"Gedolei Yisroel Mi'Shaar Habachurim Zulasi Yitzmachu"

In Chovos HaTalmidim, the Piatzetzner Rebbe points out that every person has a responsibilty to become one of the leaders of the next generation. He explains; You might think "Gedolei Yisroel Mi'Shaar Habachurim Zulasi Yitzmachu," that there will be great leaders even if I accomplish nothing, that so far the world has existed without me doing anything important, so I have no need to start now.

Of course, this is ridiculous, for many reasons. The reason that the Piatzetzner explains is that if everyone thinks that others will lead the next generation if they do not, no-one will be prepared, and there will not be anyone. Of course, this still leaves us with the same question; while it may be important that somebody becomes the next R. Pam, or R. Moshe, you may think it is still a bit ridiculous, for wahtever reasons, to say that it could be you.

I mean, at the very least I know myself; I'm lazy alot, I don't concentrate well, I distract others,I'm a ba'al gaiva and a ba'al ka'as too. It reads like a list of the traits that one cannot have if they want to be a Talmid Chacham! Even if someone is going to be the next R. Elyashiv, isn't it a bit silly to say that it will be me?

Which brings us to the point; I will never be "the next R. Moshe." I will never be "the next" anything at all, and if I tried to be, I would fail. All I can ever be is myself. How do I know this? Doesn't it contradict everything that the Chovos HaTalmidim says? The answer, since I phrased it this way, is clearly supposed to be that it doesn't and we simply need to see what was intended, but I think thats a bit of a simplistic answer, and deserves a bit more explanation.

The starting point here is at the very beginning; Ma'aseh Bereshis. (Don't worry. No Kaballah here.) When Hashem created the world, he designed it with a certain amount a chaos, which resulted in all sorts of wonderful things. One consequence is that, whether you know molecular biochemistry or simply look around yourself, everyone agrees that all people are different. To emphasize, I will repeat that; All people are different from one another. Everyone.

If I say that I want to be the next R. Moshe, I am clearly using a figure of speech. I will never be "another R. Moshe." To think I could be is insulting to who R. Moshe was (something we can barely even comprehend.) I could be myself, and that, at least, seems like an attainable goal. The question is, where does that leave the Chovos HaTalmidim?

Going back to where we started, the subject of ma'aseh bereshis, the fact that Hashem created people different from one another is a dead give-away that they are not intended to attempt ot copy one another. In fact, it's a bit ridiculous. The fact that he created us at all, however, makes every human being uniquely important.

I will never be anything more than myself; the problem is, I could certainly end up being much less. I will never be R. Moshe, but if I'm the person I can become, I can certainly accomplish as much with my life. The thought that there might be no gedolei hador in 50 years because everyone was lazy is a horrible one, but the thought of facing Hashem for the lack in the world that was caused simply by me not being the person I could have become, in alot of ways, is a much scarier one.