B"H

Monday, Sivan 21, 5778 / June 4, 2018

At the end of Parshat Beha'alotcha, which we read this past Shabbat, the Torah tells us, “The man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth.”

Q.Moshe attained the highest spiritual level any human achieved. In many ways Moshe was even greater than the angels. How can we explain rationally the fact that Moshe was the most humble person on the face of the earth? Why did he feel so humble?

A. There is a saying in the Talmud, “Whoever has one hundred wants two hundred; whoever has two hundred, desires four hundred, etc.” The more one possesses, the more one desires. In other words, the more one has the more they feel they are missing. This is especially true with spirituality.

It is precisely for this reason that Moshe was so humble. Moshe attained the highest spiritual level and the highest level of Torah knowledge, more than any other human being. From his vantage point he realized that there was so much more beyond his reach. Thus, he felt he was missing much more than anyone else. This made him the most humble person on the face of the earth. 

In many synagogues there is a sign, “Da lifnei mi ata omed” – “Know before whom you are standing.” The reason for this is that prayer must be with humility. We shouldn’t come before G-d saying, “You owe me. I deserve that you fulfill my requests.” We should pray with humility; that G-d answer our prayers out of His infinite kindness, even though we may not deserve. Realizing before whom we are standing in prayer, helps us feel humble. The more we focus on G-d’s greatness, the more we realize our own shortcomings. This helps us pray with humility.

It was the same with Moshe. His knowledge of G-d’s greatness surpassed that of any other human being. Thus, he realized that with all his great virtues, he was so insignificant in the presence of G-d. As a result he was the most humble person upon the face of the earth.

Also, Moshe felt that his qualities were a gift from G-d. It was not his achievement, only that G-d chose him to lead the Jewish people. Moshe thought, had G-d chosen anyone else for this role, they would have surpassed his accomplishments. Thus, he was the most humble person.

A poor man once came upon a tremendous treasure of the most expensive diamonds buried in the ground. Afraid of being seen, he quickly stuffed his pockets with as many diamonds as he could. When his family saw the treasure, they were all jumping with excitement… But he was very sad. When asked why he was so sad, he replied, “You’re happy because this is all you see, but I know that compared to what I left behind, what I took is so insignificant. The same was with Moshe. Realizing how much was beyond him which he couldn’t attain, it made him feel very humble.      

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY