אַ מעֶנְטשׁ זאָל זִיך מִתְבּוֹנֵן זַיין, וִוי גְרוֹיס חַסְדֵי הַבּוֹרֵא בָּרוּךְ הוּא זַיינעֶן, אַז אַזאַ קָטָן שֶׁבִּקְטַנִים וִוי דעֶר מעֶנטשׁ אִיז, קעֶן עֶר מאַכעֶן אַ נַחַת רוּחַ גָּדוֹל צוּם גָדוֹל הַגְּדוֹלִים וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב וְלִגְדוּלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר, דאַרף דעֶר מעֶנטשׁ זַיין תָּמִיד בּאַגַייסטעֶרט אוּן טאָן דִי עֲבוֹדָה בְּלֵב וְנֶפֶשׁ חֲפֵצָה.

When a person contemplates the great kindness of the Creator — in that the tiniest of insignificant beings, man, can bring satisfaction to the most eminent of the great, G‑d, of Whom before it is said that1 “His greatness cannot be fathomed” — he should always be high-spirited and carry out his Divine service with an eager heart and spirit.2

To Fill In the Background

G‑d’s greatest kindness to us is the fact that He chose us to serve Him.3 Every mitzvah is an opportunity to transcend our mundane reality and relate to Him in His infinity. Moreover, an awareness of this singular privilege is one of the stepping stones along which the Alter Rebbe guides us towards at least a modest experience of a love of G‑d.

In chapter 46 of Tanya, for example, the Alter Rebbe points out that even between equals, one person’s loving heart evokes a loving response in another’s heart.

He then adds: “How much more is this the case if a great and mighty king displays his great and intense love for a commoner who is lowly and despised among men, a disgraceful creature cast on the dunghill; yet the king comes down to him from the place of his glory, together with all his retinue, and raises him and exalts him from his dunghill and brings him into his palace, into the innermost chamber, a place such as no servant nor lord ever enters, and there shares with him the closest companionship with embraces and kisses and attachment of ‘spirit to spirit,’ with their whole heart and soul. How much more so will there be aroused, of itself, a doubled and redoubled love in the heart of this most common and humble individual for the person of the king, with a true attachment of spirit, from heart and soul, from the infinite depths of his heart. Even if his heart be like a heart of stone, it will surely melt and become like water, and his soul will pour itself out like water, with soulful longing for the love of the king.”