By Avner Friedmann
The Talmud[1] teaches us that in Egypt, Amram the son of Kahat, was the leader of his generation. Once he saw that Pharaoh decreed that every newborn Hebrew son should be thrown into the river, he said, “We are laboring for nothing in attempting to produce children.” Consequently he separated his wife, and all the Jewish men followed suit.
His daughter, Miriam, said to him, “Father, your decree is harsher than that of Pharaoh, because he decreed only against the males, but you decreed against the males and the females. Pharaoh decreed only against life in this world, but you decreed against life in this world and the World to Come (since children are not being born). With Pharaoh, there is a possibility that his decree will not be observed, however, you are a righteous man; certainly your decree will be observed by others!”
One would think that a normal father would rebuke his little five year old daughter for daring to criticize him and telling him that he was wrong. Also, being the leader of his generation, changing his mind could put him in a negative light in the eyes of his followers. But Amram, in his great humility and search for truth, accepted his daughter’s argument immediately, and remarried his wife. Such an individual deserves to have Moshe as a son. Moshe would be the ultimate leader of Israel and the most humble man who ever lived, as HaShem attested in this week’s Parsha[2]: “Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth.”
Moshe’s humility sheds light on the nature of true humility. It is commonly assumed that humble individuals are afraid to assert their authority or are naive, but this is not the case. Moshe did not hesitate to confront Pharaoh and Korach, or rebuke the Jewish people when needed. He was not deterred from doing what was right even on account of being unpopular or putting himself in danger.
A humble individual will become involved and protest when it comes to Hashem’s honor, but may sit quietly by when his own honor is being challenged, as demonstrated by Moshe in this Parsha. Moshe did not defend himself against the criticism of his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron concerning not having marital relationship with his wife Tziporah[3].
Humility refers to someone’s personal assessment of himself regarding his own G-d-given talents, abilities, and potential. A humble person has total awareness of his greatness, but he lives the fact that it is all a gift from HaShem, and if given to others, they could possibly achieve more. Truly humble people can be the best in what they do, but without the ego associated with it.
Humility is the key to getting close to HaShem and the foundation to uprooting and correcting all bad character traits, emotions and tendencies. It can ultimately be achieved through Torah. Haughtiness, on the other hand, is what separates a person from HaShem, as our sages teach us[4]: “Any person who possesses haughtiness of spirit, the Holy One, Blessed is He, says: “I and he cannot dwell together in this world.” Considering that the purpose of our lives is to get close to HaShem, one cannot find a more severe statement than this one. A person with humility has the power to reach extremely high spiritual levels, as king David writes[5]: “HaShem is close to the brokenhearted; and saves those crushed in spirit.”
Even though Moshe was fully aware of his high spiritual level, and even though he was strong, wise, wealthy, and the leader of Israel, he wanted nothing for himself; it was all for the sake of Hashem and Israel. Moshe’s humility and his recognition of HaShem’s greatness was the reason he merited to receive the Torah, teach it to Israel, and have the Torah called after his name, “The Five Books of Moses”.[6]
The Holy Zohar says[7]: “One who considers himself important in this world, is considered unimportant in the worlds above. Fortunate is the person who makes himself small here, because by doing so he becomes truly big in the worlds above.” In the merit of Moshe, may we see the full and complete redemption, with Moshiach, speedily in our days, Amen.
[1] Sotah 12a.
[2] Bamidbar 12:3.
[3] Bamidbar 12: 1-13. (Moshe was commanded by Hashem to do so.)
[4] Sotah 5a.
[5] Tehilim 34:19.
[6] Netivot Shalom: Avot Perek 1, and Korach A.
[7] Chaye Sarah 122c.
