Weekly Torah Lesson Says Persistence Can Be Holy, but Not Always

In a weekly lesson on Parashat Balak, Rabbi Yoav Akrish uses Moses as an example of relentless prayer and the limits of persistence. He says Moses prayed 515 times for one request and was answered “no” each time, until, just before the prayer that might have changed everything, God told him to stop.

The article opens with the emotional question of how many times a person can ask for the same thing before embarrassment and disappointment begin to weigh on faith. It describes the feeling of praying, trying, getting back up, and hitting the same wall again and again, until a person wonders whether continuing is a sign of faith or a sign to quit.

Akrish’s lesson asks when stubbornness is a sacred force that lifts a person up, and when it becomes destructive. He also raises the question of how someone can tell whether a closed door means it is time to go home or to keep knocking. The article adds that, at times, the person who is not considered the most talented is the one who ultimately goes furthest.