Many things in our world right now seem scattered and dispersed, pointing in different directions, working against each other or even just sadly separate. Still, we shouldn’t despair. From the beginning of time, a movement towards healing, harmony, unity and integration was built into the program of the world, and day by day, we are moving closer and closer to this final integration.

Moses, the faithful shepherd of the Jewish people, assures us of G‑d’s comforting message regarding the final redemption: “If your dispersed will be at the ends of heaven, from there G‑d will gather you in, and from there He will take you.”1

Chassidic teachings explain that this gathering of the dispersed also refers to the drawing in, unifying and integrating of all the different parts of ourselves, our gifts, our talents, our life wisdom and our experiences, which may have been scattered and dispersed due to the difficulties we face living in this complex world.2

However, we don’t have to wait until the final redemption to begin to experience this. When we learn Chassidic teachings, the deepest parts of the Torah—whose ways are of peace and harmony—and the integration of opposites, we embark on a natural process of gathering, refining, transforming and uniting even the most disparate parts of ourselves and our experiences.

Our sages explain that as this occurs, there is also a natural and peaceful cleaning up, refining and transforming process of the portion of the world that has a unique relationship to our soul, catalyzing the transformation of darkness to light in the deepest possible way.3