BS”D
HONORABLE HUMILITY: PARSHAT BEHA’ALOTCHA
Shira
Smiles shiur – 2018/5778
Adapted
by Channie Koplowitz Stein
One of the verses in Parshat Beha’alotcha describes Moshe as being exceedingly anav/humble.
Since Moshe himself wrote the Torah, ask our commentators, how could he, in all
humility, write that he was humble? What, in fact, is humility? Should it be
mean not acknowledging one’s talents and skills? Rashi’s explanation of anav
as shafel vesavlan/low and enduring, patient, tolerating also needs
further exploration and examination, especially since anivut/humility is
considered to be the highest form of praise for an individual. Its antithesis
is ga’avah/haughtiness.
Unfortunately, we have no clear definitions of these terms and, like an
insidious disease, we may not recognize the invasion of ga’avah until it
reaches dangerous levels, writes Rabbi Friedlander z”l, in his sefer, the Sifsei
Chaim. The yetzer horo loves haughty people. Haughtiness leads to
feelings of superiority over others, to forgetting Hashem and attributing all
your accomplishments to your personal effort. When you become so full of
yourself, you leave no room for Him. If you leave no room for Hakodosh Boruch
Hu, why should He leave room for you? [If your sense of anochi/self, ego
fills you so completely, you leave no room for the ultimate Anochi,
Hashem Elokecha. CKS] We have claimed to be the ones in control, not Hashem.
This mindset creates stress in our lives and antagonism toward others whom we
may blame for interfering or somehow placing obstacles in our path for success.
If, on the other hand, we accept and constantly acknowledge that Hashem is in
control, we do not always sweat our failures as “our fault”, but understand
that this is God’s will for us. Nor are we jealous of the success of others. It
is God’s will for them and has nothing to do with us. We can relax; God is in
control.
As Rabbi Yoffe zt”l explains, haughtiness is rooted in falsehood, while
humility is rooted in truth. Haughtiness leads to a sense of false entitlement
based on personal ego, while humility understands that whatever I have is a
gift from God, and therefore is all that I need to fulfill my mission.
There is a further falsehood, notes the Sifsei Chaim. Haughtiness is
based on a faulty yardstick. People tend to be biased in their own favor. When
we analyze ourselves, we tend to magnify our positive attributes and minimize
the negative ones. On the other hand, when we judge others, we do the reverse.
We tend to magnify their faults and minimize the positive traits. Every person
has both strengths and weaknesses. Why do some people have their noses in the
air, looking down on others? Because they are trying to balance a fickle straw
of ego on their noses and trying to keep that ego from falling. If they take
that straw off, they will walk normally and be able to see themselves and
others more honestly. We will be able to judge ourselves not by how we measure
up to others, but how we measure up to the unique gifts and talents Hashem has
given us.
In an interesting analogy, the Sifsei Chaim writes that if someone walks
through a mental hospital, does he pride himself on his sanity or appreciate
the gift of mental health? No. In that situation, he considers his mind no more
a part of his normal self than he does his arms, legs, or eyes. Similarly, one
should appreciate the positive gifts, talents, skills, and characteristics that
Hashem has given him that make him unique. When we have specific skills, we are
meant to use them to their full potential. The scholar should reach his full
potential in learning or teaching, while the excellent cook may devote her
energy to preparing meals for people in need, and the wealthy may live a modest
lifestyle but be great supporters of worthy causes and people in need. (May the
neshamah of Jean Gluck, Gittel Malka bas Mordechai, supporter of Beit El
and many other causes, have an aliyah, and may her husband Eugene Gluck be
healthy and able to continue their good work until 120. Her leveyah/funeral
took place on Sunday c.k.s..)
The Gemorrah presents an insightful metaphor. When one shakes a tzedakah box
with only a few coins, it rattles and makes a lot of noise. However, if you
shake a full tzedakah box, it makes very little noise. So too it is with
people. A person who is full of many good qualities and accomplishes much has
no need to boast. He feels fulfilled. But a person who feels empty inside makes
a lot of noise about his few accomplishments to try to fill his emptiness. The
humble does not pride himself on all he has or all he has done. He recognizes
that all these are facts, like having arms and legs, writes Letitcha Elyon,
and is nothing to be prideful of.
Does that mean that a person should deny who he is, how talented or skilled he
may be? To do so would be evidence of either false modesty or low self- esteem,
not true humility, writes Rabbi Pincus zt”l in Tiferet Shimshon. Think
of it as a mirror. If a gadol hador whose face glows with the light of
Torah were to stand in front of the mirror, the mirror would reflect that
countenance with that light. The mirror would not foolishly believe that it
contains that light within itself, for if the great man moves away, there is no
image and no light emanating from the mirror itself. Similarly, each of us
should view our unique attributes as reflections of the Giver Who has implanted
these traits within us. As long as we see ourselves in His presence, the light
shines through us; were we to remove ourselves from His presence, the
reflection would be gone. Moshe Rabbenu saw himself as nothing because he saw
himself as completely in God’s presence, a reflection of Hashem’s greatness.
Contrast a human contractor with the Creator of the world, lehavdil.
When a contractor wants to erect a building, he assembles all his materials,
puts it all together, and when the structure is complete, he steps back, and
the edifice stands on its own. Not so the Creator of the universe. The Ribbonoh
shel olam does not abandon His “building”. He always stands with it, infuses it
with His presence, for if He would leave for even an instant, the entire
universe would cease to exist. Hashem is always with us. Tefillah/prayer
is predicated on the idea that I only exist through Hashem’s presence. Every
prayer has a response, although it may not be an immediate response. If a
mirror decides to stop reflecting and tries to have an independent identity, it
is no longer a mirror and ceases to exist. Similarly, if we stop reflecting the
image of God within us, we too cease to exist. This is our challenge, always to
be connected to Hakodosh Boruch Hu and remain a conduit for His light to be
seen in the world.
And herein lies the paradox, explains Rabbi Tatz in World Mask. As long
a someone asserts his independence as a completely separate entity, he remains
nothing, “a small bundle of protoplasm”. When he becomes part of a greater
Existence, he achieves greatness in his own right as a human being. This was
Moshe, the humblest of all men. As a result of annulling himself and living
completely as a reflection of Hashem Himself, he achieved greatness in his own
right.
[Rabbi Moshe Miller makes a similar point in Rising Moon on Megillat
Ruth. First, Ruth, by negating herself and her own ego to follow Naomi’s
instructions (3:5) merits becoming the Mother of Royalty. In contrast, the
closer redeemer who was afraid of losing his identity if he married Ruth in a
levirate marriage/yibum, lost his identity, and his name has become
synonymous with anonymity, Ploni Almoni/John Doe. Boaz, by initially
relinquishing his rights to Ruth and to the property, also achieves immortality
when the right and obligation to marry Ruth falls to him by default after
Ploni’s refusal. CKS]
Man is a conductor through which Hashem’s energy can pass through to the world,
explains Rabbi Feuer in Letter of All Ages. Just as some materials are
better conductors of electricity than others, so are some people better
conductors of Hashem’s energy than others. When impurities such as haughtiness
are present in a human being, he remains a poor conductor of Hashem’s energy,
but when someone is humble and has removed the impurities of ego from his
psyche, he becomes a superconductor. The light and energy that emanates from
us, adds Rabbi Rivlin, is the breath of life God breathed into us at birth, and
continues to shine forth as long as we don’t block it by building walls of ego.
We want to keep that chen/favor that Hashem implanted within us pure and
unadulterated, writes Rabbi Shmuelevitz z”l. We want to be a mirror, a
reflection of the light emanating from Hashem’s eyes, as was Noach in the eyes
of Hashem. He was a tzadik tamim/whole in his ways and righteous in his
actions. Rashi interprets these words as Noach was of a humble spirit.
As noted earlier, one becomes humble or haughty based on how he measure
himself. Rabbi Feuer explains that a six foot man will always consider himself
tall/high if he compares himself to a five foot person. But if he compares his
height to that of the sun, he will realize he is quite low. Moshe Rabbenu did
not compare himself to other human beings. Being always in God’s presence, he
compared himself to God and always recognized how small he was in that
comparison. Therefore, he remained the humblest of all men and appreciated how
successful he was in doing God’s will, in being an eved Hashem.
Rabbi Wolbe zt”l returns us to Rashi’s original translation of anav as shafel
vesavlan/low, patient and enduring, tolerating. Basing his analysis on the
words of Rabbi Simcha Zissel of Kelm z”l, Rabbi Wolbe z”l asserts that this is
probably the most important characteristic a person can strive for, for it is
the basis for so many more positive middot. With savlanut/patience,
tolerance, we become kinder and softer, more accepting of others, less jealous.
It allows us to build a society that functions harmoniously,(or at least
relatively effectively) as we allow for individual differences without feeling
superior to others. With the proper mindset, we will realize that every person
is greater or better than myself in some way, and as such he deserves my
respect. Further, notes Rabbi Kokos in Siach Mordechai, since we are
each given those gifts which will help us achieve our potential and our
personal mission, there is no reason to feel prideful in my gifts. More
important is how am I using them in my mission to reflect God’s light. As we
say every morning upon waking, Hashem has returned our souls to us, given us
another day of life because He has tremendous faith in us and in our ability to
accomplish our task for the day. His faith extends to myself and to all others
to accomplish their missions. When we recognize the uniqueness of each
individual, we tend to be more tolerant and patient of our differences and less
haughty in believing that my way is always the only right way, adds Rabbi
Wachtfogel z”l.
Moshe Rabbenu appreciated every person because he recognized each person’s
unique qualities and unique worth. He achieved his greatness mikal ha’adam
asher ba’am/from every person in the nation. From seeing the worth of every
individual within the nation, he himself remained humble writes Rabbi Finkel
z”l.
How can one achieve and retain humility? Rabbi Dovid Weinberger provides some
steps one can take to approach that goal. First, reduce the illusion of
grandeur by performing menial tasks. Nothing should be beneath your dignity,
from taking out the trash to polishing someone else’s shoes. [When I gave birth
to my second son, most-non essential hospital personnel were on strike. The
local yeshivah high school sent boys to the hospital to help out with all the
mundane tasks. Imagine my surprise to see young men, clearly religious, emptying
the trash from the maternity bathrooms! Perhaps their Rebbeim were teaching
their students humility as well as chesed. CKS]
It would also be helpful to consult with others younger than oneself and take
their advice seriously. Above all, know that you have never arrived at your
destination, that you are constantly growing and learning from others.
Within this definition of patience and tolerance, one must not forget to be
tolerant of oneself, reminds us Rabbi z”l . Take your tasks on one step at a
time, and accept that everything is a process. Accepting that fact teaches
patience and humility. Realize that you are a receptacle, the mirror that
continues to reflect God’s image and light, and serve Him with all the gifts He
has bestowed upon you.