There’s a famous question that I’m sure we all ask ourselves here and there: What’s my tafkid (purpose) in life? What am I really supposed to do? What does Hashem want from me right now? This morning, when I was putting on tefillin (phylacteries) by Shacharit, as I was putting on my tefillin shel yad (arm tefillin), I was thinking to myself something amazing. I was like, “Wow, right now there is nothing in the world that I am supposed to be doing other than making the Beracha (blessing) on my tefillin.” That means when I make this Beracha, I know that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. That’s my tafkid for right now. If I asked Hashem, “Hashem, what am I supposed to be doing now?” He would be like, “Focus and make the Beracha on your tefillin.” When you are benching, there is nothing else in the world that you are supposed to be doing other than benching. Nothing else exists. What you have to do after—okay, so we’ll think about what you have to do after, after. But right now, there’s nothing else in the world that’s going on except for your benching, except for your putting on tefillin. You’re learning a daf (page) Gemara. There’s nothing in the world going on besides that daf. And that means that your tafkid in life right now is going to be a benching. It’s to learn that daf and do the best that you can on that daf. And that’s what Hashem wants from you.
And then I was thinking, if we could broaden this idea a little bit: Every time you are struggling with a nisayon (challenge) of shemirat einayim (guarding one’s eyes), you’re walking down the street and you see something that you’re not supposed to see, or there’s a struggle and he starts trying to grab you, trying to take you down. Right now, you know that there’s one job in the world for you to do. If you asked Hashem, “Hashem, what’s my tafkid in life?” Hashem would probably say, “Right now, your tafkid in life is just to look down. Just control yourself this time.” And then everything else in the world falls away except for this idea that’s going on right now. Because this is my tafkid. This is my purpose.
Rabbi Yisrael, if we could think about this with all the mitzvot (commandments) we do and all the aveirot (transgressions) that we’re supposed to stay away from, with each one broken down into its own thing, and say, “Wow, right now I am literally fulfilling my tafkid in life for right now,” that means every time you see something that you’re not supposed to see, or you’re about to see something that you’re not supposed to see, or you’re about to go somewhere that you’re not supposed to go, you say, “Wait a second, this is my entire tafkid in life for right now. This is exactly what Hashem wants for me.” I know with such clarity that this is the only thing Hashem wants me to do right now: look down, focus on this Gemara, do that, say this, or go there. Rabbi Yisrael, this is a fascinating idea because now I have the answer to my question: What’s my tafkid in life? I don’t know. But for right now, this is your tafkid in life. So, Rabbi Yisrael, we could all do it. We could all do it. We focus on this idea and we could all become amazing gedolim (great Torah scholars), Rabbi Yisrael. Let’s control ourselves and let’s make HaKadosh Baruch Hu proud with every move we do.