Parshas B’haalosecha
“Now the man Moshe was very humble more than all the men on the face of the earth.” (Bamidbar 12:3)
“Be very very humble.” (Avos 4:4)
How is the middah of arrogance different from the other middos that the Tanna had to repeat a word when exhorting us to go to the other extreme and say “Be very very humble?”
Arrogance and chasing after honor have something that all other middos don’t. It’s known that it’s impossible to evaluate the worth of a mitzvah in This World because the entire world isn’t sufficient reward for even one mitzvah. The Rishonim explain that when a person is being coerced to transgress a negative commandment he’s required to spend all his money not to transgress it. The Torah doesn’t disclose the reward for positive commandments the Ramban explains for reimbursement in This World is physical. Therefore nothing in This World can provide reward for mitzvos which are spiritual.
I knew a girl who slept at her grandmother’s every night for a year and a half. There were no rotations no other granddaughters. Everyone else had a good reason why they couldn’t do it so this girl was left alone with the big job. She’d get there at 10 p. m. and had to be quiet for her grandmother was sleeping. In that quiet house dragging a shoe sounded like the rumble of a tractor. While her friends were on the phone late into the night this girl would study quietly with half-closed eyes.
