It would not matter whose door I knocked on— that of a hostage or of surviving relatives of a murdered hostage— each one teaches humility
ASa student and teacher of mussar, I have long been perplexed by the trait of humility. Rav Yisrael Salanter and his eminent disciples taught the necessity of refining one’s character traits (middos) as essential to service of the Creator.
But how does one work on humility? If I am plagued by other bad traits — by anger, for example — and I work on it and improve, I can measure my improvement. If certain conditions used to provoke my anger, but no longer do, I can see that my mussar work on this trait is progressing. But humility? If I think I’ve arrived, it’s a sure sign I haven’t. So how does one work on the trait of humility?
In this day and age, there is, oh so sadly, a surefire method that I wish I could undertake, but living in the Diaspora, my possibilities are limited. Here is the method:
I knock on the door of Jon and Rachel Polin-Goldberg in Jerusalem. Their son Hersh was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and in the process, his arm was amputated. The Polin-Goldbergs traveled the world advocating for their son’s freedom. Their love, eloquence, composure, absolute moral clarity, and determination were arresting. They stopped only when the evildoers murdered their son some ten and a half months later.
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