Let me begin indirectly. My first cycle of Nach Yomi I fell many, many chapters behind. My second cycle was pretty much on target, never falling very far off without catching up. This cycle seems to follow the first model. I missed several chapters in Melachim Bet, and I am up to Yirmiyahu 43. The Nach Yomi cycle is officially on Yechezkel 12, which means that I am about 25 chapters behind, not including the Melachim chapters.
Why does this matter? Because I know that when I fall behind, it is very easy to say "it's too hard to catch up, I won't accomplish my goal," and just give up. I think it's important to stay in the game, and if you started Nach Yomi with me, I urge you to pick it up again. I would recommend starting at Yirmiyahu chapter 40 and reading straight through. It picks up after the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash by the Babylonians, and tells the story of Gedaliah ben Ahikam, a Babylonian-appointed Jewish ruler with a shred of autonomy over the Jews of Jerusalem, and his assassination. It is the reason why we fast the day after Rosh Hashanah, on Tzom Gedaliah. Perhaps more on the connection later.
The message of this post is: In learning and in any observance where we have failed to live up to the high goals we set for ourselves last year at this time, we must keep trying. Even if we fail, let's look at it this way: If our spiritual accomplishments have an uptick in Elul and Tishrei, and then again just in the month of Nissan, when we celebrate Passover, even if we fail in some of our goals the rest of the year, we will have had an elevated time of mitzvot and learning 1/4 of the year. Is 3 months of more focused moral development, spirituality and observance worthwhile? Absolutely.
The Torah, in presenting the commandment of lulav and etrog, states that we should "take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of a goodly tree. . . " Why, the Midrash asks, is it called the "first day"? On Pesach, the Torah tells us to eat Matzah on the 15th of Nissan, identifying it as the 15th. Why doesn't it tell us to take the lulav and etrog on the 15th of Tishrei, calling it the 15th? Why instead is it called the "first day"? We certainly don't need the Torah to tell us that it is the first day of Sukkot, just as we can figure out when the first day of Pesach is.
Answers the Midrash, it is the first day for something else--- for counting sins. The Jewish people come out of Yom Kippur cleansed of sin, and for the next five days, between the spiritual high of Yom Kippur and the business of preparing for Sukkot, there is no time to sin! We are too busy doing Mitzvot. So only when the preparations are over, Yom Kippur is a bit behind us (just 5 days!), do we have the time to sin.
So why are we so happy on Sukkot--isn't it the beginning of our descent, our downward spiral? Well, 5 days of holiness and purity are nothing to slouch at! What an amazing thing. Even if we can't keep it up (which we must certainly try to do, and even succeed at, but that's another discussion as to how), it is so valuable in and of itself that we can rejoice on Sukkot, zman simchateinu, without reservation.
So the failings of the past year are not a reason to be depressed. We will have more success this time. But when the inevitable failures do come, when the time for counting of sins starts, we will still rejoice in the holiness, the spirituality, and the higher moral living that we were able to bring into this world.
Good only part of the year is not our ideal--far from it. But good it is.
