The Kotzker Rebbe: Created to Raise Up the Heavens

R’ Yaakov of Radzimin said that man was created in this world to perfect his soul.

The Kotzker Rebbe disagreed:
“That is not what we learned in Peshischa. Man was not created merely to perfect his own soul.
Man was created to raise up the heavens.”

Attribution printed on the image: R’ Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, Siach Sarfei Kodesh, Vol. III, p. 71

A reflection on the teaching

The image reports a contrast between perfecting one's own soul and a wider purpose described as raising up the heavens. It invites us to consider whether our growth has become only a private project. Avodas Hashem also concerns the good we bring into the world through mitzvos and our responsibilities to others. We can ask where today's effort serves something beyond our own sense of accomplishment. The image gives a volume and page in Siach Sarfei Kodesh. That reference is preserved as printed and corroborated by a published Torat Har Etzion shiur; the original edition was not inspected.

Source note: Torat Har Etzion, Lesson 46 corroborates the reported exchange and cites Siach Sarfei Kodesh, part III, Lodz, Mesora 5688, page 71. The original edition was not inspected; the image’s English wording is preserved.