We’ve been discussing incentives to be humble and not be arrogant. There’s a pasuk in Mishleh that says someone who is humble has charm. It’s supernatural. God puts charm on humble people. This is extremely important as we approach the high holidays. On Rosh Hashanah, we talk about God remembering us for the good. One of the Pesukim that we read is that God remembered Noah for the good. Noah was in a generation of evil people and it says that Noah himself was not befitting to survive. So why did he survive? Because ‘Noah Matzah Chen.’ He found favor. We say that every Moetzei Shabbat, and we want that we should also find Chen. What is the secret? Humility.
It says that Noah was a humble person. God made him work on the Teva for 12 months, taking care of the animals, to keep him humble.
That was Noah’s greatness, his humility.
So, we see that humility has a wonderful charm; we can almost say it's like a nice perfume. It's enticing. On the other hand, the Bet Halevi quotes from the Avot D’Rebbi Natan (perek (יא where Rabbi Akiva says that whoever makes himself haughty on the Torah (he learns Torah but it gets to his head) is compared to a dead carcass. When people walk by, they put their hand over their nose. The Bet Halevi says that this applies to someone who truly is a Torah scholar but becomes arrogant. SO surely someone who's not a Torah scholar but makes believe he's a Torah scholar has the odor of a carcass!
Is this real or is it just a nice description?
In answer, the Sefer Kav HaYashar (chapter 7) brings down the following Midrash:
There was a pious man that was out walking with Eliyahu HaNavi and there was a dead carcass on the street with a terrible odor. It was decaying. This pious man put his fingers on his nose. He couldn't bear the smell. But Eliyanu HaNavi walked right by; it didn't bother him. He doesn't smell physical odors. Then, as they continued walking, a man was approaching them from afar, walking in an arrogant fashion, priding himself. This time, Eliyahu HaNavi put his fingers on his nose. The pious man asked, “Why'd you put your fingers on your nose now, and not when you passed by the carcass?”
Eliyahu HaNavi answered, “This man's odor is worse than that of a carcass. A dead carcass only has a one-day Tumah/contamination. The contamination of arrogance is much more severe.”
So we see that Eliyahu HaNavi is sensitive to smell. But what kind of smell? The odor of sin. The odor of bad Middot.
It’s brought down that when someone goes to a Brit Milah, their sins are forgiven. Someone once asked Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach if it’s that easy. Is it better than Yom Kippur? No teshuva? Just go to Brit Milah and your sins are forgiven? And he explained that the reason why your sins are forgiven is because Eliyahu HaNavi comes to a Brit Milah, and Eliyahu HaNavi is a kinah/zealot. He can't stand sin. Therefore, when you go to a Brit Milah, God takes away the odor of your sins temporarily, so as not to disturb Eliyahu HaNavi while he’s there.
So we see how severe arrogance is, that it really has an odor.
An earlier source for this is Midrash Raba Vayikrah 1,15) that says that Moshe spent all his time building the Mishkan; he put his heart and soul into it. But finally, when it's built, he doesn't walk in. He waits until he's called in. Why? Because it would be an act of arrogance, to think that because he built it, he could just walk in whenever he wanted. No, you can't.
What does the Midrash say on this story? That any Torah scholar that does not have Da’at (or Derech Eretz), a dead carcass is better than him.
Rabbi Kronglas, in Sichot Musar, says it's because of this concept. Because it would be a sign of arrogance and brazenness, “Oh, you built the Mishkan…so you think it's yours?!”
We see from here how severe arrogance is, and the opposite, how beautiful and fragrant smelling is humility. B’Ezrat Hashem, we will continue to work on our humility as we get closer to the high holidays.
