The Cosmic Beauty of a Falling Leaf
Tech Tribe Dispatch #259
💡 Think:
“One day in the summer of 5656 (1896), I was strolling with my father in a field in the country resort of Bolivke, near Lubavitch. The crops were almost ripe; the grain and the grass rippled in a gentle breeze.
“Behold G‑dliness,” my father declared. “Every movement of each single ear of grain and blade of grass was included in the Primordial Thought of the Creator, He who watches and gazes until the end of all the generations. Divine providence causes this thought to be realized for the sake of a specific G‑dly intent.”
As we walked on, we found ourselves in a forest. [I continued, proceeding] deep in contemplation of what I had just been told concerning Divine providence, overwhelmed by the gentleness and earnestness of my father’s explanation.
As people often do, I plucked a leaf from a tree that I passed by without taking particular notice and held it for a while in my hand. As I walked on engrossed in thought, every so often, I tore off small pieces from the leaf and tossed them to the ground.
My father then said: “The AriZal teaches that… every leaf… is a created being with Divine vitality which G‑d created with a specific intent and role in the ultimate purpose of creation….
“We were just discussing the subject of Divine providence and without any thought at all you plucked a leaf, held it in your hand, played with it… tore it up into little pieces, and scattered it in various places.
“How can a person act so light-mindedly in relation to one of G‑d’s creations?… One must always remember the mission and Divine intent of every created being: what is the task a plant has to fulfill in the world, and what is the task a person has to fulfill in this world.”…
G‑d’s providence governs every minute creation… a fallen leaf that has been tossed over and over by the wind… or a bit of straw which someone used when thatching a roof some years ago…. To move them from one place to another… a stormwind breaks out, shaking heaven and earth in the middle of a warm sunny day and brings to fulfillment the Divine providence that governs this small stray leaf and old wisp of straw.
The movement of a single blade of grass in the depths of a forest, on a stately mountain, or in a deep valley where man has never passed… to its right or to its left… throughout its entire life is determined according to Divine providence.
G‑d, blessed be He, has decreed that a particular blade of grass will live for a specific number of months, days, and hours, and during the duration of this period it will turn and bend… a certain number of times….
Furthermore, the movement of this particular blade of grass affects… the creation in its entirety… [allowing] G‑d’s intent in the creation to come to fulfillment.
From a talk given by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe
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!["Creation: Past and Future" by Hendel Lieberman, oil on canvas, 1966. When Lieberman showed the then-untitled abstract piece, the Rebbe gave it a name, another example of his emphasis on the importance of artists communicating with their viewers in a way that they can understand. - Zev Markowitz / Chai Art Gallery](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VCY0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8c8cdb6c-3f7f-4fae-9f58-57577d267c19_685x756.jpeg ""Creation: Past and Future" by Hendel Lieberman, oil on canvas, 1966. When Lieberman showed the then-untitled abstract piece, the Rebbe gave it a name, another example of his emphasis on the importance of artists communicating with their viewers in a way that they can understand. - Zev Markowitz / Chai Art Gallery")
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