In this week’s Parasha, the Torah describes how Yitzhak tries to dig a well and it doesn't work, and they fight about another well and doesn't work, and they fight about it. What is the lesson of this?
The Chafetz Chaim says that it teaches us that a person should never let go of a business that he's involved in. He shouldn't despair and shouldn't give up hope. Yitzhak Avinu dug, and didn't find water, dug again and didn't find water. They fought about it and they fought about it, and eventually he got to the final well, called Rechovot, which means space/menucha.
The Chafetz Chaim says: This is how it works with all physical and spiritual areas, whether it's business, or learning. If you're not successful in the beginning of your learning, don't give up. In the end, you'll be successful. If you’re not successful, in the beginning of your business, don’t give up- you’ll be successful.
This is an important rule. Rav Yerucham Levovitz speaks about this in his sefer on Elul and Rosh Hashana, where he quotes the Gemara in Berachot 3B: If someone prays and wasn't answered, he should pray again. As the pasuk says, Kaveh el Hashem/Hope to Hashem, chazak v’ya’ametz libecha/ strengthen and get more courage in your heart, v’kaveh el Hashem, which means if didn't work, keep going.
Sometimes if something didn't work and you weren't answered, you might think, “Enough already. Maybe I’m not deserving.” But no, keep going. Be resilient.
Furthermore, he quotes from the same gemara that there are four things that need chizuk – Torah, good deeds, prayer and business. What does this mean? Rashi says that you have to strengthen yourself with all your efforts.
What does it mean with your business? If you're a craftsman, if you're a businessman, or whatever you're doing, (and also if you're a Ben Torah), if you started something, don't throw in the towel.
This, he says, is what success is dependent on. If you keep on switching each time things don't work, you won't be successful. You have to hold on.
It’s the same with Torah. Once you’ve started, don't keep switching from one masechet to another, from one class to another. Stay with it.
In modern terms, this is called resilience. Resilience means you don't give up. You keep pushing forward. There are so many stories...from Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken who had his last $105 and decided to take his recipe and make it into a legend... to the fellows from Home Depot who were fired from their jobs... and Walt Disney who was told that his pictures are not creative enough, and so on and so forth.
But it’s not only true in the financial world. It's true in the Torah world as well. Not all gedolim were born great. They had challenges and you wouldn't necessarily guess that they'd become the greatest in their class.
That's the lesson of this week's Parasha.
Of course, we need bitachon to make this happen. We're not just saying be resilient based on the principle of resilience alone. This whole principle is based on the fact that we rely on Hashem. And as the pasuk in Mishlei says, the tzaddik falls seven times and he continues to get up. He gets up. He doesn't just throw in the towel. He keeps pushing and he knows that eventually he will see success.
