Life’s Purpose

I was once taught a little insight about discovering one's purpose in this world. Our purpose is comprised of two major factors in our lives:

1) The thing that is most difficult for me 

2) The thing that is easiest for me

When we combine our greatest weakness with our greatest strength, we can work towards becoming our greatest selves. I was pondering about an example of this to learn from. And Moshe Rabbeinu came to mind. Of course, Moshe is credited to being an איש אלקים, a man of G-d, and the עבד ה׳, servant of G-d. One of the greatest humans to ever walk the planet in all of history, who of course reached his ultimate potential and perfection. If we’re going to learn about becoming our best selves by fulfilling our greatest purpose on earth, who greater to look to than Moshe?! Let’s look back at Moshe’s life and examine what was most difficult for him and what was his strength.

The Torah tells us in Sefer Shemot how Moshe declined to accept taking the Jews out of Egypt, ״לא איש דברים אנכי״, “I am not a man of words.” Moshe has difficulty with speaking and feels he can’t communicate with his speech the way it is necessary in order to lead the Jews out. We are familiar with the Midrash which tells of baby Moshe sitting on Pharaoh's lap. When presented with the choice of a crown or hot coals, the angel Michael pushed Moshe’s finger towards the hot coals, so Pharaoh would not worry that Moshe is the future redeemer of Benei Yisrael. Moshe places his hot finger in his mouth and burns his tongue, thereby causing himself to have a speech impediment. 

Moshe admits to Hashem I am not a man of words. I can’t take them out. I can’t talk to the king, I certainly can’t talk to the people, they won’t hear me. We see from this that Moshe’s most difficult challenge was that of speech, words. Well, we know what happens next. Moshe goes into Egypt and with assistance from his brother Aharon, they become the messengers of Hashem to the most powerful man on earth, Pharaoh. The ten plagues, the exodus, the splitting of the sea, Matan Torah and of course through 40 years in the desert, Moshe is the one true leader. The entire nation learns from him the words of Hashem. And his teachings are still taught to us today, 3000 years later. The words he feared he could never say, the words he feared would never be heard, are everlasting. They are eternally imprinted in our DNA. 

Before the death of Moshe we read the fifth book of the Torah, the book of “Debarim.” This book is basically a speech that Moshe gives to the nation before he dies. It’s a summary of all their history and a reaffirmation of Hashem's Torah to us; His expectations, His reward and punishment. Moshe is using his words to convey Hashem's words, he is setting us up, strengthening our path forward after he is gone. He goes from לא איש דברים אנכי to an entire book of debarim, words. 

We can learn a great lesson here from Moshe. What seems to be most difficult for us can be our greatest accomplishment in our lifetime. It can elevate us to accomplish much and can be the greatest source of fulfilling our purpose.

Note to self: let’s not limit our potential by letting difficult things stop us from doing what must be done. Difficult does not mean impossible. It means that it won’t be easy, that it will take focus, consistency, mental awareness, pushing ourselves to reach whatever our target is, and mostly leaning on Hashem. Imagine Moshe won that argument with Hashem. Imagine he said, I can’t speak and Hashem says ok, you’re right, no problem. Where would Moshe be today and where would we be today?

Moshe’s greatest strength. Moshe had many. Far be it from me to know and say what his greatest strength was. But I would like to discuss one important strength. Moshe had tremendous empathy. His heart was outside of himself. His focus was on others. When he was in the king's palace in Egypt we are told Moshe went out to see his brothers. Why? If I was the king's son, leaving the palace, the most luxurious place on earth of that time, would be the furthest thing from my mind. But Moshe understood something was not right. He felt the suffering of other human beings to the point that it was as if he was enduring that same suffering. Moshe went out and saw how the Egyptians were abusing the Jews, he also witnessed Jews abusing their own. He couldn’t take it, he had to step in and right the wrongs, even if it meant risking his entire fortune and family. 

Moshe escapes to Midyan and again feels the pain of his father in law Yitro's daughters at the well. He sees their pain as other shepards try to take advantage of them, and Moshe takes action. He confronts every situation, he doesn’t turn away. He can’t. And then as a shepherd the pain Moshe felt for the sheep who went astray because he was thirsty. Moshe has a natural empathy towards Hashem's creations. He understands and feels the pain that others feel and he springs into action to help, to soften their load, to unburden them. 

This very quality is a key ingredient to the leader of a nation. It is obvious that Moshe is chosen by Hashem to lead his children, knowing he has chosen the right man for the job. A man who will not only teach but who will nurture and care and love them, he will fight any powers to help ease their pain. He will feed them and quench their thirst by bringing them water, he will deliver the word of Hashem to them and build them. 

Moshe uses his strength of empathy to build his difficulty of speech, he needs both to succeed in his role. He needs both to become his best self. He needs both to fulfill the word of Hashem and he needs both to fulfill his ultimate purpose and perfection in this world. 

Note to self: our greatness, our perfection, our potential, all lies in that which we know to be the most difficult thing for us to do and the thing that comes easy and naturally for us to do. Let’s recognize who we are. Let’s be honest about what is hard and what is easy and how we can combine them both to achieve greatness. And let’s remember Moshe and his journey, let us remember how he turned his most difficult challenge to become his greatest asset, and how his strongest asset boosted him up to get there.