I recently interviewed the fastest Jewish runner in the world. His name is Gal Arad, and his plan is to win gold in the 2028 Olympics. The secret to his success? His first failure.
Gal was fifteen when he earned a silver medal for a national title. Had he won the gold, he admitted he would have been satisfied with the win, and then stopped running altogether. Coming in second made him try and try again to reach first place. In the process, he grew exponentially as a runner and as a person.
Our society is results-focused. You can be the second-fastest runner in the world, but society doesn’t care. You lost. You’re not getting the endorsements.
The world only values results; silver ain’t gonna cut it. But Hashem values progress. He values the road you took to get to where you are, and what you learned along the way.
G-d is referred to as a blacksmith of the Jewish people. A blacksmith molds silver and creates objects by heating it to its highest point. Only then can the silver be morphed into something beautiful.
In order for the silver to bend, it has to be challenged, and only then does it come out stronger and transformed.
The Jewish people are the same. We’ve had to go through challenges, we’ve had to stretch ourselves, to cry, to hurt. But as a nation, we have emerged as stunning silver. Like a silver medal, we should be proud of who we are and where we came from, regardless of the outcome.
