Are You a Tzaddik? | Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer

The pasuk in Mishlei says, Seven times a Tzaddik falls, but he gets up again, he rises. It's a very reassuring and beautiful sentiment, that we could fail, we could mess up, we could fall, and yet prevail. But the Ralbag, Rav S’adya Gaon and the Iben Ezra, they say that the number 7 is not literal. It's figurative. Which means that it doesn't mean that he falls seven times. It means that he falls many, many, many times. So I ask you: Is that a Tzaddik? Somebody who fails, somebody who falls, somebody who messes up so many times? A Tzaddik is someone who's impeccable, who's flawless, who's pure, someone living in a castle. Someone who falls so many times is a Tzaddik? Perhaps it should say, What kind of Tzaddik is this who keeps on falling? When Avraham Avinu was petitioning and begging Hashem for the residents of Sodom, he says, Will you really destroy the Tzaddik together with the Rasha? Who was Avraham kidding? What kind of Tzaddik would live in decadent and immoral Sodom? Says the משך חכמה that a Tzaddik is not who we think it is. A Tzaddik is not that impeccable, flawless, pure person necessarily. A Tzaddik is someone who struggles. A Tzaddik is someone who has to battle. A Tzaddik is someone who's got to fight. The Tzaddik is somebody who lives perhaps even in Sodom. He walks the streets, he sees sights, he has a temptation, he has the challenge. But he decides to fight, to go against the nature. Avraham was saying, I myself am a Ba’al Teshuva, says Avraham. For decades I fought the battle. Perhaps there’s someone in Sodom who's living there, who's subjected to all the bad, but he decides to go against it. That's the Tzaddik. Every person has to choose. There's always two צדדים. There's always two sides. What side am I going to be on? What stance am I going to take? Am I going to stand for the pure and the good, or am I going to fall and am I going to capitulate and succumb? Look at the word צדיק. In the word צדיק there are four letters. צד”י-דל”ת is the צד, choosing the right side, choosing not to look, choosing to protect, choosing not to give in. יו”ד stands for the Nisyonos. Avraham had 10 Nisyonos. The Ar”i z”l says: We all inherited the Nisyonos. We all have multiple Nisyonos throughout our lives. But if you choose the צד that's right, And the יו”ד, you're courageous. You try to get through the Nisyonos, even though you may fail sometimes, but you keep on getting up. Then קו”ף, when Avraham Avinu was 100 years old, he was blessed with a miracle. He had Yitzchak, he had a child. When we take the right צד, we get through all the Nisyonos, the 10 Nisyonos, קו”ף, we merit, like Avraham did, to have a miracle.