Humility

Humility

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself.

It is thinking of yourself less."

True humility begins when we silence the constant hum of the "I"—

when we are no longer the center of our own attention.

For genuinely humble people, what matters most is not themselves,

but God, other people, and principles that transcend self-interest.

As was once said of a great religious leader:

"He was a man who took God so seriously that he didn’t have to take himself seriously at all."

In this week’s parsha,

Moses is described as the most humble person who ever lived.

It was precisely this humility that opened him to a prophetic experience like no other. G-d Himself says:

“Mouth to mouth do I speak with him,clearly and not in riddles;he beholds the image of God.” (Numbers 12:8)

Moses didn’t erase his identity—he refined it.

He removed ego to become a pure vessel for the Divine.

The smaller the ego, the larger the soul’s capacity to hold

truth, compassion, and G-dliness.

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks teaches:

“When we place the self at the center of our universe, we eventually turn everyone and everything into a means to our own ends. That diminishes them—which diminishes us. Humility means living by the light of that-which-is-greater-than-I. When God is at the center of our lives, we open ourselves to the glory of creation and the beauty of other people. The smaller the self, the wider the radius of our world.”

Moses, with his profound humility, became a wide-open channel for Divine presence. He didn’t serve himself—he served God and the people with his full being,

every ounce of energy dedicated to a mission beyond his own story.

In the desert, the Tabernacle was placed at the center of the camp—

reminding us that our lives, too, must be God-centered.

That centering has carried us through generations of pain and perseverance.

Torah and faith have sustained us—

through pogroms, expulsions, the Holocaust, and centuries of exile and antisemitism.

We long for the day when “all our enemies will be scattered,”

when we will be united—with one heart, in peace, in our holy land.

Until then, we move forward, one step at a time—

working on ourselves, striving to quiet the ego, and

doing our part to bring light into the world.

Our relationships—with God and each other—

are strengthened when we listen deeply, empathize fully, and make space for others. Life’s burdens are lighter when shared.

So, let’s be better at carrying each other’s loads.

Let’s become better listeners.

Let’s hold each other’s pain—and joy—with more care.

Let’s strive to be a little more like Moses who was

humble,altruistic,and both God and people-focused

Shabbat Shalom,

Elissa