Our family has the great fortune to spend our summers at Camp Dora Golding. We have a wonderful and comfortable bungalow, but obviously smaller than our home in Monsey. For two months, we have to figure out how to get by with only one bathroom.
For some time this summer, on the side of our bungalow’s bathtub I noticed two Styrofoam cups filled with water. In each cup was a foam-like sponge in the shape of an animal. Those sponges had started as little capsules that “grew” when placed in water.
Our younger children eagerly watched how the capsule expanded into a foamy animal. They concluded that if they left it in water for longer, it would continue to grow even more. It was only after about two weeks that the cups were disposed of, and the foam critters remained on the side of the bathtub.
In June 1924, at the age of 38, George Mallory, one of Britain’s greatest mountain climbers, was leading an expedition attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He had failed twice before, and this was his third attempt.
In spite of careful planning and extensive safety precautions, disaster struck when an avalanche hit. The 38-year-old Mallory and most of his party were killed. It wasn’t until 1999 that his frozen body was discovered by another expedition, only two thousand feet short of the summit. When the surviving members of his group returned to England, they held a banquet saluting Mallory’s final trek. A representative of the survivors rose to speak and looked up at the framed picture of Mallory on the back wall. Then he turned his back to the crowd to face the huge picture of Mount Everest behind the banquet table. With tears streaming down his face, he addressed the mountain on behalf of Mallory: “I speak to you, Mount Everest, in the name of all brave men living and those yet unborn. Mount Everest, you defeated us once. You defeated us twice; you defeated us three times. But Mount Everest, we shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger while we can!”
In Oros HaKodesh, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, writes:
“If you desire, mortal, look at the light of G-d’s Presence, gaze at the wonders of creation, at the Divinity in them. Know the reality in which you live; know yourself and your world.
“Rise up. Rise up, for you have the strength to do so. You have wings of the spirit, wings of powerful eagles. Do not deny them, or they will deny you. Seek them, and you will find them right away.”
Oros HaKodesh 1:64
A few years ago, Mrs. Avigayil Ouziel wrote a beautiful song to Rav Kook’s words. In March of 2015, the Yeshivah l’Tzeirim of Yerushalayim choir recorded the song in memory of the eight students brutally murdered in Yeshivas Merkaz HaRav in a terrorist attack a few years ago.
By definition, human beings are vulnerable and fallible. But that is a core component of our ability to attain greatness. If we can fail miserably, we can also grow exponentially.
Unlike shaped sponges or even huge mountains, as mortals we can always ascend. Rav Kook reminds us that we need only to tap into that capacity for greatness and want to become greater.
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW, a rebbe at Heichal HaTorah in Teaneck, New Jersey, is a parenting consultant and maintains a private practice for adolescents and adults. He is also a member of the administration of Camp Dora Golding for over two decades. Rabbi Staum was a community rabbi for ten years, and has been involved in education as a principal, guidance counselor, and teacher in various yeshivos. Rabbi Staum is a noted author and sought-after lecturer, with hundreds of lectures posted on torahanytime.com. He has published articles and books about education, parenting, and Torah living in contemporary society. Rabbi Staum can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. His website containing archives of his writings is www.stamTorah.info.
