On the Path to Humility
הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם, מַה-טּוֹב; וּמָה-יְהוָה דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ, כִּי אִם-עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד, וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת, עִם-אֱלֹהֶיךָ
It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what Hashem doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy G-d.
(Micah 6:8)
(source: tzniut)
Humility is a paramount ideal within Judaism. Moses is referred to as “exceedingly humble, more than any man in the world” (Numbers 12:3).
The Talmud states that humility is one of the characteristic traits of the Jewish people. (Talmud, Tractate Yevamot 79a.)
Tzniut (modesty) includes a group of laws concerned with modesty, in both dress and behavior. It is first mentioned in this context by the prophet Micah (6:8): “[...] and to walk humbly (hatzne’a leches) with your G-d”.
In the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Elazar Bar Tzadok connected this prophetic precept with modesty and discretion in dress and in behavior (Tractate Sukkah 49b).
(Let me know if you share the following dilemma...)
Dilemma
I want to be
famous
so I can be
humble
about being
famous.
What good is my
humility
when I am
stuck
in this
obscurity?
-- David Budbill



