Every Single Step | Rabbi Reuven Schmeltzer

Rav Moshe Feinstein was walking from his house to the Yeshiva, MTJ, together with his son, R’ Dovid. On the way, he suddenly turns to his son, R’ Dovid, and he says, Do you know that there's 1,500 steps between the house and the Yeshiva? R’ Dovid looks at him, dumbfounded. His father had nothing better to do other than to count footsteps? R’ Moshe says to him: What do you mean? Chazal tell us that a person receives Schar for walking to the Beis Medrash על כל פסיעה ופסיעה for every single footstep. If so, each footstep is worthy of being counted, it has value in itself. Just one step. We have to understand. Each person has a job in this world, we have a task, to climb the ladder to perfection. Could be there's millions of rungs, many steps we have to take, but we have to always value each step. What is the value of a step today, in our world? There was a Bochur who was very tzubrochen because he hadn't learned well. He comes to the Chofetz Chaim and he's sitting in front of the heilige Chofetz Chaim and he says, You know, Rebbe, I only learned four blat this zman. I think I'm not cut out for learning. Chofetz Chaim looks at him and he says: Really? 400 Blat? Pshhhhh. No, no, no, Rebbe. I learned four blat. Four blat. Wow, that's an achievement. 400 blat? He realized the Chofetz Chaim must be hard of hearing. Rebbe, four blat. Four! Chofetz Chaim says, It says in the Gemara, טוב אחד בצער ממאה שלא בצער. One thing accomplished with great effort, with צער, has the value of something a hundred times, if it's done with ease. You have learned four blat with difficulty, with effort. It's worth 400. So you've learned 400 blat. An אדם גדול told me once about a Bochur, nebech, who was sliding down a spiraling track, and he was going, nebech, off. He had tried so hard many times. He had so many difficulties. He had tried to overcome the challenges and he couldn't do it. And that's it. He's done. Everyone tried to speak to him and tried to stop him, but when they saw that no one could speak to him, this Yid sat him down and said: I want you to know one thing. You should remember, as far as you may fall, as bad as things will be for you, as Tum’adik as you may become, you should always remember that all the good things you've done will never be forgotten. They're yours forever. You're never going to lose it. Any challenge that you've overcome, anything that you've done is yours. No one can take it away. The Bochur, of course, at that time it didn't make an impression, but later, when he returned to the fold, he said that those words are what inspired him. Every step that we take, especially today, a hesitation, even if later we may fall, but the moment of hesitation is ours. No one can take it away from us. Every little step in the right direction is so valuable. As the astronaut once said, famously,