“Falling as Part of the Path”

A person who seriously tries to work on himself quite soon runs into an unpleasant fact: effort does not guarantee flawlessness. One can sincerely strive for decency, discipline and spiritual life — and still slip, make mistakes, fall back into old habits. At that moment many people have a hidden thought: perhaps something is wrong with me. Perhaps I am not capable of steady growth.

The book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) says: “For there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin” (7:20). This is not a justification of weakness but a statement about how man is made. Error is built into the process of development. A person does not move in a straight line.

From this follows the first important conclusion: the problem is not that a person falls. The problem begins when he draws a final conclusion about himself from the fall.

In Jewish tradition despair is regarded as a stance that contradicts human nature itself. One of the thinkers of the nineteenth century, Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, drew attention to the story of Isaac’s birth. Abraham and Sarah were of advanced age. By all natural reckoning they could not have children. Even when they were told of the future birth of a son, their reaction was a smile — not joy but disbelief. Isaac’s birth took place after human hope had been completely exhausted.

The meaning of this event, as Rav Tzadok explains, lies not only in the miracle. It establishes a principle: a situation that looks closed is not necessarily closed. A person may see a dead end, but his perspective is limited. This is not a call to naivety but a reminder of the limits of human calculation.

In another of his works the same Rav Tzadok formulates a more general principle: the possibility of growth presupposes the possibility of falling. This is the difference between man and angel. In Jewish thought an angel is a being without free choice. Its level is fixed. Man, however, is in motion. The prophet Zechariah conveys God’s words: if a person walks in the ways of the Creator, he will be granted “to walk among those who stand.” The sages explain: angels are called “those who stand,” man is “one who walks.” He either rises or descends, but he does not stay in place.

If the possibility of falling is removed, the possibility of moving upward disappears as well. Stasis is not safety but the absence of development. The book of Mishlei (Proverbs) says: “A righteous man falls seven times and rises” (24:16). This verse is usually read as praise of resilience: despite his falls, a person remains righteous. But Rav Yitzchak Hutner, in one of his letters, offers a different perspective: it is precisely through falls that the one who is ultimately called righteous is formed. Not in spite of the falls, but in the process of overcoming them.

It is important to understand this correctly. It is not about seeking out mistakes or justifying weakness. We are not encouraged to create trials for ourselves deliberately. What is more, in the daily prayer a person asks not to be put to difficult tests. But if a test has already come, the question is a different one: what will I do with it?

Every trial requires inner resources. But at the same time it forms those resources. A person who has never faced a serious inner struggle often knows neither his weaknesses nor his strengths. A fall sometimes lays bare the real state of affairs. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz noted in his talks that sometimes a person is allowed to stumble so that he can see himself without illusions. In ordinary routine much is smoothed over. A mistake can shake a person up and show where the chosen path really leads.

In Jewish tradition the process of returning after a mistake is called teshuvah — literally “return.” It is not only regret but a change of direction. The mistake becomes a turning point. If a person honestly admits it, takes responsibility and corrects his behavior, he comes out of the situation stronger than he was before it.

The practical principle here is universal. No one can guarantee that you will not fall. Something else can be guaranteed: if after a fall you analyze it, learn the lesson and correct your actions, the next level will be higher than the previous one.

Despair says: “This is the end, you are not capable.” Maturity says: “This is part of the path; work it through and keep going.”