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Forty Years of Fasting... In Vain? | Rabbi Uren Reich
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Categories:Torah
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The Gemara in Gittin tells us
about an extraordinary Tzaddik,
R’ Tzadok,
who lived close to 2,000 years ago,
towards the end
of the second Beis Mikdash.
And for 40 years, the Gemara says,
he fasted every day
that Yerushalayim
should not become חרב.
And the Gemara describes
how, from lack of nutrition,
he became so weak and emaciated
he couldn't afterwards
even eat regular food.
And when one looks at the Gemara,
our initial perception is,
What a Rachmanus.
He did so much so heroically,
and it was such a failure.
He fasted for 40 years
that Yerushalayim should not be חרב,
and in the end, Yerushalayim was חרב.
In the Sefer Tiferes Shlomo,
the Radomsker says,
that's not the way to look at this Gemara.
He tells us something that's
a remarkable lesson for all of us,
and he points this out.
R’ Tzadok fasted every day
that today there should
be no חורבן בית המקדש.
R’ Tzadok knew the secret
of breaking down issues
into small segments.
To be Mispallel that there should
never be a חורבן בית המקדש,
R’ Tzadok felt is too ambitious.
Take one day at a time.
Every day, for 40 years,
he was Mispallel that today there
should be no חורבן בית המקדש.
And he fasted
and he was Mispallel with an intensity
so as to push off the חורבן for one day.
With that understanding,
what initially seems
like a terrible failure,
becomes an outstanding success.
Day after day,
R’ Tzadok was successful
for 40 years.
It cost him a lot,
but he knew the secret
of taking one day at a time.
Rabosai, when we have Nisyonos,
we want to conquer the Yetzer Hara
completely, once and for all.
That's a mistake.
Don't try that, R’ Tzadok teaches us.
Take one day at a time.
Be מתפלל and be משתדל
and put your Kochos in today.
And if the whole day is too much,
break that down in segments.
This time I'm going here,
I'm going there.
This time I'm going to try
and be שלם and be an איש קדוש.
One bit at a time.
And if we go on that Derech, אם ירצה השם,
היום אם בקולו תשמעו
we’ll be zoche to be עומד בניסיונות
and to give Nachas Ruach
to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.