The Holy Ishbitz comments on the verse Devarim Chapter 1, verse 2: 11 days you travelled from Horav (receiving Torah via Har Seir to Kadesh Barnea.

The Isbitzer says that when they got the Torah (Horeb) they were intellectually ready, however not spiritually ready. Even thought it was a short journey, the Ishbitz says they needed the 40 years in the desert to experience failure and difficulty to be intellectually and spiritually ready. He makes his remarkable statement that he takes from Tractate Gittin that “one cannot uphold the law without first failing.”

Wow. One could speak volumes on this. The big lesson is that there is value in failure. There is value in difficulty. One learns through failing. I guess being perfect is not that great.