Everything in creation has a purpose – a benefit it brings to the ecological system, a use for the benefit of man, the crown of creation, and a purpose it serves in Divine service, for "the entire world was created only to serve me, and I was created only to serve my Creator." But every created being also has a character – a unique grace and beauty, as the sages said that all creatures were created "in their full character." This character is related to the intrinsic nature of the created being, even before the external purpose it is meant to fulfill.
It is common to think that the perspective of a God-fearing person focuses on the utility of objects or experiences, on their holy purpose and goal – their use in fulfilling mitzvot, or at least for the health of body and soul, in a manner of "let all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven." Indeed, the Baal Shem Tov, who blazed the trail of Chasidut, taught that the Divine spark is hidden in the taste of food and that the aesthetic enjoyment of everything in the world expresses a higher level of Divine revelation within it. For while the purpose of an object or experience can be grasped by the intellect, at least to some extent, the wonder aroused by its unique character cannot be explained and allows contact with the Infinite beyond our narrow and limited world.
The enjoyment of the aesthetics of creation can also be dangerous. Although it is a permitted pleasure, a person can experience intoxication of the senses, sink into it, or even 'worship it', forgetting the Divine dimension. The concern grows when emphasizing the virtue of the colorfullness of the experience or object for its own sake, allowing the heart to be moved by the 'purposelessness within purpose' of beauty, without framing the experience at every moment with religious-purposeful words and explanations.
Therefore, says the Baal Shem Tov, the experience of pleasure requires safeguarding – an inspiration of holiness that allows one to fulfill "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you." Pleasure is clothed within will – character is the inner dimension of purpose – but above both must hover the protection of encompassing faith. Faith in His blessed Essence, the One and Only, keeps all experiences within the realm of holiness and protects against the 'fragmentation' of reality into a multiplicity of separate phenomena and experiences. The special day for this is the Shabbat, when Shabbat pleasure is a mitzvah in itself, and the entire world gathers into the domain of the Individual – the domain of the One of the world – and is preserved within the Shabbat realm.
Chasidut from its inception dealt with expanding the boundaries of holiness and taught how Divine service also connects to experiences such as solitude in nature, deep inner music, and gatherings of friends around "a drink that brings close" with a bit of jest. In our generation, Chasidut takes another step forward, allowing the unifying perspective to include additional fields of knowledge. From within the encompassing faith, it becomes possible to uncover the truth and beauty that exist in science and art – to find faith within the engagement with metaphysics, Divine pleasure in contemplating aesthetics, and Divine will through the study of ethics – and precisely in this way to bring them to their true purpose and goal.
