Your Unique Creation Story

Michelangelo was once asked: “How are you able to create such wondrous sculptures and works of art? How can something so ingenious and innovative emanate from mere mortal hands?

Without skipping a beat, Michelangelo responded, “Before I even begin my work, the sculpture is already complete within the marble block. My job is simply to discover it and then chisel away the superfluous material.”

The potential already exists beneath the surface; the job of the artist is to discover that which is hidden within, transforming the concealed into the revealed.

Your Creation Story

This idea touches upon a deep truth in Jewish thought. Like Adam, the first man, each of us has our own unique creation story. The Talmud (Niddah 30b) explains that when you were just a fetus, you were in a perfected and transcendent state of being and an angel taught you all of Torah. You saw all of reality with a crystal-clear lens. But just before you were born, this angel struck you on the mouth, causing you to forget everything you learned.

Two obvious questions arise: Why does the angel make you forget what you’ve learned? And if he’s going to cause you to forget it, why teach it to you in the first place?

The Vilna Gaon, an 18^th century Jewish thinker, answers as follows: When the Talmud states that the fetus learns all of Torah, it doesn’t mean that you were learning the basic texts of the Five Books of Moses. Rather, it refers to the deepest realms of wisdom, a transcendent Torah that is beyond this world. This Torah is the very root of reality, and you understood every aspect of it clearly. Not only were you shown this level of Torah, but you were also learning your unique purpose in the world, and how your unique role fits into the larger scheme of the human story as a whole. You were given a taste of your own perfection, of what you could, should, and hopefully will become.

When the angel struck you, you didn’t completely lose this Torah; rather, you lost access to it, burying this state of self deep in your subconscious. The reason is as follows: What you received in the womb was a gift, unearned and undeserved. The goal of life is to rebuild all that you once were in the womb. But this time it will be real since you’ve built it yourself. Your job is not to create yourself, but rather to recreate yourself; to re-attain your original state of perfection that you were shown by the angel. But this time it will be done through your free will, by choosing to become great. Only by overcoming challenge and difficulty and asserting your will-power can you fulfill your true potential.

Learning or Recognizing?

Perhaps this is why we sometimes have a sense of recognition when we hear a deep thought or a profound insight. Instead of feeling like we are learning it for the first time, everything just clicks, as though we already knew the idea. This is because we do already know it. We’re not learning, we’re rediscovering what we already learned in the womb, what’s ingrained within us. Genuine learning isn’t about discovery or achievement; it’s about finding what already lies dormant within your subconscious, what you learned when you were in the womb. The Torah is already there; now we must invest the effort to build it and manifest it into reality.

This idea lies at the heart of the classic debate between Plato and John Locke. Locke claimed that the human mind begins as a blank slate and that a human being is then molded and imprinted upon based on everything he or she learns and experiences throughout life. Plato, however, quotes Socrates, who believed that everyone is born with the knowledge of everything but has simply lost access to it. Therefore, the job of the teacher is not to teach new material, but to help the student come to understand on his or her own what they already know deep within themselves. This is why the word “educate” comes from the Latin word which means to “take out” or “draw forth”, because teaching is nothing more than drawing out the potential that lays dormant within each student.

Like Michelangelo’s sculptures, we are perfectly formed beneath the surface. Our job is to discover who we truly are, to “chisel away the superfluous material” and express our inner and true self. Growth isn’t about becoming great, it’s about become you. You are a masterpiece covered with stone; your job in this world is to uncover yourself.

Avraham, our forefather, teaches one important step we are required to take.

Walking into the Unknown

Hashem commands Avraham to leave his home and embark on a journey, telling him, “Lech lecha – Go to yourself, from your land, your birthplace and from your father’s house…” (Bereishit 12:1). Avraham is told where to leave from, but he is not told his destination. What kind of journey lacks a destination and clear goal?

The answer lies within the words “lech lecha” – Hashem’s commandment to Avraham to go forth. The literal translation means “go to yourself”. Avraham was commanded to embark on a journey towards “himself”. In a genuine journey to the self, we don’t know the destination, we don’t know where it will take us. All we know is where we’re leaving from, where we are right now. Only once you arrive can you retroactively see where the journey was destined to take you. What you’ll find at the end of the road is a greater version of yourself, and only then will you realize what the journey was building.

 

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Shmuel Reichman is an inspirational speaker, writer, and coach who has lectured internationally at shuls, conferences, and Jewish communities on topics of Jewish Thought and Jewish Medical Ethics. He is the founder and CEO of Self-Mastery Academy (ShmuelReichman.com), the transformative online course that is revolutionizing how we engage in self-development. He is also the founder of “Think. Feel. Grow.”, a platform from which he shares inspirational Torah videos that have reached over one hundred thousand people. You can find more inspirational lectures, videos, and articles from Shmuel on his website: www.Shmuelreichman.com