We have been talking
about humility this past week, and the need
to not take credit for our deeds.
One of the sources
for humility is in this week's Parasha (chapter
17) where we tell the king to become a haughty above his brethren.
לבלתי רום לבבו מאחיו
The Ramban says this is a source for the sin of
arrogance, in that if we're telling the
king (who, so to say, has a right to be arrogant because he's
the leader) not to be arrogant, surely
other people should not be arrogant.
He goes on to say that Only God deserves greatness
and uplifting, and only
He should be praised.
Rabbenu Yonah, in Shaar Teshuva (third gate, letter 34) also brings this pasuk down and says that it's a warning To remove
the trait of arrogance. And someone
who's great should not be arrogant with someone that's smaller, even the king.
He says this is from
the worst of traits. As it says, Ga’avah/arrogance is abomination
of God.
He goes on to say that
what we should be proud of is
only, as we said this week, serving God, fearing God, relying on God, loving Him and cleaving
to Him. Those are the things we can be
proud of. As the pasuk says, “This
is what man should be proud of- knowing Me.”
In his list of Knowledge
of God, serving God, fearing God, loving God, cleaving to God and relying
on Him are all included.
Those are the fundamentals of our religion to be proud of. Otherwise,
in all other areas of wealth and power and
strength, as we said, “We didn't do
it. God did it.” And therefore, only God is worthy of praise.
But there's another
source for arrogance in this Parasha (chapter 8, 11- 14), where it says, “
הִשָּׁ֣מֶר
לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח..
Be careful lest you forget Hashem your God and become arrogant
So if it says you're
not allowed to be arrogant here, where
there's a clear pasuk referring to arrogance in general,
why base the mitzvah on the rule with the king?
The Sfat Emet in Parashat Ekev answers that the the
first pasuk is saying,
“Don't be arrogant in front of God. Don't forget about
God.”
So fine. That's one thing. I'm not going to be arrogant in front of God. I realize God's in charge.
I'll humble myself. I'll bow in the Amida. I'll give Him the credit.”
But there is another
type of arrogance- an arrogance over people, and that's a whole separate story. I might humble myself to God, but that doesn't mean I'm going to humble myself to people. There's a story told by
the Sfat Emet, (possibly in jest),
about a rabbi who was saying Vidui- Ashamnu, Bagadnu etc” and crying.
The Mesader sees him and thinks, “Wow, I thought this rabbi
was a holy rabbi. Look how he's bawling when he says that he laughed and made fun of
people. Look at how he's bawling at all
these things... I thought he was a good guy.”
And the Mesader
decides
not to give the rabbi Aliyat Shishi that week, or the next week. Eventually
the rabbi starts to wonder what's what's
going on, and asks the Mesader about it.
The Mesader answers, “Well, I saw the way you were
crying and bawling in Vidui, and realized that you're not so good after
all.”
The rabbi says,”No,
I was crying and bawling to God. When it comes to God, I'm a nobody. But as far
as the rest of the congregation, I deserve Shishi, I'm better than them!”
Of course, whether this really happened or not, the message is that
sometimes we can humble ourselves in front of God, but we
don't humble ourselves in front of people.
We want to be humble both in the eyes of God and
the eyes of people. Therefore we
need two separate pesukim, to realize that when I look at somebody else,
and think of my success (and maybe his lack of success), or that I'm smarter than him, I'm wealthier than him,
or whatever it may be, like the Ramban says,
if anything, we should think the opposite. If you're smarter than him, and you know more, then you're more guilty than he is, because
when he makes a sin, it's by mistake. When you do it, it's on purpose.
And that's why there
is a this double warning on arrogance, not to God, and not to people.
Have a wonderful day
and a Shabbat Shalom.
