Welcome to our humility series. Today
we are going to explore the contrast of arrogance and the proper outlook. We know
we should not be arrogant, showy, boastful people who take credit for our
accomplishments and feel that we're
special. That is Gaava, which should
not be confused with something called the Rommemut HaNefesh/an uplifted soul, a feeling of how special I am. I come from
good stock. I have Tzelem Elokim, I'm not an animal. I'm a human being. I have
a certain royalty to me. That's not a feeling of Ga'ava.
What's the difference? Ga'ava is I'm better than somebody else. Like
it says of Hashem, Ki Ga'oh Ga'ah /He is arrogant bove the arrogant. His
kiseh kavod is above the most arrogant of the wild beasts- the lion, the
domesticated cow, the eagle. They're the most arrogant and Hashem is above them
all. That's the term of Ga'avah. But there's another term used of Hashem, ืึทืึผึถืึถืึฐ ืึทืึผึฐืจืึนืึธื ืึฐืึทืึผืึน ืึตืึธื. /Hashem is the King that
was uplifted alone from way back when.
What does that mean? The Maharit,
Rav Yosef of Trani and the Bet Aharon
explain that this means that even before there was a world, where there was no
one compare oneself to, Hashem was Ram.
That's what we also have to be. I'm not great if I look at myself, where I come
from and what my sources are and see that I'm royal. I'm not comparing myself
to you. That's an inherent greatness and that is a prerequisite to
having good Middot.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein says that
when a person has that feeling of Rommemut, he doesn't need to start
looking down on others. He has an inherent greatness. He doesn't need to
become great by pushing others down.
The Elder of Kelm says that the
force against the Jewish people is Amalek. What did Amalek do? We left Mitzrayim
b'Yad Rama/with an outstretched hand,
with Rommemut They were like
a bubbling bath. They were on the top of the world. But along came Amalek, and like
a person that jumps into the bubbling bath,
cooled them down, didn't let them feel their Rommemut, or feel how special they were. Amalek wanted to
take away the feeling of Beni Bechori Yisrael. That's what Amalek came
to do. So how do we fight off Amalek? Says
the Elder of Kelm,
ืืืืฉืจ ืืจืื ืืฉื
ืืื,:Moshe Rabbenu lifted up his hands and ืืฉืืฉืจืื ื ืืฉืืื ืืื ืืืืืื ืฉืืฉืืื, the Jewish
people lifted up their hearts. He says this means
ืฉืืชืืืงื ืืจืืืืืช
ื ืคืฉืthey strengthened themselves in the exaltedness of their souls. And they looked and had they honor then V'gavar Yisrael. He adds that later Amalek was Haman, who also tried to break the Jewish people, ืืืื ืืข ืจืืืืืช ืื ืคืฉ ืืืฉืจืื, to break that exaltedness. But it didn't
work. How did we fight back? ืื ืืืจืข ืืื
ืืฉืชืืื, Mordechai would not bend, he would not bow.
We have to realize that this is not
just about Amalek the person or Haman
the person. Bereshit 6, 5 says ืึฐืึธื ืึตืฆึถืจ ืึทืึฐืฉืึฐืึนืช ืึดืึผืึน ืจึทืง ืจึทืข ืึผึธื ืึทืึผืึนื:/ The Yetzer of his heart
said only bad all day.
So simply it means that all day the Yetzer
Hara is giving you bad ideas of what to do. The Nefesh HaChaim, in Shaar 3,Perek 8 says this means that the Yetzer Hara's
trick is to say all day to you, You are no good. He wants to break you.
He wants to make you feel shafal. And once he breaks you, you'll do
anything. You need to have Rommemut
HaNefesh. But part of his ploy is to
make you think that being shafal/ being lowly is how you're
supposed to feel.
The Imrei Emet says something unbelievable about the words
ืจืง ืจืข ืื ืืืื
The last letter of ืจืง is
ืง The last letter of ืจืข is an ืข. The last letter of ืื is ื.
The last letter of ืืืื is ื, which spells ืขืืืง Amalek.
We all have an Amalek inside of us
that wants to tell us all day, "You're no good." But don't think that's Anava.
It's Shiflut. And the Nefesh HaChaim in Shaar ื
perekื ืืืืช ืชืืจืช ืืืื ืื ืืืฉ ืืฉืจืื ืื ืืืืจ ืืืื ื"ื
This is the Torah of the human being, to ant Jewish person, Don't
say in your heart, Who am I? What's my strength? What's my power? What can I
do? Who am I?" No, you have to realize, he says, and put steadfast in your
heart. Every deed, every speech, every thought that you do every second of the
day has impact. ืืื ืจืื ืืขืฉืื ืืืื
ืืืื ืืจืื.How great are your deeds! How powerful they are!
Rabbi Ades once said, Imagine a man sitting in front of
the control tower with all kind of buttons and levers, and that's the place
where they hit the button to launch a nuclear attack. Will he sit there and
they'll say, "Who am I? What am I? What can I do?" It's not about you,
it's about what you connected to, where you're positioned. You're a Jewish
person! Your soul came from beneath the Kiseh
Hakavod. You're powerful. And this is throughout all our writings.
Mesilat Yesharim chapter 19, when talking
about praying for the Bet Hamikdash to be built, says, "if a person says,
ืึดื ืึฒื ึดื ืึผืึธื
ืึฒื ึดื ืกึธืคืึผื ืฉืึถืึถืชึฐืคึผึทืึผึตื ืขึทื ืึฐืจืึผืฉืึธืึทืึดื
What am I? What's my value? I'm
going to pray for Yerushalayim? My prayers are going to cause the Galut to come and the Yeshua to
happen?
And he says, Yes. The answer is Man
was created alone, because everyone has to say,
ืึผึดืฉืึฐืึดืืึดื
ื ึดืึฐืจึธื ืึธืขืึนืึธื"
I am the only one to pray for the churban. I am important. I'm the only person in
the world. We have to walk around with these feelings of Rommemut HaNefesh. The Sefer Kol
Mevaser on Parashat Yitro quotes
Rav Bunim of Peshishcha who said, Every
Jew has to have two pockets. In one pocket, it should say, "ืืฉืืืื ื ืืจื ืืขืืื/ For
me the world was created
And in the other pocket should say ืื ืื ืขืคืจ ืืืคืจ, /I am but dust
and ashes
If you're getting a little too
carried away, remind yourself I am but dust
and ashes
And if you're getting a little down,
you have to take out the ืืฉืืืื ื ืืจื ืืขืืื/ For me the
world was created.
It's a balance. You have to have
both. So much so that Rav Hutner brings
down in that in the Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashana26 B, there's a discussion of How the shofar of Rosh Hashanah is supposed to be. Should it be bent or should it be straight?
One opinion says,
ืืื ืืืืืฃ ืืื ืืฉ
ืืขืชืื /the more you bend yourself in humility, the better it is
And another opinion says, No ืืื ืืคืฉืื It's better to be
straight. What are these two approaches?
Rav Hutner, in his sefer
on Rosh Hashanah, Maamar 15 says
that, yes, there's a concept of bending
yourself. That's important. It's Rosh Hashanah. There's Kabalat Ohl Malchut Shamayim. accepting the yoke of God's kingdom. I am going to humble myself and bend myself.
But that could be dangerous. We
don't want you to feel like you're a piece of dirt. So the other side is, you have
to stand up straight, stand with your head high and say, I belong to the
army of Hashem. I'm a proud card-carrying Jew. That's not a contradiction
to Anava. You can know who you are, know your family, know your roots,
know your greatness. And at the same time, after all that, you say, but did
I do it? It's a gift that Hashem gave me. It's the car that God gave me to
drive. It's not my car, its all His gifts. It's the talents that God gave me. Anava
doesn't mean walking around lowly. That's the Yetzer Hara talking to you. When you walk around feeling down and low and it's not allowing you to
produce, then you know it's coming from that Rak
Rah Kol HaYom.You have to see what it's producing, what it's causing. He wants to break us. And that's why we sometimes think that it's
the Yetzer HaTov saying, "You have to
be humble. You have to be xyz.."
No. You are great. And
there's nothing wrong with saying you're great. And there's nothing wrong with
saying Bishvilli Nivrah Olam. There's nothing wrong with saying Banim
Atem Hashem Elokechem
I once asked one of the gedolim, Rav
Berel Povarsky, what a healthy person that's feeling depressed should do. And he said, "What should you do? You
say the Beracha Ohev Amo Yisrael- God loves you. You're part of the Jewish
people. The Creator loves you."
Those are the thoughts that a Jewish
person has to have. Rav Haskel Levenstein says, the more Rommemut you
have, the better your Middot will be,
the less you'll be brought down, the
less you'll be stuck over pettiness and
silliness.
Rav Ades says he was once on a plane, looking out the
window at all the cars in the parking lot getting smaller and smaller and
smaller. What happened? Who was shrinking all the cars? Of course, he was saying that in jest. The cars didn't get smaller, he
said. I got higher. And when you lift yourself up, you see that all the
things that are seemingly important, that people get busy with, are really
small. You lift yourself up and the challenges disappear.
Rav Yerucham Levovitz once said, "How many people have to go for
therapy to get out the sandbox and stop playing in the sand? How many people
have to go therapy to stop playing with their dolls? How'd you stop?"
The answer is, You matured. You
grew up, you became uplifted.
It says in HaAzinu Devarim 32,2 thar the Torah is compared to a wind that blows through the
grass, and just like the wind strengthens the grass and makes it grow, it lifts
you up, it makes you greater, it makes you above. Now, someone might say, and
again, the Yetzer Hara talking, "what do you mean? Ma Anu, We say every
morning, what are we? Ma Hayinu/What's our life?
Ma Hasdenu/What's our kindness? Ma Sidkatenu/What's
our righteousness? Ma Yeshuatenu/What's our salvation? Ma Kohenu/What's our
strength? And we go on..: and we say, ืจืึนื ืึทืขึฒืฉึนึตืืึถื ืชึผึนืืึผ ืึดืืึตื ืึทืึผึตืืึถื ืึถืึถื ืึฐืคึธื ึถืืึธ
It's hot air, man is nothing more than an animalโฆ it sounds horrible,
But you have to continue.
Now we go into a whole different
story ืึฐืึทื ืึทื ึผึฐืฉืึธืึธื ืึทืึผึฐืืึนืจึธื ืฉืึถืึดืื ืขึฒืชึดืืึธื
ืึดืชึผึตื ืึผึดืื ืึฐืึถืฉืึฐืึผืึนื ืึดืคึฐื ึตื ืึดืกึผึตื ืึฐืืึนืึถืึธ:
We're Your nation
the the children of Your
convenant, of Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov, that You love them and You're happy
with them. And we're called the Yisrael Yeshurun, and therefore we have to be
thankful and praise You and bless You, ืึทืฉืึฐืจึตืื ืึผ ืึทื ืึผืึนื ืึถืึฐืงึตื ืึผ ืึผืึทื ื ึผึธืขึดืื ืึผืึนืจึธืึตื ืึผ
ืึผืึทื ืึผึธืคึธื ืึฐืจึปืฉึผืึธืชึตื ืึผ:
How lucky we are, how fortunate we
are, We come to shul in the morning and we stay late at night and we say, Shema Yisrael.. what a positive switch. You
can't get stuck in the What are we?Of course there is truth to that. What is
our strength? And what is our abilities? But we have a Neshama, and that gives us Rommemut.
These are the thoughts that we have
to have. And they're not contrary to Anava.
