Humility Above All Else

18 Adar II 5782

“And Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting. Then they came out and blessed the people, and the glory of the L‑rd appeared to all the people.” (Vayikra 9:23)

Rashi explains, “When Aaron saw that all the sacrifices had been offered and all the procedures had been performed, and yet the Shechinah had not descended for Israel, he was distressed. He said, ‘I know that the Holy One, blessed is He, is angry with me, and on my account the Shechinah has not descended for Israel.’”

When Aaron saw that despite all his efforts the Shechinah had not yet manifested itself within the tabernacle’s walls, he immediately attributed this failure to his own unworthiness. This is the hallmark of a true Jewish leader, and for that matter, a true Torah Jew in general, that his humility goes above all else. He does not look for the fault in others, but instead reflects on his own unworthiness and seeks ways to amend it. He judges others by the standards of chaf zchut, but spares himself no criticism. He knows his place and constantly seeks to improve it.

“O remember how short is my life span! Why have You created all children of man for naught?” (Tehillim 89:48)

We must always remember that we are mere human beings, mortal and relatively meaningless. Our relationship with Hashem is clear, we are only extensions of His life-force, everything we have stems from Him. The more we internalize this, the more truthful our divine service will be. We won’t stand in prayer confused by alien thoughts and distracted by every day affairs, we will know that drawing down life-force onto the whole world, not merely onto our own selves and our pocketbooks, is the primary task of our prayer. As such, we will be able to temporarily forget ourselves and truly become one with the life-force apportioned for us.

“This part of the world depends on his vital soul for its elevation to G‑d through the vital soul’s own elevation.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 37)

Our entire importance stems from the fact that we have a unique part of the world that depends on our vital soul for its elevation. We are merely extensions of the Divine will, created to surmount the challenges in our way, refine ourselves through them, and elevate our subdivision of the general soul of Israel.