Dear Friends,
I once heard about a learned clergyman who publicized among his townspeople that he was the humblest person on earth.
During one of his meetings with the local rabbi, the rabbi turned to him and asked: “My friend, you are known to be knowledgeable and learned. You surely know the verse from Parashat Beha’alotcha ‘Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth.’ So, if you are the humblest person, how does that work out with the Biblical verse?”
The learned man thought a moment and said, “Yes, I know that verse, and I actually have the same question about it.”
“Well,” said the rabbi, “if you really have the same question, I have the answer.”
How, indeed, was Moshe the humblest person ever? Of course, he was not a liar, G-d forbid, and he knew the truth very well, the truth being that he was the person chosen to lead the people, take them out of Egypt, go up to Mount Sinai and bring back the Torah. After all, he was Moshe Rabbeinu! How, with all that, did he manage to be the humblest person on earth?
The Rebbe explains this in a way that should give all of us the true perspective on ourselves and our lives: Moshe knew exactly who Moshe Rabbeinu was; he knew his own worth. But Moshe Rabbeinu always remembered that everything he had he had received as a gift from Hashem. He thought and believed that if his powers would have been given to Yankel or Shmerel, they too would have reached his spiritual level, and perhaps they would even have exceeded it. An outlook like that brings a human being to true humility.
Friends, this is not just another commentary; it is an instruction for life. Before a person starts thinking very highly of himself, he should try to calculate what another person would have achieved, if he had been born into a family like his, had had parents like his and the same talents that he has. There is a chance that that other person would have achieved even more.
This is a perspective that is enough to balance us. I wish you all success in internalizing it!
Shabbat Shalom,
Zalmen Wishedski