http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
King Solomon issued the famous warning that "pride goes
before a fall."
Now, pride is a necessary ingredient of leadership.
People without pride in their accomplishments and a
sense of their own worth are subject to weakness and
depression. People without pride are rarely successful.
Yet the Torah warns us over and over again about being
too prideful; we are warned repeatedly against the awful
sin of hubris and arrogance.
Maimonides -- the great advocate of the golden mean that
warns against excess in behavior -- warns against hubris
and overweening pride. He advocates instead going to
the extreme of absolute humility in personal traits.
The compliment that the Torah itself pays to Moses, our
teacher and leader, is "that the man Moses was the most
humble of all humans." So how are we to be prideful and
humble at the very same time?
The answer lies, in my humble opinion, in the ability to
listen honestly to the criticism and comments of others.
We can certainly remain proud of ourselves and our
achievements, but we must always be open to the words
of criticism regarding our policies and deportment.
I learned long ago that people who aspire to minister to
the spiritual and physical needs of others have to listen to
them as well.
There is a famous Yiddish folk saying that one has to
"listen to the patient's opinion about his health and not
necessarily to that of the doctor."
Listening to others has a humbling effect on even the most
prideful of humans. It is only when one is surrounded by
yes-men, when one is so full of oneself that one consults
with and listens to no one, that hubris sets in. And then
disastrous consequences, personal and national, are
probable.
In biblical times, the task of the prophet was to be the
moral critic of the ruler and/or king of Israel. It was never
an enviable task, telling the king that he was spiritually
wrong and morally naked.
But kings who listened to prophets, who humbled
themselves and admitted error -- David, Hizkiyahu,
Yehoash -- were and are heroic figures in Jewish history.
They escaped the trap of hubris which engulfs most
people in authority. Saul, Ahav, Zidkiyahu - great kings
who could not bear to hear or obey the critical words of
the prophets - remain tragic figures in Jewish history.
My yeshiva teachers taught me long ago that true pride is
in the search for deep humility, for only one who can hear
the opinions and words of others and thereby change and
grow is a truly humble person --- the Moses that can lead
Israel out of its desert of troubles.
Any reader of Psalms is struck by the sincerity and
humility of King David. It is apparent that only in humility
can he find ultimate serenity.
True Jewish leadership is confident because of the
underlying humility that girds and informs it. Hubris and
arrogance, bombastic speeches and empty threats, only
express an inner doubt about oneself and one's cause.
Our society suffers from a double defect in this area. We
are overly humble, almost ashamed of our
accomplishments. The revisionist 'post-Zionist' historians
have completely deflated the inspirational quality of the
creation of the State of Israel. The avant-garde
intellectuals and columnists champion the causes of Arafat
and Assad. They are right and we are wrong.
Their humility is so extreme that they have willingly pled
guilty to all of the false charges leveled against us by our
foes.
In the 19th century, many of our German and Russian
ancestors also believed that the charges by antisemites
were somehow justified. This self-hatred, which is sick
humility, brought only disaster to all of Jewry.
And yet on the other hand, we suffer from the sin of
hubris. We are constantly surrounded by leaders, judges,
teachers, etc. who are deaf and unresponsive to the
criticism of others.
Being elected or appointed to an important office is no
evidence of infallibility. In fact, that is when extreme
humility is most necessary.The combination of arrogance
about one's self and extreme humility when defending
one's just cause, people and tradition is a lethal one. We
should do all in our power to escape from the hubris
trap.
JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and
founder of the Destiny Foundation. He resides in Jerusalem. You may contact Rabbi
Wein by clicking here or calling 1-800-499-WEIN (9346).
Maimonides -- the great advocate of the golden mean that
warns against excess in behavior -- warns against hubris
and overweening pride. He advocates instead going to
the extreme of absolute humility in personal traits.
