“Everyone has a special gift in some particular field of endeavor, and in that field is called on to make a special contribution.
The Sages say that in addition to keeping all the commandments, one should choose a single observance in which to be particularly scrupulous and diligent—“more careful,” in the words of the Talmud.
In this choice, one can be guided by the promptings of one’s own heart and inclinations.
As the masters of Mussar (moral education) said, one who has a talent for cutting precious stones should not be a lumberjack, for to do so would be to spurn a gift bestowed by the Creator.”
--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From “The Relation to the Past,” p. 55 in Teshuvah by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Drawing by Hans Guggenheim at a lecture by Rabbi Steinsaltz at the JFK Library
