[Avodah] humility

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, February 19, 2008 7:38 am, R Michael Makovi wrote:
: The Biblical View of Man by Rabbi Leo Adler (Urim) says that the
: Tanach links anavah and yirat hashem so inextricably, almost as if
: they're synonyms, because the natural result of fearing Hashem and
: recognizing Who He is, is to recognize one's own pettiness and
: worthlessness.

Except that anavah isn't worthlessness. Anavah should motivate, not
raise questions of "What could /I/ accomplish?" Yir'ah too is a
motivator, not quaking in one's boots in fear of acting lest one
deserve punishment.

: (An aside: There are of course many examples of anavah, but an
: excellent one, and relatively little known I suspect, is Dr. Benjamin
: Carson: his autobiography Gifted Hands is a fantastic example of true
: anavah as expounded by Mesilat Yesharim - he recognizes his abilities
: are from G-d and that they are nothing but a responsibility, and if
: doesn't use them to save lives, he's simply abusing what was given
: him, and if he does save lives, then yes he is great, but only because
: G-d chose him to be so, and he can take no pride in them; and that he
: depends on his secretary and garbage man, etc., to do what he does,
: and they are as important as he is.)

This is anavah as the notion of realizing that one is a critical part
of Hashem's plan, and that everything he has and is capable of is
because Hashem gave him the tools to perform that part. Lekakh
notzarta. Im la'eis kazos higat lamalkhus. (As per blog entry
<http://tinyurl.com/2w83ha> referenced in my earlier post.) It's an
awareness of the gap between the potential HQBH gave me and what I've
accomplished with it so far.

Notice how your example doesn't match your definition "to recognize
one's own pettiness and worthlessness".

Yes, yir'ah shows the gap between He who made what could be, and I,
who made what I am. So the two are inextricably linked. But I would
not say that's true in the manner you described.

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
http://www.aishdas.org     - Rav Yosef Yozel Horwitz, Alter of Novarodok
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