Many people are familiar with the proverb 24:16 that states: “A tzaddik will fall seven times and rise”—implying that in order to reach such a righteous level, you must endure several falls…AND recover from those falls.
Yet there is another similar verse in Mishlei/Proverbs 10:30:
Yet there is another similar verse in Mishlei/Proverbs 10:30:
ל צַדִּיק, לְעוֹלָם בַּל-יִמּוֹט; וּרְשָׁעִים, לֹא יִשְׁכְּנוּ-אָרֶץ
"The righteous will not falter forever and the evil will not dwell quietly in the land."
The word yimot can be translated as “falter” or some kind of weakening, including a fall or a collapse. Malbim describes it as “absence of strength” or “slackening.”
Rashi says about the tzaddik in this verse:
Rashi says about the tzaddik in this verse:
“When he falters, his faltering is not an eternal falter because he will fall and rise.”
Notice Rashi doesn't say “if.” He says “when.” And again, the defining characteristic of the tzaddik is that when he falls, he gets back up.
A tzaddik (or potential tzaddik) doesn’t stay down.
Metzudat David says:
A tzaddik (or potential tzaddik) doesn’t stay down.
Metzudat David says:
“Even if he falters, he will never die because he will return and rise.”
(In contrast, Metzudat David also notes that any peaceful dwelling for the wicked is only temporary. In other words, a tzaddik's fall and a rasha's stability are both temporary states.)
Malbim explains that
Malbim explains that
“...the weakening [hitmotetut] comes for a reason — meaning, by means of weakness of the legs or a sloping ground. And the tzaddik, even if he should slacken because he didn’t stand upon a good situation, nonetheless, he will not slacken forever because a tzaddik will fall seven times and rise.”
However, you translate yamot/hitmotetut and all its conjugations (the root word being מּט), King Shlomo comes to tell us that a tzaddik can encounter a situation in which he’s knocked off balance.
Perhaps his own legs have given out from under him. Or perhaps he finds himself standing on a steep incline.
By the way, it’s interesting to note the Malbim’s language: He doesn’t say that the tzaddik finds himself on a slope because he was dropped there; the implication is that the tzaddik chose the wrong place to stand.
How did the tzaddik get on the sloping incline in the first place? It seems that he put himself there—whether by mistake (he didn’t realize the ground wasn’t straight there) or perhaps he thought he could handle the incline.
Either way, the tzaddik finds himself in a place where he literally cannot stand straight, whether because of the ground or his own legs. He physically cannot walk normally.
He weakens. He falters. He falls. He collapses.
Nonetheless, he gets back up on his feet. Again.
The Vilna Gaon comments:
Perhaps his own legs have given out from under him. Or perhaps he finds himself standing on a steep incline.
By the way, it’s interesting to note the Malbim’s language: He doesn’t say that the tzaddik finds himself on a slope because he was dropped there; the implication is that the tzaddik chose the wrong place to stand.
How did the tzaddik get on the sloping incline in the first place? It seems that he put himself there—whether by mistake (he didn’t realize the ground wasn’t straight there) or perhaps he thought he could handle the incline.
Either way, the tzaddik finds himself in a place where he literally cannot stand straight, whether because of the ground or his own legs. He physically cannot walk normally.
He weakens. He falters. He falls. He collapses.
Nonetheless, he gets back up on his feet. Again.
The Vilna Gaon comments:
“That is to say that even if the tzaddik falters sometimes before the rasha, but it is temporary and not forever as stated: 'A tzaddik will fall seven times and rise'…but if the rasha’im begin to fall, they will not dwell further in the land and will not continue to rise. Furthermore, even if now they dwell quietly in the land, they shall not dwell quietly forever.”
And there you have the key difference between a tzaddik and a rasha:
A tzaddik gets up after he falls.
A rasha does not. A rasha stays down.
Everyone falls at times. Everyone slackens and falters.
You can even crash and burn.
Maybe it’s your fault.
Then again, maybe it’s the fault of your legs or of the ground you’ve chosen to stand on.
Regardless, what is your response to your vanishing strength, to your faltering and falling?
Do you stay down?
Or do you pick yourself up — yet again?
That’s the defining difference between a rasha and a tzaddik.
How do you respond to your falls and your falters?
A tzaddik gets up after he falls.
A rasha does not. A rasha stays down.
Everyone falls at times. Everyone slackens and falters.
You can even crash and burn.
Maybe it’s your fault.
Then again, maybe it’s the fault of your legs or of the ground you’ve chosen to stand on.
Regardless, what is your response to your vanishing strength, to your faltering and falling?
Do you stay down?
Or do you pick yourself up — yet again?
That’s the defining difference between a rasha and a tzaddik.
How do you respond to your falls and your falters?
Sometimes, a tzaddik needs to do this. And then do it again. And again. And yet again.....
Note: Malbim defines shikun (שיכון) as a temporary settlement while yishuv (ישוב) is a permanent settlement.
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