Our Gemara on Amud Aleph describes how, in the generation of the wilderness, when there were no arei miklat, the Levite camp served that function. (Arei miklat are biblically ordained “sanctuary cities” where someone who killed via negligent manslaughter could go for refuge and exile, Devarim 4:41.)

The Gemara (Makkos 10a) notes that Moshe built the first three sanctuary cities on the other side of the Jordan even though they would never be operational until the other three were established on the western side. Even so, Moshe performed this mitzvah with zeal, knowing full well that he would not enter the Land of Israel and see his work fully actualized. The Gemara compares Moshe’s zeal to perform a mitzvah—even when knowing that he cannot complete it—to the tendency for people to desire money. As Koheles (5:9) says, “One who desires silver (money) is never satisfied with silver.” So too, kal v’chomer, a person should be “greedy” for mitzvos.

The Chofetz Chaim, in his introduction to Shemiras Halashon, develops this point further. A person should never feel deterred by the fact that they can only fulfill a mitzvah partially. For example, it is difficult to maintain a perfect record when it comes to speaking l’shon hora, but one should not despair from trying. A person who is driven to become wealthy does not despair when he makes a small amount of money today toward a goal of a larger fortune. Rather, he keeps in mind that it keeps adding up. So too with mitzvos.

I find this attitude about partial or slow success particularly useful when applied to the all-too-human effort of overcoming an addictive or strongly compulsive pattern of urges and behaviors. When a person falls off the wagon and loses sobriety, there is a cognitive distortion and negative bias that interprets this temporary disruption as proof that he will never succeed. In fact, temporary disruption should be viewed as an opportunity for correction. The disruptions are about learning the boundaries and appropriate coping skills that must eventually replace the addictive or compulsive behavior.

According to researcher Steven Melemis, there are a number of related cognitive distortions and corrective replacement beliefs and behaviors necessary to recover from addiction (Melemis SM. Relapse Prevention and the Five Rules of Recovery. Yale J Biol Med. 2015 Sep 3;88(3):325–32):

“How individuals deal with setbacks plays a major role in recovery. A setback can be any behavior that moves an individual closer to physical relapse.”

“Some examples of setbacks are not setting healthy boundaries, not asking for help, not avoiding high-risk situations, and not practicing self-care.”

“Recovering individuals tend to see setbacks as failures because they are unusually hard on themselves. Setbacks can set up a vicious cycle, in which individuals see setbacks as confirming their negative view of themselves. They feel that they cannot live life on life’s terms.”

“Setbacks are a normal part of progress. They are not failures. They are caused by insufficient coping skills and/or inadequate planning, which are issues that can be fixed.”

“More broadly speaking, I believe that recovering individuals need to learn to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable.”