Mensch•Mark For Elul 12: Modesty - Anavah
Abraham's humility is a good quality to emulate during a charged election season, when there is a great temptation to demonize the opposition by impugning their intelligence.
About the Mensch•Mark Series
The Talmudic tractate Avot, 6:6 provides a roadmap as to how to live an ethical life. This passage includes 48 middot (measures) through which we can “acquire Torah.” See the full list here. For each of these days of reflection, running from the first of Elul through Yom Kippur, I’m highlighting one of these middot, in order to assist each of us in the process of soul searching (“heshbon ha-nefesh”).
Today’s Middah:
URJ’s Take:
"Pride goes before ruin,
Arrogance, before failure.
Better to be humble and among the lowly
Than to share spoils with the proud." (Proverbs 16:18-19)This text illustrates the Jewish attitude toward humility and pride. Excessive pride is destructive; humility is the preferred path. There are several instances in the biblical text where we are counseled to be humble and to guard against pride. The rewards of anavah-humility-are "awe of Adonai, wealth, honor and life." (Proverbs 22:4) "Recognizing one's own insignificance leads a person to humility and fear (awe) of God. In turn, God will reward such an individual with success." (The Stone Edition of the Tanach p.1599)
According to the Machzor Vitry, humility allows one to ask questions when one does not understand; conceit and arrogance are impediments to the acquisition of Torah. As the commentator interprets in the ArtScroll Pirke Avos, "One who overestimates one's own intellectual abilities is liable to denigrate the dignity and sanctity of the Torah and its teachers and bearers, thus blocking his or her own path towards wisdom. Hence, awe and reverence born of humility will protect one from missteps and errors in practical observance and moral judgment." (pp.413-414)
If an individual is convinced of the depth of his or her own abilities and intelligence there is very little room for learning and growth. Humility gives us that space within ourselves for personal development.
Rav Abraham Issac Kook taught that humility should lead to joy, courage, and inner dignity.
The observance of anavah should not lead one to belittle oneself. Even in the quest for humility, there needs to be a balance with self-esteem and confidence.
A Hasidic teaching illustrates this balance. Rabbi Bunim taught: Every person should have two pockets. In one pocket should be a piece of paper saying: "I am but dust and ashes." When one is feeling too proud, reach into this pocket and take out this paper and read it. In the other pocket should be a piece of paper saying: "For my sake was the world created." When one is feeling disheartened and lowly, reach into this pocket and take this paper out and read it. We are each the joining of two worlds. We are fashioned from clay, but our spirit is the breath of Adonai. (Tales of The Hasidim Later Masters, Martin Buber, p.249-50)
My Take:
One of the best puns in the entire Torah occurs in Genesis 23:7. As Abraham attempts to conclude a deal for some property in which to bury his wife, he deals with the Hittite Ephron. In Gen 23:7, we read that, out of respect and humility, Abraham “bowed low to the people of the land, the Hittites.”
The pun, a double pun actually, only serves to reinforce this demonstration of humility. For Abraham bowed to “Am Ha’aretz liv’nay Chayt.” As we recall from the High Holidays, the word chayt means “sin.” Although here it is spelled differently in meaning “Hittite,” it sounds exactly the same. So to ancient (and modern) Jewish ears, when hearing this phrase recited, we pick up the nuance that Abraham was bowing low to sinners.
Not only sinners, but those who were “Am Ha-aretz.” Literally it means the “people of the land,” but in later Jewish lore an “am ha’aretz” is considered a simpleton, the Jewish version of a “country bumpkin,” one who is ignorant of Jewish law. Some interesting views on the Am Ha-aretz can be found at here and here (regarding talebearing), all reinforcing the need for humility, which is why Abraham humbled himself to them.
A rabbi once said that all wise men and women should keep two verses in their pockets: in one pocket, "For My sake the world was created," in the other, "Dust art thou and unto dust thou shalt return." The lesson we learn from Abraham here is that, that no one, no matter how uneducated, is beneath any one else -- and it is never beneath our dignity to be humble.
It’s a good lesson to recall during a charged election season, when there is a great temptation to demonize the opposition by impugning their intelligence. Donald Trump does that almost daily. But so do supporters of the Democrats, who mock the intelligence of MAGA supporters. This video is a prime example. And, getting back to some of the mean memes discussed on Elul 3, they’re not even close to being funny.
Am Ha-aretz is the rabbinic equivalent of 2016’s “Deplorables.” And this middah says we should stay away from it. After all, if no less than a person than Abraham himself bowed low to the Am Ha-aretz, so should we.
Here are some more Jewish lessons from the Web, on the subject of humility:
From Jewish Virtual Library - a number of sources on humility.
I like the definition found here for humility: “Judaism defines humility as "living with the reality that nothing matters except doing the right thing." That means the humble person is not dependent on the opinion of others. Because sometimes doing the right thing is popular (and consistent with one's ego needs), and sometimes it's not. But the humble person can set his ego aside, if need be, in order to consistently do the right thing.
Humility and Kabbalah, see also Nothingness (Ayin)
There is also such a thing as being too humble. that was the sentiment expresed in I.L. Peretz’s classic tale, “Bontsche the Silent.” Read it here. The main character lives a life of perfect humility, but when he appears before the heavenly court, he is mocked for his passivity. Humility should never be confused with meekness. Abraham and Moses, who were decidedly humble, were certainly no pushovers. But they knew when, and before whom, to bow.
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