DECEMBER 30 • 2021 | 43

boom, most businesses flourish. In the
first months after a general election, the
successful leader carries with him or her
the charisma of victory. In the first year,
most marriages are happy. It takes no
special skill to succeed in good times.
But then the climate changes.
Eventually it always does. That is when
many businesses, and politicians, and
marriages fail. There are times when
even the greatest people stumble. At such
moments, character is tested. The great
human beings are not those who never
fail. They are those who survive failure,
who keep on going, who refuse to be
defeated, who never give up or give in.
They keep trying. They learn from every
mistake. They treat failure as a learning
experience. And from every refusal to
be defeated, they become stronger, wiser
and more determined. That is the story of
Moses’ life in both parshah Shemot and
parshah Vaera.

GREAT LEADERS
Jim Collins, one of the great writers on
leadership, puts it well: “The signature
of the truly great versus the merely
successful is not the absence of difficulty,
but the ability to come back from
setbacks, even cataclysmic catastrophes,
stronger than before … The path out of
darkness begins with those exasperatingly
persistent individuals who are
constitutionally incapable of capitulation.
It’s one thing to suffer a staggering defeat
… and entirely another to give up on
the values and aspirations that make the
protracted struggle worthwhile. Failure is
not so much a physical state as a state of
mind; success is falling down and getting
up one more time, without end.”
Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner once wrote a
powerful letter to a disciple who had
become discouraged by his repeated
failure to master Talmudic learning: “
A
failing many of us suffer is that when
we focus on the high attainments of
great people, we discuss how they are
complete in this or that area, while
omitting mention of the inner struggles
that had previously raged within them.
A listener would get the impression that
these individuals sprang from the hand

of their creator in a state of perfection
… The result of this feeling is that when
an ambitious young man of spirit and
enthusiasm meets obstacles, falls and
slumps, he imagines himself as unworthy
of being ‘planted in the house of God’
(Ps. 92:13) … Know, however, my dear
friend, that your soul is rooted not in
the tranquility of the good inclination,
but in the battle of the good inclination
… The English expression, ‘Lose a battle
and win the war,’ applies. Certainly
you have stumbled and will stumble
again, and in many battles you will fall
lame. I promise you, though, that after
those losing campaigns you will emerge
from the war with laurels of victory on
your head … The wisest of men said,
‘
A righteous man falls seven times,
but rises again.’ (Proverbs 24:16) Fools
believe the intent of the verse is to teach
us that the righteous man falls seven
times and, despite this, he rises. But the
knowledgeable are aware that the essence
of the righteous man’s rising again is
because of his seven falls.”
Rabbi Hutner’s point is that greatness
cannot be achieved without failure. There
are heights you cannot climb without first
having fallen.
For many years, I kept on my desk
a quote from Calvin Coolidge, sent by
a friend who knew how easy it is to be
discouraged. It said: “Nothing in this

world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not: Nothing is more common
than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is
almost a proverb. Education will not:
The world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are
omnipotent.”
I would only add, “And seyata
diShmaya, the help of Heaven.” God never
loses faith in us, even if we sometimes
lose faith in ourselves.
The supreme role model is Moses, who,
despite all the setbacks chronicled in last
week’s parshah and this week’s, eventually
became the man of whom it was said that
he was “120 years old when he died, yet
his eyes were undimmed and his energy
unabated.” (Deut. 34:7)
Defeats, delays and disappointments
hurt. They hurt even for Moses. So
if there are times when we, too, feel
discouraged and demoralized, it is
important to remember that even the
greatest people failed. What made them
great is that they kept going. The road to
success passes through many valleys of
failure. There is no other way.

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was chief

rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of

the Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teachings are

available at rabbisacks.org. This essay was written

on Jan. 11, 2021.

DEFEATS, DELAYS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS
HURT. THEY HURT EVEN FOR MOSES. SO
IF THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE, TOO, FEEL
DISCOURAGED AND DEMORALIZED, IT IS
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT EVEN THE
GREATEST PEOPLE FAILED. WHAT MADE
THEM GREAT IS THAT THEY KEPT GOING. THE
ROAD TO SUCCESS PASSES THROUGH MANY

VALLEYS OF FAILURE. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

— RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS