A young man named Meir Bastomsky once visited the Rebbe in search of guidance regarding his professional future. He had invested much time in training to become a mechanical engineer, but he remained unsure that this path was for him.
The Rebbe advised, “If financial matters are not your main concern, then choose a career in education.”
Meir was initially taken aback by the Rebbe’s answer; after all, it seemed like such a waste to abandon all the effort he had put into his previous training. But the Rebbe’s words reminded him that in high school, Israeli psychometric examinations had shown that he had a natural aptitude and was more drawn to humanities than to science.
Summarizing the impact of the Rebbe’s advice, Meir recalled in an interview:
“The Rebbe understood that I was more suited for education than engineering. I learned that for financial gain, a person may find himself working in a profession that does not fit his natural talents and makeup. He might have economic satisfaction but not emotional satisfaction. Only when a person works in a realm that truly suits him will he feel that he is fulfilling his true mission in this world. This insight changed my life. The Rebbe revealed to me that my life’s mission—and indeed my emotional wholeness—lay in a profession that was more spiritual. How right he was!”1
In a world driven by the pursuit of material gain, status, and power, it’s all too common to bypass our own personalities and passions in deciding what to do with our lives. But as the Rebbe counseled countless times, there are few more important or reliable indicators of your Divine purpose than the natural passions and personality that G‑d gave you.
Without these critical indications to guide us, it is easy to be mesmerized and misled by opportunities that do not suit us. As we become lost in a sea of possibilities, we can drift far from the purpose that is meant for us.
This was precisely the point of advice provided by the Rebbe to a rabbi who was keen to become an emissary of Chabad. Having received invitations to several enticing shlichut opportunities, he wrote a letter to the Rebbe describing the various positions that had been offered to him, and he asked for guidance in making his final choice.
In response to the diverse array of proposals the young man presented, the Rebbe asked, “How is it possible for one person to be suited to all of the above positions, which vary completely?”2
The Rebbe then explained that when a person is trying to settle on a vocation, he ought to first consider what he is most suited to, what he is capable of, and what is most practical given his natural aptitudes and inclinations. From this place of inner alignment, one is more able to clearly discern when an opportunity is suited to their purpose.
The Rebbe impressed this truth upon Jewish law student Michael Tabor, who had been invited by his friend, R. Shmuel Lew, to visit 770, during which time he was given an opportunity to meet the Rebbe. During his one-on-one, he mentioned that his two great passions were chamber music and Chasidic melodies, and that he was a proud leader of the orchestra at the London School of Economics. He also mentioned that he would wear his yarmulke when playing, but he still felt a bit guilty that he was indulging his love of music instead of studying Torah.
“Isn’t it a waste of time?” he asked the Rebbe.
The Rebbe answered, “If you feel that music is important to you, then focus on that. You have a gift—so put it to good use. But while you’re in the orchestra, do more than just play….I want you to go out of your way to influence the non-Jews there to live life according to the Seven Noahide Laws.”
Later, when interviewed about the encounter, Michael recalled, “I could have fallen right through the floor. Here was the Rebbe in New York worrying about the morality and spiritual lives of non-Jews playing in a school orchestra in London.”3
Indeed, the Rebbe often challenged the entrenched assumption that one’s passions are somehow opposed to a life of religious devotion.
For example, when Eli Lipsker was a student in the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Brooklyn, he played music enthusiastically as a hobby. His school’s administrators, however, frowned on his extracurriculars, fearing they would come at the expense of his studies. Their concern about his divided focus later came to a head when Eli was caught skipping school to attend classes at the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan. At that point, they began the process of expelling Eli from the yeshivah. Customarily, however, no student was expelled unless the dean received the Rebbe’s approval.
When the dean went to see the Rebbe to discuss Eli’s case, he was surprised when the Rebbe asked him whether the yeshivah had provided Eli an allowance to help cover costs of music lessons outside of yeshivah hours!
Eli would go on to achieve musical renown, with his celebrated children’s choir regularly performing at events in the local community. In fact, Eli, whom the Rebbe would come to refer to warmly as “my musician,” would often perform at rallies and gatherings held at 770, and he led the main services there during the High Holidays.4
With customary insightfulness, the Rebbe recognized the Hand of G‑d in these young men’s love of music, teaching them that serving G‑d and following their dreams were not mutually exclusive. Quite the contrary—their dreams and passions were G‑d’s way of pointing them toward the souls and circumstances that were intrinsic to their unique purpose waiting to be fulfilled.
Follow Your Heart
In addition to looking at our personal passions and proclivities, another way to discover our purpose in life is to identify and follow the pull of causes that resonate deeply in our souls. For, according to spiritual teaching, those resonances were planted in your soul by G‑d to lead you to the broken parts of the world you are intended to mend.
Shavi Slodowitz had found her spiritual home in Brownsville, New York, at Bais Rikvah, a Chabad school. She met the Rebbe for the first time when she was twelve years old, and he immediately became a beacon on her spiritual journey.
One Friday, while walking in Brooklyn, Shavi encountered a stray kitten that had been abandoned and left crying in the street. Shavi had always been obsessed with animals and often brought home strays, to her parents’ frustration. Despite the threat of her parents’ disapproval, she picked up the kitten and continued on her way home. As she walked, Shavi encountered the Rebbe, who looked at her and the kitten, broke out in a huge smile, and warmly wished her: “Gut Shabbo s!”
“I was in heaven,” Shavi later recalled in an interview. “I ran home and told my mother that, no matter what happened, I was going to care for this kitten. I felt that my feelings for animals had been legitimized by the Rebbe’s response.”
Several years later, Shavi got involved in publishing her high school’s yearbook and was invited by her principal to write an article in Hebrew.
“My initial response was, ‘I can’t write in English, let alone Hebrew!,’” she recounted. “So I refused. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and offered me all kinds of incentives, but I was a very stubborn girl and held my ground.”
Shortly thereafter, in a private audience with the Rebbe, he asked Shavi how school was going, and she mentioned the conflict over her refusal to write the article.
The Rebbe replied, “There must be some subject that you care deeply about and would want to make the effort to write about.”
“What I have strong feelings for are animals,” she replied.
“Then why don’t you write about tzaar baalei chayim, the commandment not to be cruel to animals,” he suggested.
Driven by the Rebbe’s inspiring suggestion, Shavi wrote an article about all the instances in which the Torah stresses the importance of being kind to animals.
The Rebbe’s validating guidance set Shavi on a lifelong path of caring for animals in her professional and personal lives. Commenting on the Rebbe’s profound impact on the course of her life, she said:
“I have worked for the RSPCA and was a parrot breeder for many years. Now that I have retired from education, I spend my time caring for other people’s animals and educating people how animals can help disabled children and the elderly as a very effective form of therapy.
“Looking back, I have to say that the Rebbe definitely raised my self-esteem and self-awareness, and he also shaped my unusual life and the way I perceive things. He had an amazing ability to motivate me—just as he has motivated many people—and encourage me to do things I never thought I was capable of or even wanted to do. Being able to tap into each individual’s uniqueness, and to advise and guide them accordingly is what made the Rebbe so great. To have had the privilege to be one of those individuals is what I will always be grateful for.”5
The Rebbe often reoriented people toward their purpose by shining a light on their unique abilities and where and how they might be matched to the needs around them.
A notable example of this illuminating influence was shared by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in the following reflection on his life’s journey:
“I did not want to be a rabbi at the beginning of my career. I had an aspiration to be an economist. I had an aspiration to be a lawyer. I had a dream of being an academic. I didn’t think of becoming a rabbi until really quite late. I was very conscious that we were short of rabbis. That’s what needed to be done. But I never saw that that’s what I wanted to do until [the Rebbe] lit that little spark, that flame in me, and all of a sudden what I wanted to do became what needed to be done, and so I became a rabbi.”6
Summing up the wisdom he received from the Rebbe, R. Sacks concluded:
“Where what you want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where G‑d wants you to be.”
Whatever your personality, passions, or pursuits, know that you were crafted perfectly to fulfill the role you are here to play. Whatever external opportunities beckon in your search for purpose, remember to look first at, and into, yourself, your unique strengths, truest desires, gifts, passions, and cherished pastimes. Take the time to feel their gravity, because they are drawing you gently toward your life’s greatest purpose and possibilities.
Quiz Yourself
Do the Thought Exercise
Identify 2-3 areas in which you show natural aptitude. How are you using those gifts to benefit others?
Take the Challenge
Choose one talent you haven’t tapped into yet. Take one step towards engaging with it.
Join the Discussion