an excerpt from Netivot Shalom on Pirkei Avot on the mishnah "Shimon the Righteous was one of the last survivors of the Great Assembly. He used to say: On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service, and on deeds of loving kindness."
"This can also be understood by way of divine service: the world stands upon the personal world of each and every person, because each and every person is a microcosm. And as it is taught in "Yesod Ha'avodah"[1] in the name of the Holy Ari, from the day of the creation of the world each and every person has been assigned a certain task to be carried out in accordance to the root of his soul and it is for the rectification of that particular matter that he came down into this world. And it is also written that each and every day since the creation of the world comes with a special task that must be rectified on that very day, so that every person every day is like a special creation and a microcosm.
It is in this context that Shimon the Righteous comes to show how a Jew can make his world stand when confronted with crises in his life in such a way that he may fulfill his task and purpose in his world. The mishnah introduces him as having been "one of the last survivors of the Great Assembly" in order to say that after the demise of the members of the Great Assembly he came to teach the last generation what possibilities are still open for a Jew to fulfill his task and purpose in the midst of life's turmoil: when dark forces overwhelm him and he is surrounded by troubles, how can he fulfill his task and purpose in his own personal world for which he had come into the world. Concerning this it is said that his own personal world "stands", on the three things that strengthen a Jew's stand so that he can fulfill his task and purpose in any situation and through this rectify that which pertains to the root of his soul.
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