A Leap of Failure

There’s no jumping or leaping really, but slow progression.
Back in early 1971, I was struggling with a lot of ‘bad’ habits or even negative family traits, and didn’t seem to be able to salvage myself at all. Then one day I had the sensation of landing at what I knew was the bottom with a “thump”. At that moment I knew that there was no way but up from there, so I was actually relieved, because I knew I wasn’t alone in my struggle. I am a veteran of the U. S. Marine Corps. and had just been released from active duty in Dec. 1970.
There has been a LOT of spiritual work to do, Kabbalah, Talmud etc. I wanted more insight into the spiritual life and the results probably show in my comments here. I realize that EVERYONE has to walk their own path, not depend on what others teach, or they will not grow very much. There is a likelihood that they will be great recordings of their teachers. But, there is still more to learn in the personal training of the Creator. Like Abraham. Reply

There’s nowhere to leap to ... I am in a pit Reply

Yesterday was Shabbos and I managed to get to shul for the first time in months.

The service was inspiring. For the closing hymn we sang Ad-n Olam and as we sang the last line--"HaShen lee v'lo eera!"--I managed to grab the back of the seat in front of me to pull to a standing position. I've been afraid since I was two years old, for good reasons. Every time I go to shul I try to mean it--HaShem is with me, I will not fear!" but yesterday as I stood up for that line, I felt joyful. Gd's love was all around.

I've been using a walker lately instead of a wheelchair. I had back surgery a few months ago and lost my appetite. At first food nauseated me but eventually I began eating normally. But I've gone from 220 lbs to 165 lbs. Everyone at the kiddush said, "You look great!" The smile possessed my face. People asked me to sit at their table.

I kept thinking, Thank you Gd. For taking away the ever-present fear.

I can't manage without the walker. But there are other kinds of leaping. Reply

Said in plain simple words but with so much meaning.
Thank you for this inspiring reminder! Reply

Leaping or Walking. The "Reb" is starting to annoy me. My Walking Stick allows me very little opportunity to leap around these days, and I don't much cotton to Failure as an opportunity.
Ha-Shem, I am becoming my Father, and I swore ... Reply

To win the race we need to crouch first. A trial of letting go of the past to proceed to the run and the finishing. Thank you.

Adele/Jogjakarta Reply

progressive failure Wow! How amazing to see this today! I have been at the bottom these last few days. It seems like the last ten years of following G-d have ended in nothing.
After prayer, two things emerged. 1. I am not defined by success or failure, only by G-d's intention and my devotion. 2. I am not the judge of His intentions or outcomes. Reply

Paradigm Shift It has been demonstrated that scientific theories maintain their integrity until many anomalies and exceptions cause it's demiss and a revolutionary new theory replaces it. example: The paradigm shift from Newtonian Mechanics in which everything is predetermined, to Quantum Mechanics which proved otherwise.

When the old way doen't "add up" anymore, there is a progressive move to total collapse, a turning point and then the new theory or system takes us to a new level of thinking or working. A 'fight' from the old world thinking finally dies and a better method is constructed and finally accepted.

Right now humanity is sitting at that 'turning point' - Our old ways of connecting with each other, the ways all our institutions and systems work are crumbling in the wake of the global world network. The Creator has forced us into this entangled state in order for us to rise to a new level of existence. Reply

Everything has meaning Forward or and moving forward is seeking the truth. Knowledge of knowing, knowing of knowledge surpasses knowledge and wisdom. Theosophy? Self-Sacrifice Everyday!

Thank you Reply

Crouch down & leap Freud called crouch down & leap the regression that precedes progression. Reply

I''m reminded of a story that the Baal Shem Tov once told about Yom Kippur ( I once heard a rabbi tell this story during Yom Kippur).

There was a poor man who was on his way to shul on a Friday erev (evening) when Yom Kippur was to begin, when a wheel on his wagon broke down, and he ran off the road into a ditch.

No matter how hard he tried, he and his horse could not get the wagon out of the ditch, and he ended up spending all of Yom Kippur in the ditch with no one to help pull him out.

At first he is despondent: "How will G-d include me for another year in the Book of Life if I am not there with the others for Yom Kippur? I have failed!".

He eventually decides though to make the best of his situation. He, in effect, being uneducated, with limited knowledge, holds his own Yom Kippur right there in the ditch, and simply does the best he can with what he knows.

They eventually find him the next evening and take him to feast: happy ending.

And things actually improved for him next year! Reply

The meaning of success Success is like an idol for so many people. It's, in effect, a 'replacement theology' for them.

They may say to themselves-'once I am successful everything will be alright', and that thought replaces their relationship with G-d.

What happens though if you are successful at something that is bad, or of the yetzer hara, or is harmful to other people?

There are many people who maybe successful at things that do not enrich the world; that are instead destructive; and the thing is that once they are successful at that particular thing, it is so hard for them to turn back from it.

Many people never consider teshuvah until everything else in their life fails. As long as they were successful at whatever it is that they were doing they remain pointed anywhere else but at G-d.

This is not to say that one cannot be successful and aspire to G-d.

For so many though it is one of the other.

I suppose the High holidays is a good time to reconsider what it means to be a success. Reply

Progressive Failure My goodness it is the first time I know my failure is not even bad! Truly the L-rd is good all the time, not just a saying, but truth He puts in the universe. That even we fail and fall He still brings us out! You all are just wonderful people who bring G-d's Word to us in such a special way. The Rebbe is so good! Reply

What I believe is, for me, every 'failure' is a backward motion in order to go forward.

Gentle as you go ... Reply

I don't get ot... ...and I usually do. Can someone help me out here? Reply

progressive failure And I still fail to understand what you mean, even though I'm a recovering addict. (or perhaps BECAUSE I am one) Are you saying it's better to just take that full leap out of your current reality or keep one foot in the past, just in case? Please explain--it's a great topic. Reply

Progressive Failure I felt very uncomfortable with this Thought for the day. When I first read it, I understood "failure" to be that leap into the future. I wondered about the "one foot in it's place as the other moves forward" and felt that this was an impossible way to ascend - or at least a very slow ascent!. I recalled a dream where I was climbing up and around in a spiral tower, trying to reach the summit. Finally becoming exhausted and not knowing if I was half way up or half way down, I decide to jump over the bannister. The outcome? I suffered a minor pain to my leg as I stood up and walked out the door into bright sunlight! This dream had a very profound effect on my life - essentially tearing me out of my current situation, which was very bad - and propelling me into a bright, new future from which I have never looked back! I believe that to "crouch down and jump" is about trusting your own judgement and believing in yourself and is the very essence of what one needs to propel oneself forward! Reply

what does this mean? Like the previous commenter, I would like to understand what is meant by this article.

Thank you, Reply

Hello Rabbi. I greatly respect your endeavors. Could you perhaps provide an example to the "Thought of the day: Progressive Failure"? Shalom. Reply