A principle of all religions is the virtue of humility. Humility is considered the foundation of all virtues. This appears to be the case also in Judaism as articulated in almost every text from the Bible to the 19th century works of Chassidism. I would like to argue that while meekness, humility and lowliness of spirit is an all-important virtue in Judaism, in the second half of the 20th century, after the Holocaust, this virtue appears to be reevaluated in Jewish theology as not a virtue as an end in itself but rather must be accompanied by a healthy pride enabling one to make the world a place for the in-dwelling of the Divine. This fundamental shift, I would like to suggest, is based not merely on a change in Jewish ethics but a subtle new approach in Jewish theology.
At the heart of Jewish theology is the spiritual experience at Sinai. The Jews left Egypt from slavery to freedom into an inhabitable dessert where they received the Torah through Moses, first in the form of the Ten Commandments and then the full set of laws to guide them to live a life of virtue. With this experience the Jewish people obtained the status of peoplehood. While the Ten Commandments and the full set of Torah laws does not include the specific commandment to be humble - a classic question posed by many commentators – the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai itself is presented as an indication of the father of all virtues: humility. The Talmud states[1]:
Bar Kappara interpreted a verse homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Why do you look askance [teratzdun], O high-peaked mountains, at the mountain that God has desired for His abode”[2]? A Divine Voice issued forth and said to all the mountains that came and demanded that the Torah be given upon them: Why do you seek [tirtzu] to enter into a legal dispute [din] with Mount Sinai? You are all blemished in comparison to Mount Sinai, as it is written here: “High-peaked [gavnunnim]” and it is written there, with regard to the blemishes that disqualify a priest: “Or crookbacked [gibben] or a dwarf”[3]. Rav Ashi said: Learn from this that one who is arrogant is considered blemished. The other mountains arrogantly insisted that the Torah should be given upon them, and they were therefore described as blemished.
This is articulated also in another Talmudic text[4]:
It stands to reason that the meaning of the verse is like the one who says: I am with the contrite person, as the Holy One, Blessed be He, disregarded all of the mountains and hills, and rested His Divine Presence on the lowly Mount Sinai, and He did not choose to raise Mount Sinai up toward Him. God chose to give the Torah on Mount Sinai, as it was a symbol of humility due to its lack of height, and He lowered His Divine Presence, as it were, to the mountain. Rav Yosef says: A person should always learn proper behavior from the wisdom of his Creator, as the Holy One, Blessed be He, disregarded all of the mountains and hills and rested His Divine Presence on the lowly Mount Sinai. And similarly, when appearing to Moses, He disregarded all of the beautiful trees and rested His Divine Presence on the bush[5].
Interestingly, Josephus seems to suggest the contrary that G-d gave the Torah on the highest mountain among other mountains in the Sinai dessert, negating the above teaching of humility as the reason for the giving the Torah on Mount Sinai. Josephus writes[6]:
Now Moses called the multitude together, and told them that he was going from them unto mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive from him, and to bring back with him, a certain oracle; but he enjoined them to pitch their tents near the mountain, and prefer the habitation that was nearest to God, before one more remote. When he had said this, he ascended up to Mount Sinai, which is the highest of all the mountains that are in that country and is not only very difficult to be ascended by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of the eyes: and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, on account of the rumor that passed about, that God dwelt there. But the Hebrews removed their tents as Moses had bidden them, and took possessionof the lowest parts of the mountain; and were elevated in their minds, in expectation that Moses would return from God with promises of the good things he had proposed to them. So they feasted and waited for their conductor, and kept themselves pure as in other respects, and not accompanying with their wives for three days, as he had before ordered them to do. And they prayed to God that he would favorably receive Moses in his conversing with him, and bestow some such gift upon them by which they might live well. They also lived more plentifully as to their diet; and put on their wives and children more ornamental and decent clothing than they usually wore.
Although Josephus suggests the mountain chosen to teach the Ten Commandments was the highest mountain peak in the Sinai dessert, not the lowest, he would not necessarily contradict the idea that the virtue of humility is a prerequisite to living well per the Jewish religion. It’s possible Josephus accepted this idea from another aspect of the giving of the law at Sinai, as articulated by his contemporary of the 1st century Philo of Alexandria (25 BC – 50 AD). Josephus in fact mentions Philo in Antiquities of the Jews[7]. Philo argues in The Decalogue there are four reasons why the Torah was given to the Jews in an empty dessert as opposed to a city: 1. Cities are full of people with pride committing unspeakable evils and injustices, 2. To purify their souls before receiving the sacred Torah one must live apart. 3. It is logical that before settling in a new location, regulations should be prepared beforehand. 4. Living in the dessert with all the miracles that were performed for the Jews implanted in their minds that the Torah was not inventions of men but rather of G-d. The foremost reason however is that people who dwell in the city are full of pride giving rise to unspeakable evils and injustices from one citizen to another. The rejection of pride and the virtue of humility is, per Jewish writers of the first century, a prerequisite to receiving the Torah.
The virtue of humility as the underpinning to the Torah is expressed in by Solomon in Proverbs[8]: Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord; Assuredly, he will not go unpunished. In Psalms[9] it states: But the lowly shall inherit the land, and delight in abundant well-being. Further in Psalms it states[10]: A prayer of David. Incline Your ear, O Lord, answer me, for I am poor and needy. The virtue of humility becomes a part of Jewish teaching for the first time in the rabbinic canon in the 1st century work of the Mishna, Ethics of the Fathers[11]: Rabbi Levitas, a man of Yavneh, says: Be very, very humble in spirit, for the hope of man is worms. Rabbi Meir says: Minimize business and engage in Torah. Be humble of spirit before everyone. In Ethics of the Fathers[12], it compares the haughty to Bilaam and the humble to Abraham:
Anyone who has these three things is from the students of Abraham, our father, and [anyone who has] three other things is from the students of Bilaam the evildoer: [one who has] a good eye, a humble spirit and a small appetite -- is from the students of Abraham, our father. [One who has] an evil eye, a haughty spirit and a broad appetite - is from the students of Bilaam the evildoer. What [difference] is there between the students of Abraham, our father, and the students of Bilaam the evildoer? The students of Abraham, our father, eat in this world and possess the next world, as it is stated[13], "There is what for those that love Me to inherit, and their treasuries will I fill." But the students of Bilaam the evildoer inherit Gehinnom (Purgatory) and go down to the pit of destruction, as it is stated[14], "And You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; the people of blood and deceit, they will not live out half their days; and I will trust in You."
The virtue of humility as a fundamental way of life in Judaism is included in the work of Jewish law by Maimonides[15]:
There are dispositions within which it is forbidden for a man to follow moderation, but rather he should distance himself from one extreme to the point of going to the other extreme. And one such disposition is haughtiness, such that the good path is not that a person just be modest, but rather he should be lowly of spirit and his spirit should be very cast down. And therefore, it is stated about Moses, our teacher[16], "very humble," and it does not only state, "humble. And therefore, our sages commanded[17], "Be very, very, lowly of spirit." And they also said[18], "Anyone who is haughty is denying a fundamental principle of faith, as it stated[19], "And your heart become haughty and you will forget the Lord, your God." And they also said[20], "In excommunication is [placed] one who has contemptuousness, and even partially [so]."
This is further expressed in the 19th century by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi[21]:
"I have become small from all the favours and from all..." This means that by every favour (chesed) that G‑d bestows upon man, (man) is to become very humble. For "chesed is the right arm," and "His right arm embraces me,"— which refers to the state of G‑d actually bringing him close (to Himself), far more intensely than before. And whoever is close to G‑d, with ever exceeding uplifting and elevation, must be ever more humble— to the lowliest plane, as it is written: "From afar the Lord has appeared to me." And as known, "All that are before Him are esteemed as nothing." Hence, whoever is more "before Him" is that much more as nothing, naught, and non-existent. And this is the rank of the "right side" of holiness, and of "chesed unto Abraham" who said: "And I am dust and ashes." This (humility) is also the trait of Jacob, and therewith he justified himself for his fear of Esau and did not rely on the promise given to him— "And, behold, I am with you..," That is because Jacob regarded himself as utterly insignificant [because of the multitude of favours, "for with my staff..." ], and as unfit and unworthy to be saved ... and as the saying of our sages, of blessed memory, "maybe sin will cause ...." for it appeared to him that he had sinned. It is different, though, with the corresponding opposite, i.e. Ishmael—"chesed of kelipah" : the more kindness (manifested to him), the more he grows in pride, haughtiness and self-satisfaction.
This emphasis of humility as the principal virtue in Judaism continues up to the eve of the Holocaust. Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn teaches that the foundation of Jewish ethics is to transform the ‘I’ into ‘nothingness’.
The virtue of pride combined with humility
One of the greatest Jewish leaders after the Holocaust, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn, known as the Rebbe, appears to fundamentally change what seems to have been the virtue of all virtues, humility, to a need to find a spiritually refined pride. To present this idea, he reexamines the very concept that the rabbis of the Talmud used to establish the virtue of humility as the bedrock of Judaism in the first place, namely the giving of the Torah on the lowest of all mountains, Mount Sinai. In 1958 he challenges the notion that the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai was to indicate that the most important virtue in Judaism is humility: if the most important virtue is lowliness why wasn’t the Torah given in a valley or at least on a plane[22]? A mountain that is lower than other mountains indicates a need for a combination of the virtue of humility and pride together.
With the idea of moving away from the virtue of total humility the passage quoted by Maimonides ‘Now Moses was very humble - more humble than any other person on earth’[23] is also reexamined. The emphasis is not so much on the extreme humility but the beginning of the sentence ‘Moses’ indicating that Moses in his esteemed position as law-giver who performed miracles for the Jewish people, contained a combination of humility with self-awareness. The humility, per this approach, is not advocating an intrinsic lack of self-worth before G-d, but rather a more rational humility based on an awareness that endowed qualities to a person should not be viewed as their own but rather G-d given and therefore necessitating humility. This however is a very different approach to the virtue of intrinsic worthlessness and meekness before G-d that the works of Judaism advocated for centuries in order to have a relationship with G-d.
This more nuanced approach to the virtue of humility in Judaism reexamines also several other texts in this light. In addition to the verse mentioned above in Psalms[24]: “But the lowly shall inherit the land” we may read another verse in Palms[25]: “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell forever in it” and[26]: “I will walk about at ease (בָרְחָבָה), for I have turned to Your precepts.”
Theology
If it is correct that a new approach to the virtue of humility was presented after the Holocaust one would have to argue that a new nuanced Jewish theology was also suggested after the Holocaust. It would be illogical to view virtue separate from theology. I would like to argue that a new approach to the virtue of humility as presented by the Rebbe was in fact accompanied by a new approach to Jewish theology.
Jewish theology is traditionally seen through the lens of Malachi[27]: “For I am the Lord, I change not.” This reflects the belief that G-d is beyond any corporeality and comprehension. Any positive attribute describing G-d is inadequate. According to Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed[28] G-d can only be described in the negative, what G-d is not. According to Maimonides the purpose of life to know G-d. The ultimate is the fulfillment of Isaiah: the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d[29]. This theocentric view of a transcendent G-d necessitates the negation of the self to obtain a connection with the Divine.
A second approach in Jewish theology is that the purpose of the existence of man is not merely to know G-d but to make the world a sanctuary for G-d. This is based on the verse in Song of Songs[30]: “I have come to my garden, My own, my bride”. The Pesikta D’Rav Kahanna[31] comments:
The word used is not L'Gan [which would mean "to the garden"], but L'Gani [which means "to My garden"] - and this implies L'Gnuni, which means to My bridal chamber, into the place in which My essence was originally revealed. In the beginning, the essence of the Shechinah was in this lowly world. However, in the wake of the cosmic sin of the Tree of Knowledge, the Shechinah departed from the earth and rose into the heavens. Later, on account of the sin of Cain and then of Enosh, the Shechinah withdrew even further from this world, rising from the nearest heaven to the second, and then to the third. Later yet, the sins of the generation of the Deluge caused it to recede from the third heaven to the fourth, and so on. Through the merit of Avraham the Shechinah was brought down from the seventh heaven to the sixth, through the merit of Yitzchak the Shechinah was brought down from the sixth heaven to the fifth, and so on - until Moshe drew the revelation of the Shechinah down once again into this world below.
This teaching of the Midrash that the essence of the Divine presence was in the physical world, departed and then returned indicates that the purpose of the righteous is to cause the indwelling of the Divinity presence in the world. This implies not the existence of a transcendent G-d but a G-d who desires to be present in the physical world. The existence of man then is to enable the descent of the Divine presence into the world, as per the command to build a sanctuary for G-d to be present.
While Pesikta D’Rav Kahanna is an old text, dating possibly back to the 5th century CE, the drawing on this text as a principle in Jewish theology is relatively new. It was adapted as the most foundational theological teaching of the Rebbe throughout his works[32].
In 1977 related to the above teaching of Pesikta D’Rav Kahanna the Rebbe elaborates that since the purpose of human being is to make the world a dwelling place for the Divine (Dirah B’tachtonim), humility is not an end in itself but for the purpose of revelation of the Divine in the world. This spiritual aim requires a person not to be of utter lowliness in character (askupah hanidreset) but of pride[33].
The theology of G-d in the world is not however a contradiction with a transcendent G-d. The Rebbe argues that one may make a distinction between a radical transcendent G-d and radical essence of G-d. While a transcendent G-d might be in contradiction with a corporeal world, the radical essence of G-d may be manifest in a corporeal world. The rationale is that a transcendent G-d is infinite that is in contradiction with a finite world, however the radical essence of G-d may be perceived as infinite to a degree that it can embrace even the most finite existence without it contradicting the essence of the Divine. A truly infinite and undefined G-d may be manifest in the transcendence and in the finite in the same manner. In fact, one may argue that the true essence of G-d is manifest particularly when present in the finite physical world.
This embracing of the physical world by the Divine – combining the radical essence of G-d with the lowly world is what may be indicated by the revelation of G-d at Mount Sinai.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Megillah 29a
[2] Psalms 68:17
[3] Leviticus 21:20
[4] Sotah 5a
[5] Exodus 3:2
[6] Antiquities of the Jews, Book 3 5:1
[7] 18:8 1
[8] 16:5
[9] 37:11
[10] 86:1
[11] 4:4-10
[12] 5:19
[13] Proverbs 8:21
[14] Psalms 55:24
[15] Mishneh Torah Hilchot De’ot 2:3
[16] Numbers 12:3
[17] Ethics of the Fathers 4:
[18] Sotah 4b
[19] Deuteronomy 8:14
[20] Sotah 5a
[21] Igrot Hakodesh 2
[22] Likutei Sichot vol. 1 p. 276
[23] Numbers 12:3
[24] 37:11
[25] 37:29
[26] 119:45
[27] 3:6
[28] 1:58
[29] Mishneh Torah Hilchot Teshuvah 9:2
[30] 5:1
[31] 1:1
[32] See ‘Heaven on Earth: Reflections on the theology of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe’ by Faitel Levin (Kehot)
[33] Sefer Hamamarim 5737 p. 35