Free Will

An address on the Previous Rebbe's 100th birthday anniversary:

The Midrash teaches that G-d created gold only for the Holy Temple. Why, then, did He place gold all over the world, where it can also be used for mundane purposes? Similarly, why did G-d allow His Torah to be lowered from its loftiest heights, to the point that even someone who seeks to misuse it, can comprehend it?

The answer: G-d did this in order to give man free will — to allow man to resemble Him.

My father-in-law, the Rebbe urged that we devote ourselves to returning fellow Jews to Judaism. But what is so wrong with also spending some time with other, trivial matters?

Even the smallest neglect of one’s mission is connected with the most sublime power of his innermost soul — his free will; if it is wasted, it is harmful. On this day, the Rebbe’s birthday, when his Mazel shines most strongly, we are granted additional strength to fully succeed in his mission.