Before we go further in discussing the seven mindsets in understanding Hashem, we are going to have one more lesson in the value of repetition, to further motivate ourselves and explain why it is so important to review.
We mentioned previously that we need practice to become perfect. Rule #2 is that we are creatures of habit. This applies to the way we think as well as our actions.
If we weren’t raised on Hovot HaLevavot, then we aren’t automatically going to have the right responses when we need them. Our responses and thought processes are ingrained. Just like we have certain reflexes built in, our thoughts are reflexive too.
The following statistics from scientific studies on habit and automaticity illustrate this point.
-We make 95% of our daily decisions without consciously thinking
-our decisions are made in milliseconds, using mostly our subconscious, governed by routine and automaticity
-70% of our daily thoughts are identical to those of the day before
-40% of our behavior is repeated everyday purely out of habit.
So it’s understandable that it’s hard to change our ways.
But why is this so? Why did Hashem make is this way? It’s actually a benefit, says Rav Wolbe.
Imagine how long it would take if we had to think about it every time we brushed our teeth or tied our shoes.
A person with brain damage, Lo Alenu, has to undergo therapy to relearn all the activities we do automatically.
There’s something called הרגל -routine. In fact we pray that we should be routine in Torah תרגילנו בתורתך so it’s a great thing. But routine also has its drawbacks.
Since we weren’t born with Hovot HaLevavot in our system, our brains may have a habit of taking certain negative tracks, and we if are used to thinking negatively about things, it’s hard to be positive. We have to change those habits.
A simple example of this happened to me recently:
I live in Brooklyn for 10 months of the year, and I live in Lakewood for the summer. Most of the year when I leave Lakewood to head North, I’m heading back to Brooklyn, so I take the Garden State Parkway. But recently I took what was only my second trip of the summer going from Lakewood to Deal. Normally, I would take Route 18 to Deal rather than the Garden State Parkway, but because I was talking to my wife, and I wasn’t focused, I automatically got on the Garden State. Why? Because when we drive, we have a certain degree of habit in our driving. In fact, if you’ve ever moved to a new neighborhood, you might have found yourself back in your old neighborhood if you were on the phone as you drove home. That how much we are creatures of habit.
David HaMelech experienced this as well. He said about himself, “My feet take me to the Bet Midrash” even if he wasn’t going there, he’d end up there. Our brains think in habit, and sometimes we have to retrain ourselves.
Another example of this: Half the year we say Mashiv Haruach and half the year we say Morid HaTal. If we say the wrong prayer, and cause rain in the summer, that’s bad, especially in Israel.
Sometimes a few days after Pesach, when it’s time to switch from Mashiv Haruach to Morid Hatal, people don’t remember whether they’ve said the correct prayer. But if we say the wrong one, the Amidah is no good. So if we aren’t sure what we said, what do we do? The rule is that within the first thirty days of the switch, you assume you said Mashiv Haruach, even though it’s the wrong blessing. Why is this so?
Because only after 30 days of saying the new prayer over 100 times ( 3 times a day and in musaf as well) can we assume that we’d do it correctly, because by then we’d have rewired our brains. Prior to that point, we rely on the likelihood of automaticity of the old routine. Therefore we assume we said Mashiv Haruach.
Repetition is important, but people don’t like to practice. To master karate you have to go through certain moves again and again and again. But no one wants to do that. So they tell you to paint a fence and then to make certain moves as if you’re painting a fence, but in actuality you’re practicing karate. The same concept is true with our bitachon. We’re going to say the same thing again, with a slightly different flavor so we don’t get bored. But we need to hear it again. People don’t like to hear it again, and that’s why we don’t reach greatness. Practice is imperative.
Great athletes don’t become great athletes without practice.
And great Baalei Bitachon become great because they practice and change their habits.