We've been talking about how humility impacts bitachon. Yesterday, we quoted from the Rambam in his sefer Morah Nevuchim/Guide to the Perplexed that the Mitzvah of Succot is there to teach us Anava/humility. His son, Rabbenu Avraham Ben Rambam, in his sefer Hamaspik L’Ovdeh Hashem, on the chapter of humility, goes through many Mitzvot of the Torah explaining to us that the goal is to bring us to humility. We will list a few:
-He asks why we have to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim? He says that beside that it's a cause for us to keep the Torah in the opening of the 10 Commandments, it’s because it brings us to humility.
-Additionally, we just read Parashat Behar, which talks about Shemittah. There, it says you can’t sell the lands (of Eretz Yisrael) forever. Every 50 years is Yovel/the jubilee year when all land sales in Israel revert to the original owner. Why? Because this brings one to humility, to realize that you don't really have more than anybody else. Once we hit the reset button, everybody's equal.
-Next, there’s the Mitzvah of Bikkurim, which is there to remind us Who we got the land from. He points out that everybody has to bring the Bikkurim. The Mishnah in Bikkurim says that even a king has to put the basket on his shoulder until he gets to the Bet Hamikdash, and give it to the kohen. Look how much humility is hidden there, he says.
Furthermore, there's a special recitation that we have to say when giving the Bikkurim. We go through the Arami Oved Avi, which describes how it’s Hashem’s kindness that brought us here. We have to bow to Hashem….. All this is done because we're afraid to become arrogant.. Like the pasuk says, “Eat and become satisfied, and have good houses that you build and you dwell there. And your gold and silver and all your assets are growing and developing. You're going to become arrogant and forget Hashem.”
That's a danger. The Rishonim quote this, but it wasn’t just for back then. It's for now too. Hashem does not want that to happen.
-Another thing we do for humility, we do every single day. It's a nice exercise. After the Amida, we say Viddui- we confess our sins. Ashamnu, Bagadnu…
Why did God tell us to express our sins? Because it brings one to humility. As the pasuk in Vayikra 26,40 says (and we read in our Tochacha),
וְהִתְוַדּ֤וּ אֶת־עֲוֺנָם֙ וְאֶת־עֲוֺ֣ן אֲבֹתָ֔ם
Confess your sins and the sins of your forefathers.
and the pasuk continues
אָ֣ז יִכָּנַ֗ע לְבָבָם֙ הֶֽעָרֵ֔ל
Then their foreskin's heart will become humbled.
That means when we confess our sins and we realize we're not perfect, and yet God still showers us with kindness, that brings us to humility.
As a reminder of this, in your siddur, next to the viddui, you can write, “Time to focus on humility.”
-Additionally, in the times of the Bet Hamikdash, when people became Tameh, they would be thrown out of the camp. That meant God was choosing a specific person and humbling him by telling him he had to go out of the camp. He was not allowed in. This was especially true for the Metzorah who had to walk around and announce to the world that he was tameh. That took a tremendous amount of humility.
Rabbenu Abraham is showing us how many Mitzvot are linked with humility. It’s almost as if it’s the whole goal of the Torah.
-When someone over 70 years old walks into the room, we stand up. Why? He's an older man. Stand up for him. That also shows humility.
-Another thing we say every day in our prayers is that one cannot put sourdough or honey on the mizbe’ach. Why not? Because sourdough rises; it gets puffy, and that's a sign of bloating. And honey, which also has a certain bubbling to it, is a symbol of Ga’avah. God says, I don't want any Ga’avah in my Bet Hamikdash.
Rabbenu Avraham goes on and says that the focus of our religion, and what we're doing when we're learning the Torah and Mitzvot, o is to distance ourselves from arrogance and bring us closer to humility.
-A king is told to learn Torah at all times, because constantly learning and having a Torah with him is supposed to keep him away from arrogance.
He says, Look at how great Hashem’s kindness is, that He directs us, through His Torah, to get to all the proper Middot. The goal is Anavah.
He quotes Tehilim perek 25,9
יַדְרֵ֣ךְ עֲ֭נָוִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט וִילַמֵּ֖ד עֲנָוִ֣ים דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃
God directs the humble, He teaches the humble His path.
So, the focus of the Torah is to get us to humility.
Then again, it says Sadik B’Emunato Yihyeh/The Sadik lived by his Emunah. So what’s the focus? Emunah or Humility?
And the answer is, it's all the same. If you have humility, you have Emunah, and the opposite. Have a wonderful day.