“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and become wise” (Proverbs 6:6)
What do we know about an ant? We know one thing for certain: it is not lazy. It is always working, always moving. Just thinking about such perpetual motion—back and forth—is enough to make one feel faint.
Rav Avraham Genechovsky, may the memory of the righteous be a blessing (head of the Tchebin–Kochav MiYaakov yeshiva), says: “Do not dismiss the ant; there is something wonderful about it. An ant needs to climb to a certain height. It tries—and falls. It nearly makes it up again—and falls. Again and again. But the ant never gives up!” The ant is not lazy, oh no! But that is not even the point. It is simply a fighter, a true warrior.
And most of all—it never gives up!
What can we compare this to? In the portion of Vayelech in the holy Torah, there is this verse: “Is it not because there is no G-d in my midst that these troubles have befallen me?” (Deuteronomy 31:17).
A Jew sometimes thinks that he has committed so many sins that there is no longer any room within him for the Almighty—in other words, there is no hope of improvement. And even if these are not sins, there may be shortcomings that keep a person from feeling he measures up. But if a person tells himself, “There is no G-d within me,” he does what he wants rather than what is written in the Torah. And then he gives up on himself: “Because there is no G-d within me, these troubles have befallen me.” Nothing could be worse.
Rav Bunim of Peshischa says something remarkable. Further on in the portion of Vayelech, it is written: “But I will hide My face on that day because of all the evil he has done…” (Deuteronomy 31:18).
The Almighty is not within me because I think that all the troubles in my life are due to the wrongs I have committed. My sorrows are the consequence of my actions.
I am not suggesting that we commit wrongs and violate what is written in the Torah if we have already made a mistake. On the contrary, even if, G-d forbid, we have stumbled and done something improper, Rav Bunim of Peshischa says that even then we should not despair. The Almighty will not abandon a person, even if he has sinned.
It is precisely because of this very thought that G-d could abandon a person that the Almighty becomes angry and “hides His face.”
For it is written that the Holy One, blessed be He, says, “I am with him in distress” (Psalms 91:15), and it is also written: “A Jew, even though he has sinned, is still a Jew” (Sanhedrin 44a).
What a wonderful thought! If I were not Jewish, I would convert for this reason alone: the Almighty never abandons me! Even when I behave badly, even when I sin, He is always with me! After all, He created me; He knows my evil inclination. He knows that I am only human. A person can fall in any endeavor—from earliest childhood, when a child learning to walk may lose his balance and fall. It is the same in any process: I walk, I may fall, then I get up and, having learned from experience, walk more carefully. This happens throughout life.
A person learns from mistakes, falling and getting up, continuing along the path.
The author of Chiddushei HaRim writes: “Why do we say after Yom Kippur, ‘Forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned’? After all, we spent all of Yom Kippur praying, fasting, and asking for forgiveness. We have not yet had time to sin! It is a day of great purity! We are likened to angels! So why should we ask for forgiveness again?! In fact, however, it is possible that for a fraction of a second we thought, ‘What if the Almighty has still not forgiven me? After all, Yom Kippur is only one day, and I have committed so many sins that there is no forgiveness, no chance.’ It is precisely for this that we must ask the Creator's forgiveness immediately after Yom Kippur.”
So will we really fall and never get up? Will we really despair?
This very thought—that the Almighty is always with me, despite my behavior, my sins, and my wrongdoing—became my springboard for spiritual growth. After all, if G-d is always with me, always near, even when I fall, I will not want to fall! I want only to grow! I want to be a fighter, like the little ant, which may look small but possesses tremendous strength of spirit.
My wish for us all is that we never despair! May the sense of the Almighty's closeness give us all strength!
Translated and adapted by Mrs. Zissi Skarzhinskaya