Saturday, June 19, 2010

Seven Times

I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.

Tony Robbins


The famous pasuk says "sheva yipol tzaddik vi'kam" - A tzaddik falls seven time and rises. The sefarim teach us that this does NOT mean that DESPITE the fact that a tzaddik continuously falls spiritually, he gets up again. Rather it means that BECAUSE he falls seven times, he becomes the tzaddik he is [I discuss this idea here].

Why SEVEN times? There are various approaches.

Today after davening a friend approached me and shared that he recently read that a study was conducted and it was found that before people keep their new-years resolutions, they will first fail SEVEN times. So seven is an exact number.

So sweetest friends - if you failed you are on the road to perfection:).