The Secret of True Humility: The Power of a Sigh from a Broken Heart

Lesson No. 44 | Tuesday Morning, Parashas Bereishis, 23 Tishrei 5756, Isru Chag Sukkos in the Yeshiva. (Continued in No. 45)

A profound discourse explaining why a person has nothing to be proud of, since any wicked person can do teshuvah (repentance) and surpass him in the blink of an eye. Through wondrous stories about the tzaddikim (righteous masters) of Chassidus, it is revealed that true humility and the simple sigh of a broken-hearted Jew are more precious in Heaven than any service of Hashem performed out of arrogance.

A person might miss the proper time for reciting the Shema, yet he still acts with arrogance. First of all, you must begin to believe in all the tzaddikim, to believe that they are truly righteous. After that, begin to believe in your friends—let us see if you are capable of believing that they are more righteous than you. And then, you must begin to believe even in the wicked, realizing that very soon they might do teshuvah and surpass us, just as Rabbi Akiva surpassed everyone.

After all, we see how people who are far from religion do teshuvah and surpass everyone, for they are all considered "tinokos shenishbu" (children taken captive, raised without Torah knowledge). There was a man who, during a protest, beat someone mercilessly, literally breaking his bones until he had to be taken away in an ambulance. Years later, that same attacker did teshuvah here in Mea Shearim, and he spent weeks searching for the man he had beaten in order to beg for his forgiveness. Ultimately, he became a baal teshuvah (returnee to the faith) who surpassed everyone.

There was also a soldier who, twenty years ago, while completely secular, was driving a jeep at top speed. Suddenly, he and his friend saw burning tires in the middle of the road at Kikar HaShabbos. They nearly drove straight into the bonfire, and he jumped out with his weapon, almost harming the protesters. Today, Baruch Hashem (thank God), he is a baal teshuvah with peyos (sidelocks) reaching the floor. A person never knows which wicked individual will do teshuvah tomorrow, study Torah day and night, and easily surpass him. So what does a person have to be proud of? What is he boasting about—the fact that he doesn't learn and doesn't pray?

Humility Does Not Require Effort, Only Recognizing the Truth

The Mesillas Yesharim writes that there is absolutely no need to "work" on humility. What does it even mean to work on humility? We were once visiting some Litvaks (Lithuanian-style yeshiva students) and we mentioned that Rebbe Nachman said one should study Mesillas Yesharim just to begin being a Jew. A person might think to himself: "I am from Shuvu Banim, I am a Breslov Chassid, and that's it—I can do whatever I please." But it doesn't work that way. One must acquire patience and forbearance.

When coming to the tzaddik, the goal is to not get angry, fulfilling the aspect of the verse:

"You shall not kindle fire [symbolizing anger] in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day... Let every man remain in his place (tachtav)."

This means knowing that I am worse than everyone else. "Tachtav" (literally "under him") means under myself—recognizing that I am such a lowly person, beneath even myself. It is enough just to look at the tzaddik and one immediately acquires humility and lowliness, because the entire essence of the tzaddik is nothing but humility and lowliness.

The Trembling of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz

It is told of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz zt"l, that he would constantly say: "Just as a person has a will to live, so too must he have a will to be smaller than everyone else." To believe that I am the smallest of all. To truly believe this is not difficult.

Once, the wife of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz upset their servant and said a hurtful word to him. Rabbi Pinchas said to her: "How did you dare say such a word to him? A Jew is a very precious thing!" There was a water-carrier in his home named Hershel. In those days, water-carriers were considered the most simple and lowly of people, individuals who could not read or write, whose sole job was to draw water from the wells and distribute it to homes.

Rabbi Pinchas said to his wife: "I tremble before Hershel the water-carrier!" They asked him: "Why do you tremble before him?" Rabbi Pinchas answered them: "I tremble from his humility. He is truly lowly in his own eyes, and that is a person's entire portion in the World to Come."

The Sigh That Pierces the Heavens

Sometimes, Heaven makes a person a water-carrier just so he can attain humility. Once, a water-carrier came to Rabbi Baruch of Medzhybizh zt"l and asked for a blessing. Rabbi Baruch said to him: "I know what you asked for this year on Rosh Hashanah, and I know what they answered you from Heaven."

The Jew was amazed: "The Rebbe knows what I asked for and what they answered me?"

Rabbi Baruch told him: "Yes. You asked to sit in the Beis Midrash (study hall) day and night, that Hashem should grant you an abundant parnassah (livelihood) so you could recite Tehillim (Psalms) from morning until evening. You only wanted to serve Hashem. And what did they answer you from Heaven? That the sighs you let out when you draw the water, your 'krechtzin' (groans)—'Woe is me, alas, what will become of me? What will be my end?'—these sighs ascend higher than all the Tehillim you could recite all week without stopping!"

A person thinks: "I read Tehillim, I saved the generation, everyone will come to receive blessings from me." But no. Specifically when you are a water-carrier, broken and crushed, crying out from the depths of your heart: "What will become of me?", and then, when you have a free hour, you recite Tehillim truly with a broken heart—that is worth more than all the Tehillim you could say all week out of arrogance. Sometimes a person is made a water-carrier from the start, because in Heaven they want to hear his sigh. This is more important than all the Torah, all the prayers, and all the Tehillim.

Joy in Humiliation

That is why Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz said he trembled before the water-carrier. He trembled from his humility, from the fact that he was so deeply lowly and submissive in his heart, considering himself as nothing. After all, a person could be a water-carrier and still be arrogant: "I am the most diligent, I draw water the best, I run the fastest, and I distribute the most water." To merit being a water-carrier with true humility—only a unique individual in a generation achieves that. And that water-carrier truly achieved it; he was at the pinnacle of humility and literally considered himself as nothing, an absolute zero.

Rebbe Nachman zt"l highly esteemed Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, who nullified himself before the water-carrier and said: "When will I reach such humility?" This is true humility.

When a person feels himself to be an "absolute zero," and someone comes and humiliates him, telling him the truth about himself—it is fitting that he should feel immense joy from this. He should rejoice that an opportunity for humiliation and lowliness has come his way, because it shows that Hashem has mercy on him and is showing him who he truly is.

Part 1 of 3 — Lesson No. 44

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