I was asked by a Jewish publication to respond in 200 words or less to the following question: "If you had to pass on just one nugget of Jewish wisdom to your children what would it be?"
Here is what I replied:
It would be the notion that our world is inherently a good world, and that G-dliness resides within every place and every thing. This is the concept which is expressed in the Zohar “Leit Atar Panui Minay”, meaning, “there is no place devoid of Him”. Because, after all, G-d is the One who animates and sustains all of existence. Why is this so important? Because this overarching Jewish idea, if I were to successfully impart it to my children, would undoubtedly have a profound application in their daily lives, in whatever challenging circumstances they might find themselves.
I want to empower my children with the understanding that the challenges and obstacles which they will inevitably encounter throughout their spiritual travels -- and which might initially appear to them to be most formidable and daunting – should really not be intimidating to them, so long as they remember that those challenges are themselves, in their deeper inner core, also G-d’s creations. Difficult as those challenges may appear to be, their inner purpose and being, their raison d’etre, is entirely a G-dly one. We are made to face those situations in order that they evoke from within us our innermost strength and dedication, and for us to summon forth and manifest an even greater and more powerful measure of commitment to goodness and righteousness.
Judaism teaches us that the world is firmly and inalterably a world of goodness, of G-dliness and of holiness. Any evidence to the contrary is merely on the surface. Sometimes the G-dly reality that pervades our world is obvious to us, and at other times it is hidden. The hidden moments challenge us to dig deeply and to summon forth our innermost strengths and our deepest faith. But at no time can anything in G-d’s world be irredeemably absent of goodness, because, after all, the entire world is His creation, and He is all good.
An encouraging and uplifting thought, and one well worth remembering.