Arrogance
Ezekiel 25:17
17. Your heart was raised because of your
beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I have cast you to the ground, I have laid you before kings, that
they may behold you.
Psalms
101:5
5. I will cut off whoever secretly slanders
his neighbor; I will not endure the man who has a haughty look and an
arrogant heart.
Your Psalm
Navigator
1. Does slandering in secret have any
relationship to arrogance?
Proverbs
5:16
5. Everyone who is proud in heart is an
abomination to the Lord; those who join hands shall not be cleansed.
Midrash Rabbah - Mishlei Chapter 13
Section 3
Everyone who is proud in heart is an
abomination to the Lord: Anyone who is arrogant before His
Creator, will not be cleansed from the judgment of Hell. Rabbi Simon
said: Anyone who is lowly in spirit, and is concerned in his heart to
walk in the ways of the Holy One, he will be guaranteed that the Holy
One will prepare his steps. As it is written: "The heart of the
human will consider his way and the Lord will prepare his
steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
Your Midrash
Navigator
1. Why is arrogance antithetical to being
close to God?
Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 5a-b
Rabbi Alexandri said: Every man in whom
there is haughtiness of spirit, will be disturbed by the slightest
wind. As it is said: But the wicked are like the troubled sea If the
sea, which contains so many quarters of gallons of water, is ruffled
by the slightest wind, how much more so a human being who contains
but one quarter of a gallon.
Rabbi Hiyya b. Ashi said in the name of Rav:
A disciple of the Sages should possess an eighth [of pride]. Rav Huna
the son of R. Joshua said: [This small amount of pride] crowns him
like the awn of the grain. Raba said: [A disciple of the Sages] who
possesses [haughtiness of spirit] deserves excommunication, and if he
does not possess it he deserves excommunication. Rabbi Nahman bar
Isaac said: He should not possess it or part of it; as it is written:
"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the
Lord!" (Proverbs 16:5)
Hezekiah said: A man's prayer is not heard
unless he makes his heart [soft] like flesh; as it is said ,
"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,
shall all flesh come to worship, etc" (Isaiah
66:23) Rabbi Zera said: Concerning flesh it is written: And it is healed; but it is not written concerning man, And he is
healed.
Rabbi Johanan said: The word for man [ADaM]
is an acronym and indicates dust (Afar), blood (Dam)
and gall (Marah); the word for flesh [BaSaR]
indicates shame (Bushah), stench (Serucha) and worm (Rima).
Some declare that [instead of stench (Serucha) we should have
the word] Sheol, (hell) since its initial letter corresponds.
Your Talmud
Navigator
1. There are many opinions about arrogance
in these passages, which ones resonate with you?
2. Why do you think there are so many opinions?
Maimonides, Laws of Behavior 2:3
There are behaviors which a person is
prohibited from doing even moderately. Instead he would distance
himself from them in the most extreme fashion. An example of this is
arrogance. For it is not sufficient for a person to be only humble,
but he must be of lowly spirit, and his spirit should be very low,
therefore it is written about Moshe our teacher that he was
"very humble" instead of merely stating he was
"humble".
Therefore, our sages commanded us to be of
extremely lowly spirit, and they also said, "that anyone who has
a haughty heart has committed heresy, as it is written: "With
the haughtiness of your heart you have forgotten the Lord your
God."
It was also stated, "A ban should be
placed on the scholar who exhibits a haughty spirit"--even if
only a little bit...
Your Maimonides
Navigator
1. Maimonides only quotes one opinion from the Talmud.
He is of the opinion that even a little pride or haughtiness is a
negative quality. Do you agree?
2. Can you define haughtiness from the perspective of Maimonides?
Sources: Rabbi Avi Weinstein, Director, Hillel's
Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning. Reprinted with
permission. |