כָּל נְשָׁמָה יֵשׁ לָהּ עֲבוֹדָה פְּרָטִית בְּמוֹחִין וּמִדּוֹת כְּפִי טִבְעָהּ וְעִנְיָנָהּ. וּכְתִיב מֵאוֹיְבַי תְּחַכְּמֵנִי, מֵהַהֲטָיוֹת הָרָעוֹת שֶׁמַּרְגִּישׁ בְּמִדּוֹתָיו הַטִּבְעִיּוֹת, מִזֶּה מִתְחַכֵּם וְיוֹדֵעַ אֵיךְ לְכַלְכֵּל תִּקּוּן מִדּוֹתָיו וְשִׁעְבּוּד הַכֹּחוֹת שֶׁלּוֹ בַּעֲבוֹדַת הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרֵךְ.

Every soul has its own [designated] Divine service in the realm of intellect and emotion, each according to its nature and disposition. It is written,1 “Make me wise from my enemies” — that is, from the negative leanings that a person senses in his own undeveloped character traits, he can gain wisdom and know how to tackle his tasks of self-refinement, and how to harness his personal strengths to G‑d’s service.2

Probing Beneath the Surface

The animal soul mimics the G‑dly soul like an ape mimics a man. According to this teaching, there is a correspondence between the undesirable elements of the animal soul and the positive potential of the G‑dly soul. By candidly recognizing our faults, we can also understand the proper direction that our Divine service must take.

The Rebbe takes this concept further: An individual can learn to identify his main personal mission in life by noting which one of his tasks encounters the most challenging obstacles. The explanation is that since this particular task is his unique mission, the Evil Inclination works overtime to obstruct its successful fulfillment.3