Passing of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859), renowned Chassidic leader, and forerunner of the Ger chassidic dynasty and others.
Link: An Inward Focus
Rebbetzin Chaya Mushkah Schneerson (b. 1901), wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, passed away on the 22nd of Shevat of the year 5748 (1988). For more on the Rebbetzin, see link below. Chabad's annual international conference of sheluchot (woman "emissaries") is held on or near this date.
Links:
All about Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka
Watch: Personal Memories of the Rebbetzin
If He loathes evil, then why does He allow it in His world? How can He breathe life into a world while all that is good and beautiful is ravaged by that which He hates?
It must be that His hatred of evil is not like the hatred of a mortal being for those who oppose him. Nothing can oppose Him, none of His creatures can cause Him harm. To Him, darkness is light and light is darkness, the wicked and the righteous are equal in their insignificance.
He rejects evil not for any reason, but only because He has chosen to reject these things, and that very rejection is what brings evil into being.
So too, He has chosen that those who vanquish evil will be called good. This, too, is a decision from His very essence, one that defines the very reality of things.
At the very core of reality lies the freedom of choice.