It's a Big Deal
Have you ever found yourself stuck in an airport with a cancelled or delayed flight? Perhaps you "found" yourself in a city with a job that you are not entirely sure how your life brought you to this circumstance.
It's not a coincidence!
The Rebbe my father told someone at yechidus: Ever since G‑d told our father Avraham, "Go from your land etc."1 and it is then written "Avram kept travelling southward,"2 we have the beginning of the mystery of birurim. By decree of Divine Providence man goes about his travels to the place where the "sparks" that he must purify await their redemption.
Tzadikim, who have vision, see where their birurim await them and go there deliberately. As for ordinary folk, The Cause of all causes and the Prime Mover3 brings about various reasons and circumstances that bring these people to that place where lies their obligation to perform the avoda of birurim.
https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/hayomyom.asp?tdate=10/23/2025
This is one of the fundamental teachings of Chabad Philosophy. Wherever we may be we are there for a Divine purpose.
This idea is transformative. It changes us from being passive bystanders to active participants in the Divine plan.
Wherever we go, whatever we do, there is a reason and a purpose.
This is true as well for the eras in which we live. Why were we born in this generation with its blessings and challenges? We are here to make a difference and to respond to Hashems' call.
One way to do this is to look at the talents we have AND the challenges we have. Both of these are clues as to why we are where we are.
Our talents are G-d's gifts to us to be exercised in making the world a more G-dly and goodly place. And our challenges are the areas of our lives that when we face them we are uncovering the deeper purpose in our being on this earth.
So the next time you are stuck in an airport, find yourself in a challenging situation, wondering how you got to where you are, look inside yourself, look at your strengths and look at your challenges and a picture of Divine mission will emerge.
With blessings for a great Shabbos!
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