We’ve been discussing how everyone has within them an inner compass, with natural tendencies and desires that direct the person to what his job in life is supposed to be. Ideally, the person uses this inner compass to find the perfect job, and it’s the correct sibba/cause to cover G-d’s miracle of parnasa. Whether it’s a being a plumber, a salesmen, an electrician, etc, G-d gave you those abilities, and if you listen to yourself you’ll get there. Needless to say, times have changed a little. We still have to rely on Hashem and choose a sibba, and there are still those artists or lawyers out there, who had tendencies from a young age, but there aren’t as many people choosing tendency-based jobs as there used to be.
Be that as it may, we are going to change course slightly and move away from discussing our physical/financial jobs to explore our spiritual jobs in life:
Everyone has been sent to this world on a mission and no two people have the same mission. Everyone has a job to do, whether it’s to start Chai lifeline, become a captain in Bikur Holim, become a Talmid Chacham, or enjoy specializing in one type of learning, as the Gemara says:
אין אדם לומד אל מקום שלבו חפץ.
Says Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, in the sefer Mussarei Kletzk (a compilation of essays on Mussar from the prewar Yeshiva In Kletzk, Europe)on page 414::
Just like we see that in the physical body, people have talents for a job, so too in spirituality. G-d put into us a tendency; something that pulls us toward the area that will be- in his words-
עקר הצלחתו
Our main success-our main way of reaching perfection. That is where a person will see success- כפי שרש נשמתו Based on the roots of his soul.
Everyone has something to do. One rabbi may be great in halacha while another is great in spreading Emunah. These are tendencies a person has. He has to follow his inner compass. And this is not just for rabbis. It goes for everyone. People have talents. If a person can write well, their spiritual job might be to transcribe classes for a daily email. Some people may use their listening skills to help people. Others have an ability to help resolve business conflicts. They are great negotiators or mediators. It’s not a coincidence. It’s a G-d-given talent. They should use these G-d given talents to help with shalom bayit, business issues or other areas of hessed. And there are great people in our community doing so.
People often wonder: Aside from my job, what is my community service supposed to be? They aren’t sure where to start. The answer is, it’s built into us. We have to listen to ourselves to see it. Of course, we all have to do all 613 mitzvot. We can’t leave anything out. But people have within them ideas and areas of strength. There are countless wonderful organizations started by laymen with rabbinical guidance, and they do wonderful things. Regular men and women have come up with wonderful ideas and projects ranging from job-listings to Hatzalah. They start with an idea that was brought on based on their tendencies. Of course one who faints at the sight of blood probably wouldn’t start or volunteer for Hatzalah. But he has other tendencies and talents that he can use.
The Hiddush here, from Rav Chatzkel, is that just as we have an inner compass for business and for our success in the physical world, we have an inner compass for success in the spiritual world.
If we listen to ourselves and follow our hearts, we’ll discover that community job, our spiritual job- the job that will get us to Olam Habah based on our talents and tendencies.
Good luck everyone. Who knows what organization you can start or what you can do if you just follow your inner compass!?
Good luck!