The Soul That Was Meant for Peshat
When Rav Moshe Alshich begged to learn Kabbalah, the Arizal revealed that his soul's mission lay elsewhere, and a sleepless Shabbos eve proved it.
A story ofRav Yitzchak Luria (the Arizal)רבי יצחק לוריא אשכנזי (האר״י הקדוש)Profile ›
It is told that when word of the Arizal's teaching spread through Tzfas, Rav Moshe Alshich longed to join his circle. He saw others drawn close, and he felt passed over. One day he came, wept, kissed the hem of the Arizal's garment, and asked what he had done wrong that he was not accepted like Rav Chaim Vital and Rav Yitzchak Falcon.
The Arizal answered gently. In an earlier life, he said, the Alshich's soul had already mastered the hidden Torah. This time it had come to explain the plain meaning of the Torah to Klal Yisroel. Seeing that his words were not enough, the Arizal offered a sign. The next day he would pass along the road with his students to welcome Shabbos. If the Alshich saw them, then the Arizal was merely making excuses. If he did not, then the Arizal spoke the truth.
The Alshich bought food for Shabbos, put on his Shabbos clothes, and sat at the roadside by midday, watching the path. A deep tiredness settled on him, and he slept. The Arizal and his students passed right by without his noticing. Afterward the Arizal sent a few students back to wake him, lest he lie there alone and exposed.
Startled and embarrassed, the Alshich understood. The Arizal told him to stop troubling himself about Kabbalah and to put his energy into his own seforim, promising that they would become known across the world and be learned for generations. From then on the Alshich turned to that task, and his commentary on the Torah is still studied today.
Source: Shivchei HaAri (Toldos HaAri), the account of Rav Moshe Alshich; the Chida, Shem HaGedolim, Ma'arechess Gedolim, entry on the Alshich, records the same ruling that his soul came for derush and not sod.
Many of us quietly envy the calling or talents of someone else, and wonder why we were not given the same. Today, write down two or three things that come naturally to you and that other people seem to value: perhaps explaining clearly, listening patiently or fixing what is broken. Choose one and use it for someone this week. The Alshich teaches that a task fitted to your soul is not a lesser one, and that giving your full effort to your own path is how you serve Hashem best.