What Do We Want to Be - The Most Humble?

Rabbi Melanie Aron

Saturday, June 18, 2005

A few years ago, as part of a long range planning exercise, we surveyed the congregation, and asked our members what they wanted Shir Hadash to be.

Did they want us to be the largest congregation or the most spiritual? The most affordable or the most tolerant? To have the best religious school or the most outstanding adult learning? To be the most musical or the most friendly?

It’s interesting to think about a parallel question for ourselves or our children. Do we want to be, or do we want our children to be

1. the most successful
2. the most athletic
3. the smartest
4. the most compassionate
5. the most humble?

Moses, the main character in this week’s Torah portion, is known in later tradition by many superlatives. After all, he is the greatest of all prophets. But in the Torah itself he is described on as “the most humble – more so than any other man on earth.” Now this bothered the rabbis a little bit. It seemed strange that Moses wasn’t described as the wisest, most righteous, most heroic since it was he, who stood up to Pharaoh, split the sea, received Torah at Sinai. Sure being humble is better than being obnoxious and conceited, but is being humble really so important?

As our tradition pondered that question, different rabbis throughout the generations have provided different answers and I think these answers can teach us something relevant to our own day as well.

Rabbi Salanter, known for his ethical teachings said:

“If I want to appear bigger I can either climb a ladder or push my competitor into a pit.”

Too often those who are not humble, attempt to appear greater by making others look worse. Remember, in the musical, The King & I how no one’s head was allowed to be higher than the kings.

Some leaders, in business, in politics, and even in organizational life, stay leaders by not letting anyone else advance.

In this week’s Torah portion we saw how Moses was not that way. Rather than being anxious about competition, Moses welcomed other prophets saying, “would that all God’s people were prophets.”

Ibn Ezra, one of the classical Biblical commentators says:

Being humble was not juts an attitude. It meant that Moses didn’t do anything to put himself forward for special benefits.

Over and over, Moses had opportunities to benefit personally from his close relationship with God. But instead of taking advantage, he gave positions of honor to others. He gave the priesthood to his brother Aaron with its honors and benefits. Moses kept the good of all the Israelites his top priority. He rejected temptation so that when God offered to make Moses’ owr family, God’s only people, Moses rejected that alternative and was not in any way self-serving.

He was humble, not only in character but in what he did.

Finally, R. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, a modern Orthodox rabbi taught:

Humility comes from the ability to make a realistic self-appraisal of one’s strengths and faults. It comes from understanding and knowing enough to realize how little any one person can know and understand.

Moses, according to tradition, attained the highest comprehension of God of any human being, but rather than this making him sure that he knew the only right way, it made him humble.

There is an old Yiddish joke about a rabbi and cantor coming before for ark Yom Kippur and praying with great humility.

“O God, hear my prayer, I who am nothing.”

Along comes Shlomo, a simple fisherman, who stand before the ark and prays: O God, hear my prayer, I who am nothing. Whispers one of the busybodies in the Congregation. “Look who thinks he’s nothing.”

Persons of true humility have no need to diminish others, they can encourage others to develop and grow, they can allow for other visions of the truth.