When Water Stops Moving

The first time I met the Rebbe, he asked me:

“Do you know what Hashgacha Pratit is?”

He explained: Everything a person sees or hears is meant to bring them closer to G-d and His Torah.

I wanted to believe it—but really? Everything?

How could every random thing I see be meant just for me?

The Rebbe told me a story.

When the Baal Shem Tov taught this idea, even some of his chassidim struggled with it.

One said: “This morning, on our way to shul, we saw a group of Christians by the frozen river, carving a cross out of ice. A cross! From ice! Are you saying we’re supposed to learn something from that?”

The Baal Shem Tov nodded.

“Yes. Think about ice. It’s just water that stopped moving.

And water is holy in Judaism.

We use it for mikvah, for handwashing, for purifying the Kohanim, even for preparing the dead for burial. Water is life.

But when water freezes—it loses its flow, its life. And then… you can carve a cross into it.”

⸻

Even something pure can lose its power—if it stops moving.

Let’s not freeze. Let’s keep growing. Let’s stay alive.