In this letter, the Alter Rebbe is addressing a very practical question:
How should a Jew relate to suffering, disappointment, and the ordinary struggles of life?
His answer is not primarily about reward and punishment. It is about faith in creation itself.
- A Jew Should Not Make Physical Success His Main Goal
The Alter Rebbe begins:
“This is not the way for the light of Hashem to dwell in a person.”
A person should not make his primary focus:
- Long life
- Children
- Livelihood
- Material success
These are important, but they should not become the center of one’s existence.
This is what Chazal mean when they say:
“Nullify your will before His will.”
A person’s deepest desire should be attachment to Hashem, not merely worldly outcomes.
- The Foundation: Constant Creation
The key idea of the chapter is faith in continuous creation.
The Alter Rebbe says that Hashem is not only the Creator in the past.
Rather:
Every creature is being created from nothing at every moment.
At every instant:
- We exist only because Hashem wills us to exist.
- The entire world is constantly receiving life from Him.
- What Happens When a Person Truly Thinks About This?
If a person deeply reflects that:
“I am being created anew this moment by Hashem,”
then he begins to see reality differently.
Instead of asking:
“Why is this happening to me?”
he realizes:
“My very existence right now is coming directly from Hashem.”
- Why Does Life Sometimes Feel Bad?
The Alter Rebbe’s answer is striking.
He says:
The source of everything is Divine wisdom.
And Divine wisdom is:
- The source of life
- The source of goodness
- The source of delight
Therefore:
Nothing coming from Hashem is truly evil.
- Then Why Do We Experience Pain?
Because the source of the good is beyond our understanding.
The Alter Rebbe writes:
It appears to a person as suffering only because he cannot grasp its greatness and goodness.
In other words:
- We see the event.
- Hashem sees the complete reality.
- What feels painful from below may have a meaning and goodness hidden beyond our perception.
- “No Evil Comes From Above”
The central statement of the chapter is:
“אין רע יורד מלמעלה“
“No evil descends from Above.”
The Alter Rebbe does not deny that people experience pain.
Rather, he teaches that from the Divine perspective, the source of every event is goodness, even when that goodness is hidden.
- The Core of Emunah
He concludes that this is a fundamental aspect of Jewish faith:
- Hashem is present everywhere.
- There is no place devoid of Him.
- Everything derives its existence from Him.
Therefore:
“In the light of the King’s face there is life.”
And where Hashem truly is,
“Strength and joy are in His place.”
Key Takeaway
The peshat of this chapter is that true emunah means recognizing that Hashem continuously creates and sustains us every moment. Since everything comes from Him, and He is the source of all goodness, even events that feel painful are not truly evil. They appear so only because the deeper Divine good behind them is beyond human understanding.