MOSES AND PERSEVERANCE
My great-grandfather, Pavel, planned to emigrate from Russia and join his brother in South Africa. But my great-grandmother, Cecile, refused to go. She believed South Africa was a dangerous jungle with man-eating lions hiding behind every tree. So, Pavel took his family — including my grandmother, Nana Evelyn — to America. He planned to open a dry goods store like the one he had in Russia. But in America, he could own a business outright instead of placing it in the name of a Christian neighbor.
Unfortunately, not every immigrant’s story was a happy one. Pavel struggled with the English language. He regretted not having gone to South Africa and grew nostalgic for Russia. Opening a store in an unfamiliar country was no simple task; Pavel grew discouraged and gave up his dream. “Why bother?” he said. “Life pushes me down. How long am I supposed to wait?”
His wife, Cecile, encouraged him to stay the course. After all, problems were part of life and Pavel needed to work through them. Transforming big dreams into reality was a process. “Moses didn’t reach The Promised Land in a day,” Cecile said, “Eyn shrit in a tsayt.”
One step at a time.
Sadly, her advice fell on deaf ears. Pavel abandoned his plan to open a dry goods store. He went from job to job, quitting whenever he encountered an obstacle. As Nana Evelyn said, “My father never found himself in America.”
In private, Cecile warned her children not to follow their father’s example. “God doesn’t want us to quit when there’s trouble,” she said. “If you fall down, get up. Remember, it takes many steps to achieve anything of value.”
Nana Evelyn took her mother’s words to heart. She was a dynamic person who approached life with dogged determination. When problems arose, she found a way around. And Nana Evelyn expanded upon Cecile’s advice. “It’s not always one step at a time,” Nana Evelyn told me. “Often, it’s one stumble at a time. Stumbles strengthen us if we keep moving forward. If only my father had understood that.”
The wisdom of my grandmother and great-grandmother is even more valuable in today’s modern world. Social media and reality television send the message success should be instantaneous. Young people, in particular, look for The Big Moment. Like my great-grandfather, Pavel, they are too quick to abandon a goal after hitting a roadblock. They form an alternate plan, struggle, and quit again. Parents rush in and save the day or dissuade kids from trying something that might not offer immediate success. But we serve our children best by showing tenacity in times of hardship. “Eyn shrit in a tsayt” combined with determination to work through struggles is integral to Jewish thinking. As it says in Proverbs: Seven times the righteous man falls and gets up. And no one set a better example of this resolve than Moses.
Moses was riddled with self-doubt when God instructed him to return to Egypt and free the slaves. He agreed to obey, even though God made clear the situation would grow increasingly perilous.
And what did Moses face? A Pharaoh who refused to free the slaves and then increased their workload. Worsening plagues that resulted in death. Crossing of the Red Sea. Complaining Israelites and a Golden Calf. Years of wandering the desert and facing enemy attacks.
Hardly a one and done.
But despite countless setbacks, personal frustration and anger, Moses never gave up. He understood God offered guidance to those with open hearts. He reached inside to find his own strength, formed a partnership with God and took one step at a time. Moses realized he could not achieve success in an instant. We don’t celebrate Moses solely for his achievements. We honor his humility, courage, and refusal to quit.
My great-grandfather, Pavel, was a good man who loved his family. But he disappeared inside himself, longing for days gone by and lost opportunity in unknown places.
I wish he had followed Moses’ example.
I wish he’d understood that when we trust God and combine small steps with long term thinking, great things are possible.
This article was published in The Jewish Advocate in 2020.
