Rabbi's Corner

In this week’s parashah, Parashat Beha’alot’cha, we read the following: “And the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than anyone [else] on the face of the earth.” (BeMidbar 12:3)

In this day and age, it would appear that humility is a very scarce commodity. If this is so, perhaps we need to ask the question “Just what is humility?” In Jewish tradition, humility is not being displayed by one who deprecates him/herself. One who says “I am nothing. I am worth nothing.” is not necessarily being humble. The person who makes such statements just might be displaying signs of depression. In our tradition we are taught to place a value on who are by placing ourselves in comparison to Hashem. “I am nothing – compared to Hashem.” In making such a statement, the humble person can fully acknowledge his/her qualities and achievements as long as s/he recognizes them as being gifts from Hashem. Consider the following story.

There was once was a king who owed a debt of gratitude to a poor man. He decided to repay the poor man by making him governor of one of the provinces of his kingdom. This newly appointed governor became so successful at his job that he became very popular, the most popular governor of all the king’s provinces. In order to witness the source of this governor’s success, the king decided to spend a day with him. However, because he did want to draw attention to himself, the king dressed as a commoner. The two men, the king and the governor, walked around the town together in order for the king to see the governor “in action.” However, the entire day was most embarrassing for the governor because he was showered with praise and gratitude by everyone they met while the king, who was the real source of all the good these people had received, was virtually ignored. The governor was displaying humility.

The Rizhiner Rebbe explained that each one of us has been given many abilities and gifts from HaShem. It may be wealth; it may be intellect; it may be family or business connections. Rebbe said that whenever we are heaped with praise for actions that come about through one of our “gifts” from HaShem, we must never forget the real source for such praise so that we can forward it to the proper “address.” In other words, we must be more like Moshe.