When we see the various challenges happening in so many different parts of the country and the world, it’s so tempting to just throw our hands up in the air in anger and disgust. The murders, the discrimination, the hardships some people are experiencing, are all clearly heartbreaking. It can seem as if nothing can be done.

These challenges force us to rise above the chaos and explore the possibility that there must be some way to resolve these issues. Of course, it’s not simple, but it means we have to investigate our existence in the world on a deeper, more profound level, in order to find a clearer view of why all of this is happening.

One of our obstacles is that we keep looking at our world from our own, human perspective. But according to our sages, we also need to be able to see the world from the Creator’s perspective, so that we can get a clearer picture of what’s going on.

We live on a planet we didn’t create, and this planet exists within a universe we didn’t create. In fact, our sages, and our scientists, have told us that we were created by the universe, which is known as Ein Sof—Without End—the Infinite. This, we’re told, is the creative source of all the stars, planets, galaxies, and black holes, and all of us.

When we begin to realize that we are here because the universe created us, we can start to recognize the limitations of our own power. We are not the supreme power—the creative force of the universe is far more powerful than we could ever be. Recognition of this fact alone can cause us to be more reflective about what we’re supposed to be doing here.

With this clearer acknowledgment, we can start to appreciate that maybe the universe, having created us, might have a reason for our existence. This is what we each need to explore, on a personal and also a global perspective. The fact is that we humans have more brainpower than we usually think we have. But it’s only when we reach more deeply into our own inner sense of self that we can come to experience and use this greater brainpower to help us and our fellow human beings. This is what meditation and the study of kabbalah is all about. It means we have to go more deeply into our prayer life to discover the creator of our existence, to find the wisdom that is hidden inside every one of us.