Wise. Humble. Royal.
Day by Day
Those who personify true royalty have both superior intelligence and great humility.
King Saul, for example, was “head and shoulder above the rest.” A superior mind was his strong suit.
King David, who said “I am a worm, not a man”, embodied more humility.
Judah was royalty with emphasis on humility. Yehudah, which is etymologically related to “Hodaah”, means acknowledging and submitting to what is greater than oneself.
Yoseph was royalty with emphasis on intelligence. “There is none wiser or more knowing than you in all the land.”
In the story of Joseph and his brothers we read of the big showdown. Vayigash - Judah approaches Yoseph asking for peace. True peace in the area of royalty means harmony and unity of the two dimensions - wisdom and humility. Now Judah, the simple sincere student humbly asks Yoseph, the all knowing oracle, to enlighten him with wisdom thereby uniting the qualities of Royalty.
He says to Yoseph: a) to me you are royal like Pharaoh b) you will be punished bitterly like Pharaoh was punished for withholding my grandmother. c) you are disingenuous like Pharaoh d) I will kill you and Pharaoh.
It is fascinating how themes run through torah making connections where you don’t expect any.
The Alter Rebbe in his introduction to Tanya advises those students who seek wisdom and guidance to find teachers among the older scholars. To the scholars the Rebbe says: 1. do not make pretence of humility – that would be disingenuous 2. there is bitter punishment for those who withhold knowledge - as when Pharaoh withheld Sarah from her husband. 3. there is great reward for those who share - enlightenment from the Almighty Who bestows life - hence withholding would result in the loss of life, it will “kill you and Pharaoh”
The corresponding installment of Hayom Yom (5 Tevet) says: Our king, Moshiach, will make us understand the greatness of simple, sincere, humble service of G-d. Moshiach’s royalty will combine great wisdom with complete humility, thereby reigning forever.
Those who personify true royalty have both superior intelligence and great humility.
King Saul, for example, was “head and shoulder above the rest.” A superior mind was his strong suit.
King David, who said “I am a worm, not a man”, embodied more humility.
Judah was royalty with emphasis on humility. Yehudah, which is etymologically related to “Hodaah”, means acknowledging and submitting to what is greater than oneself.
Yoseph was royalty with emphasis on intelligence. “There is none wiser or more knowing than you in all the land.”
In the story of Joseph and his brothers we read of the big showdown. Vayigash - Judah approaches Yoseph asking for peace. True peace in the area of royalty means harmony and unity of the two dimensions - wisdom and humility. Now Judah, the simple sincere student humbly asks Yoseph, the all knowing oracle, to enlighten him with wisdom thereby uniting the qualities of Royalty.
He says to Yoseph: a) to me you are royal like Pharaoh b) you will be punished bitterly like Pharaoh was punished for withholding my grandmother. c) you are disingenuous like Pharaoh d) I will kill you and Pharaoh.
It is fascinating how themes run through torah making connections where you don’t expect any.
The Alter Rebbe in his introduction to Tanya advises those students who seek wisdom and guidance to find teachers among the older scholars. To the scholars the Rebbe says: 1. do not make pretence of humility – that would be disingenuous 2. there is bitter punishment for those who withhold knowledge - as when Pharaoh withheld Sarah from her husband. 3. there is great reward for those who share - enlightenment from the Almighty Who bestows life - hence withholding would result in the loss of life, it will “kill you and Pharaoh”
The corresponding installment of Hayom Yom (5 Tevet) says: Our king, Moshiach, will make us understand the greatness of simple, sincere, humble service of G-d. Moshiach’s royalty will combine great wisdom with complete humility, thereby reigning forever.
posted by Scruz | 5:03 PM
7 Comments:
Hey, we missed you! Good to have this going again! Thank you for the light and wisdom.
happy u guys wrote again i was waiting for it i look bakc at it everyday write more often it keeps me going...!
Saul had great humility but it was misplaced humility. He lost his kingdom because he wanted to what was popular rather than right.
Hi, Aryeh! It’s good to hear from you.
Although I don’t think Saul was trying to be popular - he was, after all, anointed by G-d, and was not some modern-day politician – I do agree that he was humble. But the emphasis on humility wasn’t what was required of him. As the prophet Shmuel says to him, “Though you are small in your own eyes, you are the head of the tribes of Israel.” It was expected of Saul to use primarily his head (intellect) rather than to just be humble.
RMF
I find it interesting that nowadays it's easier to pay for good knowledge than to "find" it amongst the scholdars. Interesting that those who have what it takes make you pay for it :)
Hey, New To, It would seem to me that at the end of your post there should have been a :( instead of the :) hmmm, just a thought.
In any case, there are actually Halachic issues with scholars taking money for teaching Torah. But of course, there are ways around it.
In fact, that famous story of how Hillel the sage was discovered was exactly this issue... he didn't have enough money to pay to get in to the lecture hall, etc....
So it is really not a new problem. People have always had to make a living.
Hey this site is free! At least there's one scholar giving it away:)
My children have both attended bais channa summer programs & I also brought my youngest to stay @ the ocala retreat where my eldest & I stayed overnight, would gladly pay to recieve that knowledge again ..it is a Mitzvah not an expense. Knowledge, we all pay taxes for children 2 recieve education "it is far less expensive to pay for knowledge than it is to pay for ignorance" thank you Rabbi Freedman ..Dawn Kay p.s. tell my sister & family mazel @ the couples weekend.& keep on typing..thank you for this FREE SITE.
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