Parashat Tetzaveh- Humility and Self-Esteem
Humility and Self-Esteem
Parashat Tetzaveh presents the laws regarding the Bigdei Kehuna, the special garments worn by the Kohanim. The Torah instructs Benei Yisrael to make these garments "Le'chavod U'l'tif'aret" – "for honor and glory" (28:2). The purpose of these lavish vestments was to bring honor and glory to the Kohanim, who served as God's attendants, as it were, in the Beit Ha'mikdash.
This verse forces us to reexamine the role and status of "Kavod" (honor) in Judaism. The Torah here encourages the Kohanim to bring honor and glory to themselves by wearing special garments. Does this not run in direct opposition to the value of humility, which plays such a central role in religious life? Rabbis are always preaching the importance of humility, of lowering one's ego and shying away from honor. How, then, can the Torah command the Kohanim to wear special, magnificent clothing in the Beit Ha'mikdash to earn the honor and respect of all who see them?
In truth, this question reflects a fundamental misconception regarding the definition of humility. People often associate humility with the negation of self-esteem, with a lowly self-image, an attitude that says, "I am nothing, I am nobody." It is commonly understood that being humble means feeling unimportant and unaccomplished. This is a terrible mistake.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the great Rabbinic leaders of American Jewry in the late 1900's, was renowned for his humble and unassuming demeanor. Once, he was told by physicians that he needs a pacemaker placed in his body, and he requested a period of a few weeks to think over this decision. He eventually agreed and underwent the procedure. When asked why he needed time, he explained that when Mashi'ach comes, the Sanhedrin (Supreme Rabbinical Court) will be reinstated and he, one of the leading Halachic scholars of the generation, will likely be asked to sit on the Sanhedrin. However, Halacha disqualifies a person with a physical defect from serving on the Sanhedrin. Rabbi Feinstein therefore needed time to analyze the sources and determine whether having a pacemaker in his body would constitute a "defect" in this regard and disqualify him for membership in the Sanhedrin.
Rabbi Feinstein, among the most humble men of his time, realized that he was great enough to be considered a candidate to sit on the Sanhedrin.
Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky, the Chief Rabbi of London in the mid-1900's, was once asked to testify in a secular court. When he took the stand, the judge asked, "I have heard that you are the leading scholar of Jewish law in this generation – is this correct?"
"Yes, Your Honor, this is correct," Rabbi Abramsky assertively replied.
The judge looked bewildered and asked the Rabbi how he could make such a comment given the importance of humility as a Jewish virtue. Rabbi Abramsky replied, "Yes, Your Honor, humility is a virtue, but I am under oath!"
Great Rabbis knew that they were great. Denying one's value, importance and achievements is not humility; it's foolishness. Judaism does not encourage foolishness – it encourages humility. Humility means recognizing that as great as one is, as much as he has accomplished, he can accomplish much more. If he has mastered one hundred pages of Talmud, perhaps he could have mastered two hundred. If he has been graced with such potential, if he has been given gifts, skills and talents, then he must achieve even more than he has.
There is thus no contradiction whatsoever between humility and self-esteem. A person must recognize his strengths and take pride in his achievements, while at the same time realizing that he could have achieved so much more, that somebody else with his skills could have far surpassed what he has accomplished.
Understandably, then, God wanted the Kohanim to feel a sense of "Kavod," to be given honor. He wanted them to recognize how important their role was, the immense responsibility they bore by virtue of their special stature. They were to be shown honor not so that they would be complacent and stifled, but to the contrary, so that they would appreciate the importance of their job and execute it to the very best of their ability.
The Sages famously comment that God chose to give the Torah on Mount Sinai, which is significantly lower than many other mountains in the region, in order to impress upon us the importance of humility and the dangers of arrogance. The question was asked why, if so, God chose to give the Torah on a mountain altogether. If He wished to emphasize the value of humility, why did He not give the Torah on a plain, or, even better, in a valley, or in the Grand Canyon?
The answer is that humility does not mean feeling lowly and insignificant. Rather, it means feeling like a mountain, recognizing that one has accomplished and achieved, but, like Mount Sinai, he still has much greater heights that he could reach. The humble person is thus a person with a healthy self-esteem, who recognizes his potential for greatness and acknowledges the levels he has achieved, but uses this recognition as a catalyst for further growth and higher aspirations.
