We are discussing the correlations between Bitachon and humility (and the lack of bitachon and arrogance). The Mesilat Yesharim (chapter 11) discusses ifferent Middot and talks about arrogance. In a beautiful, succinct way, he defines arrogance as when person feels within himself that he's important and that he is deserving of praise. He says it’s really a blindness, because you don't see your faults and your lackings. There are challenges that you have.
In chapter 22, when he talks about humility, he gives a definition that is the exact opposite.
What is Anava? When a person does not give himself importance. As he says, it's the polar opposite of arrogance. He says that if a person delves into it, he'll realize that there's no place for arrogance. He goes on to discuss the different areas of arrogance. The biggest source of arrogance, he says, is your intellect. That's why doctors, lawyers and professors are sometimes very arrogant people.
They're smart, they know more than you do. He says, when a person is smart and intellectual, he's just doing what comes to him naturally. He didn't create his brain. It's no different, he says, than a bird that flies because that's his nature, or a cow that pulls a yoke. A person who is wise, of course, has studied, but the fellow that's not able to achieve that, even with all the studying the world, can’t get there.
And who knows, maybe the fellow that's lower than him on the intellectual totem pole is putting more effort in. Maybe he did more work than the wise man.
He quotes a Mishna in Pirkei Avot: If you learned a lot of Torah, don’t give yourself a pat on the back. That's what you were created for.
What happens if you're wealthy? What happens if you're strong? Well, you were given your wealth and your strength to help other people. It's nothing to be proud of. He says it's comparable to a king's house. He gives one man the job of opening and closing the doors and another man has the job of cleaning the floors. Each man has a job. There's no room for the door opener to be arrogant and say, “Wow! I'm the one that opens the doors!” It's a job.
Wealth is a job, power is a job.
We have to realize that there is a bitachon/arrogance correlation, and our attitudes about ourselves are inherent indicators of our level of bitachon. We have to understand what our talents are.
The Pele Yoetz writes about this when talking about Middot. He says, sometimes you look at somebody, you say, “Wow, this guy just doesn't understand the basics. He's doesn't have an understanding of how to act…” and you have a list of the person’s imperfections. But the Pele Yoetz says, “Well, did you work on yourself to make yourself get it? Certain people get it and certain people don't. And rather than look at this fellow and all of his imperfections, maybe you should say to yourself, ‘Wow, thank you Hashem for allowing me to get it.’
That judgment and better-than is all a sign that this person thinks that he's responsible for his qualities. Just like you didn't decide how tall you'd be, or your eye color or your hair color or the speed of your metabolism (That's an important one- Some people are very hard towards those who are overweight, while they’re all proud of their thin physiques.
Sorry bud. You have a faster metabolism. That was a gift of God that you just burn up food faster and he burns up food slower. Most overweight people are trying hard to lose weight. It just doesn't come easy.
There are so many things in life that we take credit for, that we had nothing to do with. We didn't choose our gene pool; we didn't choose how our kidneys work or the level of plaque in our hearts or all those other types of challenges. Look at mental illness.
There are personality disorders out there. Nobody chooses that. We are just blessed, Thank Hashem, that we don't have those problems. And when we start taking credit for our personalities and our height and our physique and our wisdom, that all comes from a lack of understanding- Who gives us our talents? Some people can't dribble a ball. They can't jump rope. They're just not coordinated.
They lack coordination and mobility. They just can't do it. And you can dribble a ball and shoot from half court. Okay, you practice, but you had talent, and you didn't create those talents.
Have a wonderful day.