This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Glimpsing Into Adam’s Book

·46 min·4 clips

Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe reveals how every person's unique soul has a specific mission, but finding it is a serious thinker's problem.

Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe begins by framing the episode around a core existential problem: how serious individuals can find their unique, God-given mission in life, distinct from universal commandments like the 613 mitzvot. He explains that in antiquity, prophets revealed these personal missions, but prophecy ceased with the Second Temple. Wolbe then introduces the 'Book of the Chronicles of Adam' from Genesis 5:1, a Talmudic concept that lists all future generations and their roles. He cites examples: Adam saw entries for Rabbi Akiva and David, with Adam gifting 70 years of his life to David. The book is shown to have practical uses, such as when God showed it to Moses to designate Bezalel as the builder of the tabernacle, based on Bezalel's specific skills. Another example is the sage Shmuel, who saw his entry indicating he would be wise but not ordained as a rabbi. Wolbe addresses the inaccessibility of the book, noting only Adam, Moses, and Shmuel are recorded as having seen it. He proposes a workaround: individuals can 'glimpse' their entry by analyzing their unique skills, talents, and shortcomings, as these reflect their destined mission. The episode draws on Midrashic and Talmudic sources, including Exodus 31 and 35, to illustrate how skills correlate with missions. Wolbe emphasizes that this process requires self-awareness and reflection, offering a method for modern seekers to find clarity. He concludes by encouraging listeners to blaze individualized paths, integrating this insight with broader Jewish teachings.

As heard by us

A Midrashic meditation on vocation, Bezalel, and the unique role each person is created to fulfill.

This piece takes up a serious question: how does a person find the path, mission, role, or task the Almighty created them for? Its argument is that every individual is entirely unique, so there are shared responsibilities for all and also a specific work that each person alone…

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Your next Torah hour may help you think about why one person is the right person for the job, with the book of Adam in the background.

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