(א', ב') שמעון הצדיק היה משיירי כנסת הגדולה, הוא היה אומר...
(Avos 1:2)"Shimon HaTzaddik was of the last members of the Great Assembly. He would say..."
The Bartenura comments that the expression, "He would say" implies that Shimon Hatzaddik didn't mention this idea just once; rather, he would say it all the time. The Bartenura continues that the same applies even to the Ta'anaim about whom the mishna merely says, "Rabbi Ploni said..." Rabbeinu Yonah even goes so far as to say (regarding the five disciples of Rebbi Yochanan ben Zakkai mentioned in Avos 2:10) that they would each state their particular proverb every single day! Their maxim became their motto and their mantra.
Pirkei Avos quotes proverbs from more than fifty Ta'anaim. It is remarkable to think that not only did each of these Ta'anaim have a motto; each of them lived with a unique motto. They didn't just go with the flow of those around them; they each found their own path in avodas Hashem.
While all of mankind were placed on Earth for the very same reason - to bring glory to Hashem - there are numerous ways of accomplishing this goal. This idea is crystallized by our Patriarchs who did not adopt the same approach in their avodas Hashem. While Avraham used chessed as the basis for his connection to Hashem, his son Yitzchak chose to connect through prayer and his grandson Yaakov forged his relationship via Torah learning.
Every one of the billions of people who walk the earth has a different look and each one of them has a unique fingerprint. Chazal tell us that the differences aren't limited to their external appearance: "Just as their faces are different from one another, so too, their opinions are different from one another" (Bamidbar Rabba 21:2). Every person is made up of a distinct combination of strengths, weaknesses, virtues and characteristics unique to himself. Accordingly, his purpose in life is also uniquely tailored to himself.
The Gemara (Shabbos 118b) relates that many Ta'anaim and Amoraim had a specific mitzvah that they excelled in, and the Sefer Chareidim writes that every person should follow in their ways and adopt a specific mitzvah. A prime demonstration of this idea was Rav Chaim Pinchus Scheinberg's scrupulousness regarding the mitzvah of tzitzis. He wore tens of pairs of tzitzis! In a similar vein the seforim write that each person should have one mesechta that he "acquires" to the extent that he knows it by heart. Each person is meant to take his talents and preferences and carve out his own niche in avodas Hashem.
The problem is that instead of developing and cultivating their own individuality, most people are looking over their shoulder to see what everyone else is doing. Rav Wolbe (Alei Shur vol. II p. 413) bemoans such behavior as he depicts an imaginary Heavenly courtroom scenario.
"So Chaim Yankel, why did you wear tzitzis?" questions the judge. "Well, when I was three years old my parents bought them for me and I just kept on wearing them." "OK, and why did you make brachos, wear tefillin and learn Torah?" continues the judge. "In school they taught me to make brachos, my father bought me tefillin for my bar mitzvah and my parents sent me off to learn Torah. "But what were you thinking when you performed the mitzvos?" thunders the judge. "I wasn't thinking. That's what everyone was doing and I wasn't going to be different" is his pathetic answer. Obviously, such answers are not going to get him too far.
Every person is given the ability to make a unique contribution toward enhancing Hashem's glory in the world. Cognizance of one's unique features that make up his character is the first step toward accomplishing this goal.
Ask yourself and answer: What makes me unique? What are my main strengths, weaknesses, talents and preferences? How am I utilizing these distinctive characteristics in my avodas Hashem?
Important Numbers
