A Point with a Punch
On a visit to England, I was once walking through a public park. Two men were boxing each other, to the delight of the onlookers. I will never forget the sight of one of the fighters. He was knocked down, but he immediately picked himself up and continued the fight. He fell again, he stood up again. Every time he went down, he got up again, brushed himself off, and continued the game. Finally, he got his adversary down, and kept him there. He had won the match.
This incident honed in on the words in Mishlei (24:16), “The righteous will fall seven times and he will arise.” The Yetzer Hara, enemy #1, attempts to knock a person down, time after time. But the tzaddik always gets back up. He finally gives the Yetzer Hara a good blow and succeeds in getting rid of him in that area of contention.
