, performing mitzvot, and doing much good for others, and that being so, how is it possible that all those things should be merely secondary to this one action of just doing a spiritual favor for a single Jew or even just a material favor? Is it possible that all his seventy years are merely a side note to this one action?

“The Torah teaches us: Don’t despise a day of small things.5 This is talking about an action that seems in your estimation to be the most trivial of things, but nonetheless, since it has fallen to you to do it, ‘Don’t delay it.’6...It is possible that each and every action or matter that comes to hand could be the one thing that is the whole reason for his soul coming down to this world...

“And when one’s approach to every matter of Torah and mitzvot rests on the premise that it may be just for this action that his soul came down for the seventy or eighty years of his life, and everything else was only secondary, then he does that action with an entirely different kind of animation, and then he will succeed incomparably.”7

This is The One

As exemplified in the following story, it was precisely this urgent, mission-oriented consciousness that the Rebbe personally embodied and sought to impart to everyone he encountered.

Early one morning, as the Rebbe was leaving his home on his way to 770, a man who had traveled from afar in need of guidance approached him and began a conversation.

This was a breach of protocol, since meetings with the Rebbe were typically arranged through his secretariat many months in advance due to the extreme demands on the Rebbe’s time.

Nonetheless, the Rebbe stopped and took the time to address the man’s troubles, leaving him comforted and reinvigorated before heading off to the synagogue.

As the man turned to depart, he was confronted by a few yeshivah students who had witnessed his exchange with the Rebbe and wanted to chastise him for his audacity. They admonished him for considering himself above those who waited patiently to be seen at yechidut or who simply wrote the Rebbe a letter and waited for a reply.

The man was overcome with remorse and sent the Rebbe a letter of regret, apologizing profusely for having taken his time in this way.

The Rebbe began his response by lightening the feelings left by his encounter with the yeshivah students, saying, “Firstly, the yeshivah students who accosted you did so during school hours, when they should have been studying in yeshivah rather than offering you rebuke.”

The Rebbe then offered a soul-stirring response, radically reframing his interaction with the man:

“One of the cardinal teachings of the Baal Shem Tov was that ‘a soul can descend to this world for an entire lifetime, all in order to do one favor for another.’ Who knows? Perhaps the reason my soul came to this world was so that I could help you this morning!”8

Across thousands of stories about the Rebbe, we see this conviction in action—that every encounter with someone in need warrants our utmost loving focus, regardless of the mountain of demands that looms on the other side of the encounter. Even as his list of duties became astounding in length, he remained true to the Baal Shem Tov’s edict that every encounter may be the most important opportunity in your life—the very act of kindness your soul was incarnated to complete. It may be a destitute stranger who reaches out in need as you rush to your next appointment, or a friend who calls you heartbroken after you’ve had a particularly exhausting day. It may be a child who interrupts to ask a question while you are working desperately to keep up with your workload.

It is in those very moments that we must remember that no opportunity to be there for another is trivial or dismissible, and that every encounter is pregnant with tremendous, unknown possibilities. In fact, that seemingly trivial opportunity, that single act of charity or goodwill, may embody the very purpose and potential your soul came to this world to fulfill.