A story is told of the Arizal, where his students asked him how he merited to Ruach HaKodesh and the ability to see Eliyahu HaNavi. The holy Mystic responded, “by way of joy in performing my mitzvos”. According to his response, we can deduce that by way of experiencing true joy in the performance of mitzvos, we too can achieve a high level of holiness. However, this does not seem like a complete answer. Because other tzaddikim have also experienced simcha shel mitzva, yet they did not reach such high levels as the Arizal. It seems like there was something more that the Arizal did not say.
The Mitteler Rebbe explains that the Arizal did not give the full answer to his students. The true answer is also the reason why he did not express it. How is that? What the Arizal HaKadosh did not mention is, is that the Arizal himself possessed within a spark of Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu was known as the ultimate anav — “And the man Moshe was extremely humble, more than any man on the face of the earth”. His humility was so great, that even before a gentile who served idolatry, Moshe considered himself lowly. That spark existed within the Arizal, and that spark is what endowed the Arizal with Ruach HaKodesh.
But what is this humility about which we speak? What did Moshe Rabbeinu and the Arizal possess that made them so great? And perhaps most importantly, how does the characteristic of ‘humility’, that is, being low before all others, lead to humility?
To answer these questions, we must take a deeper look at the nature of humility. True humility. True humility does not mean that one looks upon themselves and sees only fault. It does not mean that one picks out all the ba in one’s self and brings it to the forefront for viewing pleasure and wallow in miserable self-loathing. No, that is not humility. That is something else. That is lowliness. That is negativity. Whatever the exact term is, it’s not humility. Humility is something else. Humility is something holy. Through true humility, one can reach the greatest heights.
True humility — anava — is a lack of self-consciousness. Instead of identifying with achievements, traits, possessions, or anything else that is outside the self, the anav identifies with truth. In one’s own soul, no one is lowly. No being or entity is bad; fault does not exist. Or if it does, it exists in such a fundamental way as to not matter. No reference here is being made to one’s mistakes or the reasons why one might be considered bad. Rather, the focus lies on the true aspects of one’s life. The pure goodness, the will to do good, the desire for connection. So now, if an anav has people’s attention, the anav does not consider ‘I am cool. I get people’s attention. People love me. I am worthy. I am amazing!’. The anav is aware only of the purpose why people are attentive. If it be words of wisdom, the anav respects the wisdom flowing from his mouth. Be it music, the anav appreciated the groove of the moment. Is it something else? The anav appreciates those qualities, but does not identify their self-worth with that. Their self-worth comes from something far deeper. It comes exactly where it should be coming from: the worth of the self comes from the self itself. Nothing else.
This concept can be further expounded in many different areas to provide a more comprehensive understanding. But for now, just this nugget suffices; it explains the core of the concept. From here, we can extrapolate and deduce, learn and derive. The ikkar is to take it to heart and employ it in our action.
Good Shabbos.
munchwords 