Moses was said to be a very humble man. He loved his people and went to bat for them many times. But he could also be firm and sometimes showed his righteous anger when the Isrealites were disobeying God’s commands. So, what does humility really
mean? Google says that humility is a modest or low view of one’s own importance.
I’ve been studying about humility and one thing that stood out to me was that “all virtues and duties are dependent on humility. The first leg of our spiritual journey involves the cultivation of humility.
The Talmud says: One who sacrifices a whole offering shall be rewarded for a whole offering. One who offers a burnt- offering shall have the reward of a burnt-offering. But one who offers humility to God and man shall be rewarded with a reward as if he had offered all the sacrifices in the world. A contrite and humbled spirit is a sacrifice to God. God does not ignore a broken heart.
Humility is a primary soul-trait to work on because it requires us to take an honest assessment of who we are. Real Humility is always associated with healthy self-esteem.
Let me clarify; true humility does not mean being a nobody, it just means being no more of a somebody than you ought to be.
Let’s try this. Next time you sit on a bench, watch how much of it you occupy. There is no need to cringe on the edge, because, you are entitled to sit. Yet there is also no justification for sprawling into a space that ought to accommodate someone else. When someone shares a piece of news with you, do you quickly come back with your own concerns, filling the space they’ve opened, or do you make room to follow up what the person has introduced.
If you are unsure whether humility is a soul-trait you need to work on, ask yourself this: Do you leave enough space in your life for others, or are you jamming up your world with your-self?
How could Moses possibly be a humble man? It was because he knew what space he occupied. As a leader he sometimes had to occupy a lot of space. He gave orders, made hard decisions concerning the people and sometimes he showed his distaste in what the people were doing, but he also knew how to leave enough space for others in his life. He would fall on his face and pray for the people, even though it seemed they did not deserve it. He loved them.
I will leave you with this!
A small deed done in humility is a thousand times more acceptable to God than a great deed done in pride!
Shabbat Shalom
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