The Chazon Ish writes to a student who left yeshiva, “Know my beloved that it all depends in your attitude. There are many gedolim who started late but when they had the spirit to go for it and they already decided with a complete and powerful dedication to devote themselves to Torah and throw away the worldly desires this is what stood for them and they had fruit from this... The satan puts many stumbling blocks.” Most people are unaware whom the Chazon Ish was writing to. One of the chochmei hador, greats of the generation informs us that this letter was written to him. The truth is that he did leave yeshiva but he eventually returned to yeshiva, after some years, where he learned diligently for many hours. R' Ben Tzion Abba Shaul writes a haskama to one of this chochmei hador’s sefarim, “I testify that he is a baki in shas like I am a baki in Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha.”
The difference between a successful person and one who is unsuccessful is not how many times he fell but how many times he got up.
Looking at a masterpiece of art, the viewer has no idea how many hundreds of hours the artist worked on the canvas, how many times the artist changed and reworked every stroke and how determined the artist was to constantly improve the picture. Likewise, looking at great people, only those close (and perhaps not even them) to them know how hard they toiled to actualize their goals and how much struggle was involved in attaining those spiritual heights.
At the age of 18, R' Yehuda Hachasid was anything but a scholar. He would act childish which included playing bow and arrow. This was until a specific incident occurred where the students of his father complained about his wild behavior, which was contrary to that of his great ancestors. That incident changed the trajectory of his life and he eventually became the great R' Yehuda Hachasid.
Rabbi Alt merited to learn under the tutelage of R’ Mordechai Friedlander ztz”l for close to five years. He received semicha from R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg ztz”l. Rabbi Alt has written on numerous topics for various websites and publications and is the author of seven books including the recently released “Remarkable Insights about Death and the Afterlife.” His writings, some of which have been translated into Yiddish, Hebrew, German and French, inspire people across the spectrum of Jewish observance to live with the vibrancy and beauty of Torah. He lives with his wife and family in Kiryat Yearim (where the Aron was for 20 years [Shmuel 1, 7:1,2]) where he studies, writes and teaches. The author is passionate about teaching Jews of all levels of observance.
Igros Chazon Ish, Volume 1, letter 44.
There is a saying, “The one thing worse than messing up is holding onto it afterwards.”
Strong goals pull. They pull you out of bed in the morning. They pull you through the difficult days. They pull you through distraction, and can even pull you through a disaster as long as the goal is bigger than the disaster.
Sefer Chassidim, Toldos Rabbeinu Yehuda Hachasid, p. 2.
