In his youth, R. Aharon Serebryanski was one of just a few students at a yeshivah run by his father in a small town about twenty miles outside Melbourne, Australia.
Under his father’s guidance, the yeshivah had grown steadily, albeit slowly. And while the younger Serebryanski enjoyed his role as a mentor there, he remained hopeful that he might someday travel to New York to study near the Rebbe.
Hoping to receive approval to travel to 770 and begin his studies, the ambitious student began corresponding with the Rebbe, but he was told time and again that he should remain precisely where he was, much to his disappointment.
In one exchange, the Rebbe summarized his reasons for redirecting Serebryanski’s requests, explaining that since Divine Providence had brought him to Australia, he must remain and do more work teaching Chasidut there before he was able to move on to the “more enjoyable work” of learning in 770.1
Even after achieving great success and asking once again to travel to New York, the Rebbe withheld his approval, noting that his success, along with the fact that no one else was available to replace him, suggested that R. Serebryanski had “found his mission in the world.”
“Why would you leave and travel elsewhere?” the Rebbe asked, concluding that he should not let “foreign thoughts”2 disturb the important work he was doing.
Eventually, the young rabbi was invited to 770 and was inspired and exhilarated by his experience, including a chance to meet with the Rebbe for yechidut, where he was praised for his dedicated efforts in Australia.
After returning to his relatively unfulfilling life back home, Serebryanski began to feel restless again, and on the day before Rosh Hashanah, he wrote to the Rebbe to explain that ever since experiencing the High Holidays in 770, the services in Australia left him yearning to return to Brooklyn.
Two days after Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe wrote back. Citing several relevant Chasidic discourses, he explained that Serebryanski was right about the difference between where he was and where he wanted to be, but this is a matter of perspective. Certainly, being at 770 would be a pleasure for him. But staying in Australia brings pleasure to G‑d. How could he complain?
Indeed, one of the most important clues provided to help you discern your mission in life is waiting for you right where you are. Your immediate, physical location, whether that means the place where you were born or the place where you may now find yourself, is a fundamental indicator of where you are called to invest the lion’s share of your efforts and energy.3
By reflecting on and committing to the location where Divine Providence has placed you, you are likely to come face to face with the reason you arrived there, and the role it plays in fulfilling your purpose.
An Outstanding Debt
This spiritual symbiosis is a natural product of the numerous, multidimensional resonances that develop between you and the place that shaped who you have become. You are an integral part of the place where you find yourself, even though it may be easy to take for granted. The allure of the exotic and unfamiliar often emerges from a failure to see the value we bring to the place where G‑d arranged for us to arrive and thrive.
This was the guidance offered by the Rebbe in a correspondence with a group of students at a Jewish camp in Be’er Yaakov, Israel, who asked for the Rebbe’s view on their efforts to encourage American Jewish students to immigrate to Israel.
The Rebbe replied by explaining that each student owed a spiritual debt to the community that had nurtured them into becoming upstanding young Jewish adults. It was their duty, he wrote, to pass on the good they received so that others could follow in their wake.
“...A young person with yet untapped vigor and who still needs to enter life and to be an active part of society and his surroundings must give priority to devoting himself to the community around him from which he received his potential…How much more so is this true when the society [where he was raised] is in a precarious position and when those working to establish its foundations are few in number—then it is understood that the necessity for this is [even more] profound…Only after one has repaid his debt to the place in which he was raised is he able to think about what he might do for his Jewish brethren in another place.4 5
This was the truth impressed upon Yerachmiel Glazer, who was born to a non-observant family in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised near Zambia, in the Jewish community of Ndola. The once-thriving community had dwindled significantly since its peak in the 1950s and was lacking opportunities to learn about Judaism.
In 1967, Glazer traveled to Israel to volunteer on a kibbutz. It was there that he began deepening his Jewish roots and enrolled in the yeshivah for baalei teshuvah, returnees to the traditions of Judaism, in Kfar Chabad. Two years later, he visited New York, where he had the opportunity to meet the Rebbe for the first time. Prior to his departure, Glazer sent the Rebbe a letter that included a description of the scarcity of Judaism in his hometown.
“I went into a private audience with the Rebbe,” he recalled in an interview. “The Rebbe read what I had written about my family in Zambia and my studies in Kfar Chabad. Suddenly, the Rebbe raised his holy eyes and said to me: ‘I would like you to return to Zambia and involve yourself in spreading Judaism there.’”
Glazer was visibly taken aback at this unexpected request, prompting the Rebbe to provide further instruction. The young man was to continue learning in Israel, but he was to begin writing letters home to his community with guidance about each upcoming festival to hang up on the synagogue bulletins.
Six months later, Glazer’s father asked him to return home to help with the family business. The Rebbe directed Glazer, “You should fulfill the request of your parents and visit them for a few months, and surely this will be used for the spread of Judaism.”
During his stay in Zambia, Glazer was instructed to travel around Ndola to teach the local Jewish population about Jewish practice.
Meanwhile, the Rebbe continued to send Glazer letters of support and instruction, showing the young man a level of respect usually reserved for those who were already established community leaders.6
Why would the Rebbe, whose life was marked by a strong commitment to Jewish education, deter a young man from relocating to a place that would enrich his own Jewish studies?
This was because the Rebbe believed in the providential link you share with the place where you were born, the profound responsibility you bear to the souls who reside there, and that ultimately your mission in life is wed to both.7
At Your Station
Indeed, in many encounters, the Rebbe reminded leaders who were eager to relocate to places seemingly more conducive to their personal development and quality of life that their current location is exactly where their particular mission awaits. What on the surface appeared to be an imposition was actually a privileged opportunity to release the hidden Divine sparks specifically marked for their individual soul in that particular place. If they were to depart for greener pastures, who would tend the proverbial flock and raise those resident sparks?
This was the message at the heart of a letter sent by the Rebbe to Professor Marcus Arkin, director-general of the South African Zionist Federation:
“We have seen this happen time and again, when the leaders of a community have been persuaded to make Aliyah, with the inevitable result that the community dwindled rapidly, physically, and spiritually. In a small community, the departure of a single influential member, whether a rabbi or layman, may make all the difference.”8
The Rebbe shared a more penetrating iteration of this truth with a prominent Jewish activist in the United Kingdom who wished to relocate to Israel, hoping to redirect his energies and activism toward the Holy Land.
The Rebbe strongly discouraged him, explaining:
“...Another important reason is that each and every one of us has been mobilized by Divine Providence to wage the battle for Judaism in a specific place. And it’s not for a military man to forsake his post, and all the military personnel around him and the cities on the scene that he is to defend, because he has found (in his opinion) another place where the battle is easier.”9
Again and again, the Rebbe reaffirmed the profound responsibility we bear for the place where G‑d planted us, reminding leaders and laymen alike that what we want or think we need should not be conflated with what is needed from us.
Grow Where You Are Planted
At the age of 13, Adeena Bernhard was excited to learn that her father, R. Nachman Bernhard, had chosen to relocate the family from their home in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Israel. The family had been asked to leave the country due to R. Bernhard’s vocal and stalwart opposition to apartheid.
Her excitement turned to frustration when Adeena learned that the Rebbe had intervened on behalf of their family and arranged for her father to remain. Crestfallen, she decided to write the Rebbe the following impassioned letter:
“Dear Rebbe:
“During the past nine years, my father has proved himself to be a great scholar and Torah leader. Like many other tzaddikim, he has a great wish to go and live in Eretz Yisrael… I, too, can think of nothing better than going on Aliyah to Israel. I do not want this because of the fun and excitement of moving, but because it is not like settling in just another land…it is settling in the Holy Land, a Promised Land and a Land in which you do not have to be ashamed to be a Jew.
“In Eretz Yisrael my father could still have a lot to do with saving Jewish souls, even if he were not a practicing rabbi. As a girl of thirteen who wants to see her father and family happy, I implore you please to take into consideration my feelings about living in Israel when the matter comes up…
“Sincerely, Adeena Bernhard”
The Rebbe replied:
“Miss Adeena Bernhard
“Blessings and greetings:
“First of all, I am gratified to note your concern, indeed profound concern, for your parents. This does not surprise me of course, knowing your father and your upbringing, but it is nevertheless gratifying to see it expressed in a letter.
“As for the subject matter of your letter, it is surely unnecessary to point out to you that when one thinks about the well-being of any person, including above all his inner harmony and peace, one must obviously think not in terms of the immediate days and weeks, but also how it will be in the long run. This should be the consideration in regard to all affairs, but especially so when it is a question of where to settle down.
“This is a very serious question, even when one is at the crossroads, and much more so when one has already been settled in a place and contemplates changing it. Now, with regard to your father and knowing him, I have no doubt that he could feel in his element only in a place where he can fully utilize the knowledge which he has acquired and the qualities which G‑d has bestowed upon him. That is, to utilize them in the fullest measure for the benefit of the many. By comparison with this, personal amenities—and I mean this also in a spiritual sense—are not the decisive factor, and perhaps no factor at all…
“On the basis of what has been said above, supported by what you and all the other members of the family have seen of your father’s success, not only in your city, but South Africa as a whole, you will surely realize without any shadow of a doubt that your father will feel in his element and be truly happy if he continues his present situation in your country.”10 11
In this exchange, and countless others, the Rebbe taught that there is an often-overlooked benefit to doing the work placed before us in a particular location and moment in time, even if it comes at the expense of our comfort, satisfaction, or presumed personal development. By standing firmly in the place where your Divine purpose resides, you will ultimately receive spiritual rewards that far exceed those you think may be waiting for you somewhere else with more immediate appeal. By growing where you are planted, the fruit born by your efforts will be a thousandfold, or even more.
Quiz Yourself
Do the Thought Exercise
Reflect on where Divine Providence has placed you at this juncture in your life, how you arrived there, and what role that might play in fulfilling your purpose.
Take the Challenge
Your immediate physical location is a fundamental indicator of where you are called to invest the lion’s share of your efforts and energy. Identify 1-2 ways you can invest in your current community.
Join the Discussion