Rabbi Yigal Cohen – How Can We Observe Some Commandments and Disregard Others?

Another damage caused by the trait of pride is that one does not submit before the blessed Creator in all his deeds. Therefore, we see people who disregard various commandments or, God forbid, transgress prohibitions, even though they do observe some of the commandments.

The reason is that they do not submit themselves entirely before the blessed Creator, and feel that in certain matters they can cast off His yoke from upon them. If they encounter suffering, they immediately raise their eyes to the Creator of the world with complaints, "Why do you bring me these troubles?" and the like. All this because they think they do not deserve any punishment at all since they are perfect, and if they were managing the world, they would do better than the blessed Creator.

"On that day, Hashem will be one and His name one" (Zechariah 14:9). The goal of all creation is for the entire world to know that there is none besides Him. All our actions and thoughts, our successes and failures, are only by the grace of Hashem. This will be during the Messiah's time; everyone will know that there is only Hashem in the world.

Imagine that the Messiah asked the proud person, "What have you done for Hashem?" He would reply, "I, I, and I." The Messiah will respond, "You do not belong in the generation of the Messiah's days because you could not completely annul yourself and understand that everything, everywhere, is only Hashem."

In contrast, the trait of humility -

is the root of all good traits, so much so that Moses our teacher, who was the most perfect person on earth, was praised by the blessed Creator who said, "In all my house he is trusted; I speak to him mouth to mouth, in a vision and not in riddles." The Rambam explains this verse, stating that all the prophets prophesied in a dream, allegorically, but Moses our teacher merited speaking with Hashem directly, in vision and not in riddles, and was permitted to speak with the Creator at any time he wished. Certainly, he was perfect in all his traits, and the holy Torah praised him only for his humility, as it is said (Numbers 12:3), "And the man Moses was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth," to teach us that the greatest praise for a person is the praise of humility, as it encompasses all good traits.

In Praise of Humility

In this chapter, too, I shall bring many insights from our rabbi Bachye's wonderful book "Duties of the Heart" in the Gate of Submission, beginning with an explanation of what humility is. Rashi in his commentary on the word "humble" mentioned in the Torah (Numbers 12:3) explains: "Lowly and patient," meaning, a person who is humble knows in his soul his lowness and how little he is valued, and understands how lacking he is in his traits and deeds. As a result of this knowledge, he becomes patient, not quick to anger, behaves patiently with others and speaks softly, and does not take revenge even when he has the power to avenge, even if he has the ability to repay his fellow as his deeds.

Initially, I thought humility meant knowing I am nothing, a zero, not knowing how to learn, earn money, help others, solve problems for myself or others, etc. But after learning the foundations of this trait, I understood that even a donkey knows nothing and cannot solve problems or learn. Does a donkey count as possessing the trait of humility? Certainly not. The humility of a donkey stems from the lowliness of its existence, as the blessed Creator did not grant it the intellect to speak, understand, solve problems, and the like. Therefore, the donkey is not considered possessing humility.

True humility is when one knows all their attributes. If the blessed Creator has granted him sharp intelligence, he must internalize this and try to use this gift by innovating in Torah and teaching Torah to others. Similarly, a Jew who the blessed Creator has granted business acumen and knows how to buy merchandise and sell it profitably should recognize this gift and use it to earn his livelihood and help others. If a person has developed technical skills, he should know he received this gift from the Creator and use it to invent products that can benefit people.

The same applies to a woman whom the blessed Creator has endowed with persuasive abilities. She should not say to herself, "Who am I, and what is my life?" Instead, she should utilize this precious gift to persuade her friends and relatives to come closer to the blessed Creator, and strengthen the hearts of the daughters of Israel in modesty and love of the blessed Creator. Indeed, every person in the world has a unique gift he received from the blessed Creator, by which he can help himself and others.

However, there is a great principle in the trait of humility - even if the blessed Creator has endowed us with special qualities, we must always remember that our very existence, thoughts, and abilities are a constant gift from Hashem. We must not hold ourselves as wise and talented by our merit, but rather we have been fortunate to receive a slightly more unique gift than others.

It is akin to two laborers, one whose task is to carry bottles of Coca-Cola and the other who carries regular water. Every person of understanding knows that the laborer carrying the more expensive drink cannot be proud over the other because it all depends on the decision of the employer to give one this and the other that; it does not depend on the laborer at all. The employer can change their loads, and by the next day, things will change.

Many times, I have been asked simple questions in Jewish law, and I felt how the gates of wisdom closed to me and I could not provide an answer, and other times the Creator had mercy on me and threw the correct answer into my mind.

Apparently, one might ask, isn't the brain the same brain, and the cells within it have not changed? So what is the difference?

The answer is clear to everyone: "For Hashem gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 2:6).

At every moment, the blessed Creator casts ideas, questions, answers, and solutions into our thoughts, and sometimes He withholds the solution from us. How can we be proud of a gift that is thrown upon us from above?

The book 'Yagel Libi BiYeshuatecha' is available at select stores and at Hidabroot Shops