Growing up in the former Soviet Union, I spent my summers at our family dacha, a simple vacation home on the Volga River. As a little girl, I loved sitting on the green grass of a beautiful field covered with dandelions. These yellow flowers resembled tiny suns, and I spent endless hours braiding elaborate wreaths and bracelets by connecting their long stems. I decorated myself with this jewelry and imagined that these pieces infused me with special light.
Many years later, I learned that indeed the dandelions of my childhood were a visual example of a deep Chassidic concept. The sages explain that sparks of holiness are hidden throughout the physical world. Our soul is placed within a physical body so that it can identify and redeem these sparks. This is achieved when physical, mundane things are used towards a higher purpose. Every experience is an opportunity to elevate the world around us.
On the first anniversary of his predecessor’s passing, the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory—delivered the inaugural discourse, Basi LeGani, I Have Come to My Garden, which built upon an address his father-in-law released a year earlier. The Rebbe explained that we must view this world as a dwelling place, a garden of the Creator Himself.
The emphasis on the word “my” before garden teaches us that despite much pain, darkness and confusion, G‑d calls our realm His home. Furthermore, our individual choices contribute to the overall vitality, harmony and beauty of the world as a whole. Each person has the potential to contribute, transform and create a “garden” suitable for the King Himself. This world is G‑d’s most precious garden, and we are its gardeners.
After my family’s immigration to the United States in 1989, I started my journey of connecting to my Jewish heritage. I have encountered many opportunities to transform my reality and collect the sparks by creating more goodness in our world. I took this concept so literally, that my story with dandelions had a rather humorous ending.
When my husband and I bought our first home, remembering the beautiful golden flowers of my childhood, I decided to plant dandelions in our backyard. The landscaper was adamant that dandelions are considered weeds, not flowers appropriate for planting. I was devastated. After being warned that the neighbors might not be as enthusiastic about having my dandelions spread into their yards, as often happens with weeds, I agreed to forgo my plan but instead visit a grassy field nearby where dandelions were in full bloom.
Every time I come across flower fields, I remember the poetic words: “My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the spice beds, to graze in the gardens and to gather roses.” (Song of Songs 6:2)
We gather these flowers by opening ourselves to the beauty and potential of the world, for each person is endowed with the responsibility to become a gardener and a caretaker in preparation for the final Redemption.