English translation — בהעלותך ב

Talk *

40

A.

In our portion it is told about the quality of humility of Moshe Rabbeinu — "And the man¹

Moshe was very humble, more than any person on the face of the earth."

And behold, this verse comes in continuation of the words of Miriam and Aharon

(in the previous verse)

"Is it only with Moshe that Hashem spoke,

did He not also speak with us?"; and afterwards the verse continues "And He said²

Hashem suddenly etc.

(and Rashi explained "to inform them that Moshe did well to separate from his wife since the Divine Presence was constantly revealed upon him")

And He said³

etc. If there be a prophet among you, I, Hashem, in a vision will make Myself known to him, in a dream etc. Not so My servant Moshe etc. Mouth to mouth I speak with him etc. And the image of Hashem he beholds.

And note in the commentators⁴,

that from the fact that the verse explains Moshe's humility in the narrative regarding the greatness of his prophecy,

it is understood,

that through the attribute of his humility Moshe merited the level of his prophecy

(which was with him constantly⁵).

And behold, in the Gemara⁶

it is stated "The Holy One, blessed be He, does not cause His Divine Presence to rest except upon one who is mighty, and wealthy, and wise, and humble, and all of these are from Moshe",

and from this that it listed "humble" together with "mighty, wealthy, and wise" it implies superficially,

that it is equal to them in their necessity regarding prophecy;

But on the other hand,

from that which the verse here

(regarding the greatness of the level of Moshe's prophecy)

explains only the quality of his humility

(even though "all of them are from Moshe",

that with him were all the qualities enumerated in the Baraisa),

it implies,

that the connection of the attribute of humility to the matter of prophecy is greater than the rest of the qualities⁷.

And so it is according to the opinion⁸

that "humility is greater than all of them"⁹

and "brings to [the level of] Ruach HaKodesh"¹⁰,

that accordingly, humility is not like the rest of the qualities of strength, wealth<pg>41</pg>

And a wise person

(who were not mentioned in the baraita of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;),

but rather that only she brings to the Holy Spirit.

And further one could say,

that humility is not a condition and a side prerequisite,

but rather she "brings to the Holy Spirit"

(and in the manner of the other virtues in the baraita there: Torah brings to caution, caution brings to alacrity, etc.,

that the preceding virtue only enables the virtue that follows,

but rather she brings it near and brings it).

[And the connection of the matter of humility with the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Divine Presence we find

(almost)

explicitly in the Gemara at the end of Sotah&lt;sup&gt;12&lt;/sup&gt;,

as it is stated there&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;

: When Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel, and nevertheless they would make use of a Bat Kol. For once they were reclining in the attic of the house of Guria in Jericho, a Bat Kol from heaven was given to them and said, "There is among you one person who is worthy that the Divine Presence should rest upon him

(like Moses our teacher&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;)

but his generation is not worthy of it."

They set their eyes upon Hillel the Elder, and when he died they eulogized him: "Woe, the pious one, woe, the humble one, the disciple of Ezra." And again another time they were reclining in an attic in Yavneh, a Bat Kol from heaven was given to them and said to them, "There is among you one person who is worthy that the Divine Presence should rest upon him, but his generation is not worthy of it." They set their eyes upon Shmuel HaKatan, and when he died they eulogized him: "Woe, the humble one, woe, the pious one, the disciple of Hillel."

And that is that they stated simply,

that this that was said in the Heavenly Voice that there is here one who is worthy that the Divine Presence rest upon him, this is connected with his attribute of humility

(And not mentioned is one of the other virtues of hero, rich, and wise¹⁵)].

And it must be said that there are two matters

(and modes)

in humility — one matter in which it is equal to the other conditions needed for the matter of prophecy,

and another matter because of which only the attribute of humility is considered a thing that causes and brings to the Holy Spirit etc.

2.

And this will be understood with a prior introduction of a change of language in the above-mentioned story at the end of tractate Sotah¹⁶

: In the eulogy for Hillel it was said first "Woe, the pious one" and afterwards "Woe, the humble one",

And in the eulogy for Shmuel HaKatan it was said first "Woe, the humble one" and afterwards "Woe, the pious one".

And behold, in the Chiddushei Aggadot¹⁷

there, chapter 20,

that what they seized upon these two attributes is because "these two attributes bring one to the Holy Spirit, as we say in the first chapter of Avodah Zarah¹⁸

in the dispute between Rebbi Pedat bar Yitzchak and Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi, there is one who says that piety is the greatest of all and brings one to the Holy Spirit,

and there is one who says that humility is the greatest of all and brings one to the Holy Spirit."

And based on this, one can say,

that those who eulogized Hillel hold

(like Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi)

that humility is the greatest of all, and therefore they began with piety and ended with humility,

from the light to the heavy,

and those who eulogized Shmuel HaKatan hold that piety is the greatest of all

(like the baraita of Rebbi Pedat bar Yitzchak),

and therefore they began with humility and ended with piety¹⁹.

<pg>42</pg>

But it is difficult to interpret thus,

for in the Yerushalmi Sotah²⁰

these two stories are brought,

and there it states regarding both of them "And when he died they would say about him: Woe, humble pious one",

humble before pious²¹.

And therefore it seems to me the opposite,

that the distinction is not in the eulogies of Hillel the Elder and Shmuel HaKatan but in their level itself.

And as is understood simply that the level of the generation of the student is lower than the level of the generation of the teacher,

and if so, the level of humility of Shmuel HaKatan the student is not equal to the level of humility of Hillel the Elder his teacher,

for regarding Hillel it is explicit²²

"A person should always be humble like Hillel",

and the Talmud²²

elaborates there in describing the humility of Hillel,

but regarding Shmuel HaKatan it states in the Yerushalmi there²³

"And why is his name called Katan? Because he makes himself small",

from which it implies,

that the level of humility of Shmuel HaKatan is not similar to the humility of Hillel,

who was famous

(more)

in the greatness of his attribute of humility.

And therefore regarding Hillel, when he died they eulogized him "He was a chasid, he was an anav",

anav at the end,

and regarding Shmuel HaKatan "He was an anav, he was a chasid,

the student of Hillel",

because the level of his humility was not as great as that of Hillel.

And that which in the Yerushalmi it states regarding both of them "He was an anav, a chasid",

anav before chasid,

one must say,

because in the Yerushalmi it speaks of a different level in humility,

which is above the two manners mentioned above in the Bavli.

And one must say,

that it is in accordance with another difference between the Yerushalmi and the Bavli,

that in the Yerushalmi it states "Is there among you one worthy of the Holy Spirit",

but not so in the Bavli "that the Shechinah should rest upon him",

as will be explained below.

3.

And the explanation in all this:

In the category of humility there are several levels — and in general they are divided into three²⁴

:

a)

that he does not hold a favor for himself,

and consequently does not feel himself above other people,

that is, even though he knows his virtues because of which he is above other people,

and knows and recognizes his worth²⁵,

nevertheless he does not become proud about this at all,

because he knows that all his virtues were given to him by the Holy One, blessed be He,

and he makes a calculation in his soul,

that if these powers had been given to another, he would also be on this level and rank,

and it is possible that if the other had these virtues in his natural disposition,

he would reach through his service a higher level.

b)

Not only does he not hold a favor for himself,

but he humbles himself and feels himself lower than every person,

for he is truly humble and nullified^*25,

<pg>43</pg>

Until it is simple in his intellect

(and not only "possible")

that if the other had these qualities and traits that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him, he would certainly be higher than him.

3)

Beyond all this there is a humility that causes him to humble himself and to descend and engage also with that which is clear to him that it is the lowest and most degraded²⁶,

and to arouse from the saying of our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed,²⁷

In the place of the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, there you find His humility,

that His humility is in that He humbles Himself and descends²⁸

to be called the great,

"Great is the Lord and highly praised in the city of our God"²⁹,

to bring into being worlds and creatures,

which is an immense abasement and descent relative to the Holy One, blessed be He,

that He descends to bring into being worlds

(as it is stated in the Zohar³⁰

it is not the way of a king to speak of mundane matters).

And so in our matter, it is mundane matters relative to an ordinary person,

and it is included.

4.

And behold, since humility causes the indwelling of the Shechinah and the Holy Spirit

(as above),

it is understood,

that corresponding to the three aforementioned modes in humility,

they also differ in their relation to the indwelling of the Shechinah.

And the explanation of this:

The need for self-nullification and humility is not only in relation to prophecy and the Holy Spirit,

but for every level of "the indwelling of the Divine Presence",

in the manner of our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed: any ten [where] the Divine Presence rests³¹,

and even one who sits and engages in Torah, the Divine Presence rests³²,

that regarding all this we say that "the Holy One, blessed be He, does not dwell except upon something that is nullified to Him"³³,

and it can be said that this is the first level mentioned above in humility,

which is a necessary condition and prerequisite for the indwelling of the Divine Presence,

and without this it is impossible for the indwelling of the Divine Presence to be upon a person at all

[And in this matter humility is like the other conditions of mighty, wealthy, and wise,

all of which are only conditions and a prerequisite without which it is impossible for the indwelling of the Divine Presence to be].

Above this is that which "humility brings to the Holy Spirit"

(and not just a secondary condition),

that the precision in this is specifically "the Holy Spirit",

which is a level more elevated than the indwelling of the Divine Presence

(simple)³⁴,

and about this it is said "humility brings to the Holy Spirit",

for when he is humble and nullified in truth

(as the second level in humility),

this brings to the Holy Spirit,

and this level is in a person who has within him all the levels of alacrity, separation, fear of sin, and holiness etc.

(enumerated in the baraita there).

But also this is the level of humility of the man,

But the third level mentioned above of humility and self-nullification,

is not only that he does not feel haughtiness in himself,

and beyond this that he is lowly of spirit before every person,

but rather that he descends and lowers himself to occupy himself also with people of lesser worth,

And in this, humility and the indwelling of the Shechinah are not two things,

but rather they are identical,

For that a man&lt;pg&gt;44&lt;/pg&gt;

Exalted above the people and high, most high, descends

(also)

to people who are low, most low,

this is not from the power of the created being but rather from the power of the Creator,

“With the high and holy I dwell, and with the crushed and lowly of spirit”&lt;sup&gt;*34&lt;/sup&gt;,

And it is found that it is the very matter of the indwelling of the Shechinah and the light of Hashem that rests upon the man

(for “the matter of the indwelling of the Shechinah is the revelation of His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, etc., in some thing, and this means that that thing is included in the light of Hashem and is nullified in its existence completely”&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;).

5.

And based on this, one can say that this is the difference between the version of the Bavli and the Yerushalmi:

In the Bavli,

where the version is "it is fitting that the Divine Presence rest upon him",

it does not speak of a lofty level of Ruach HaKodesh³⁶,

and consequently it is understood that it refers to the aspect of simple humility and self-nullification,

in which there are two levels in general: the first level, that he is lowly in his own eyes,

and a level above this,

that he feels himself lesser and lower than every person,

and in general this is the difference between Shmuel HaKatan, who was a student of Hillel the Elder,

and the level of humility of Hillel the Elder, who is known as a humble one,

and therefore regarding Hillel it is said in the manner of "not only this but also this" "he is a pious one, he is a humble one",

for with him there was a more elevated level in humility,

unlike Shmuel HaKatan, who begins with "humble one" because with him the humility was on a lesser level than this;

Not so in the Yerushalmi, which speaks of a more elevated level,

"Ruach HaKodesh",

then also the level of humility is a different essence and object of humility as mentioned above,

And this we find regarding Hillel, that not only did he consider himself small relative to other people, but he suffered,

he humbled and lowered himself toward people of lesser worth,

and even toward gentiles who came to convert in a manner that Shammai&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;

did not want to accept them&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;,

and nevertheless Hillel accepted them&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;,

in his great humility

(as they said later&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;

"The humility of Hillel brought us under the wings of the Shechinah"),

which had no limitation,

and therefore he also dealt with the lowliest and most degraded,

even with a gentile&lt;sup&gt;41&lt;/sup&gt;.

&lt;pg&gt;45&lt;/pg&gt;

And humility of this type is connected with Ruach HaKodesh.

And according to this, it must be said,

that the language in the Yerushalmi "Be humble, pious" does not intend two separate virtues as in the Bavli,

but rather they are one virtue,

humble-pious,

that humility is in a manner of piety,

for the meaning of pious is one who acts piously with his Creator&lt;sup&gt;42&lt;/sup&gt;,

acts beyond the letter of the law,

and so it is with the humility of Hillel who was humble-pious,

humility in a manner of piety,

that he humbled himself before everyone,

even regarding lowly people.

And based on this, it may be said further,

that also in the Yerushalmi in connection with Shmuel HaKatan the intention is humility at such a lofty level&lt;sup&gt;43&lt;/sup&gt;,

in the manner of the passage&lt;sup&gt;44&lt;/sup&gt;

stated regarding Hillel,

therefore the Yerushalmi was not satisfied to bring "And why was his name called Small? Because he makes himself small,"

but adds "and some say because he was a little smaller than Shmuel HaRamati,"

for Shmuel was a prophet in the full sense,

and his devotion to all of Israel was in a wondrous manner,

that he went from city to city to judge them regarding their needs etc.&lt;sup&gt;45&lt;/sup&gt;,

which indicates the greatness of his self-nullification and humility&lt;sup&gt;46&lt;/sup&gt;.

[And although in the Bavli that event is recounted and there it was said

(according to the above)

both regarding Hillel and regarding Shmuel a lower level in the trait of humility,

it can be said simply that there were by them several times and levels,

and it is obvious that Hillel and also Shmuel ascended from time to time in their rank and also in the trait of humility and their self-nullification,

and therefore in the Bavli where it speaks of a lower level,

the resting of the Divine Presence,

it emphasizes a small level in humility,

but in the Talmud Yerushalmi where it speaks of a higher level,

as above&lt;sup&gt;47&lt;/sup&gt;].

&lt;pg&gt;46&lt;/pg&gt;

6.

Based on this it is also to explain that which is recounted at the end of the tractate in the Yerushalmi&lt;sup&gt;48&lt;/sup&gt;

: "An incident that elders entered the upper chamber of Beit Gadi in Jericho and a heavenly voice went out and said to them there are among you two who are worthy of the holy spirit and Hillel the Elder is one of them and they set their eyes on Shmuel HaKatan,

and again elders entered the upper chamber in Yavneh and a heavenly voice went out and said to them there are among you two who are worthy of the holy spirit and Shmuel HaKatan is one of them and they set their eyes on Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus and they were happy that their opinion agreed with the opinion of the Place".

And already the commentaries discuss whether this disagrees with the above⁴⁹

for there it was not specified except one at a time,

or that there were two incidents⁵⁰,

And in any case it is perplexing what is said here: There are among you two worthy of the Holy Spirit, and Hillel the Elder is one of them, and the second was not specified

(And likewise regarding Shmuel HaKatan)⁵¹.

And from the continuation of the language it is implied that there were two incidents, and the incident at the end of the Yerushalmi occurred at an earlier time when Hillel and his student Shmuel HaKatan were together,

And at that time Shmuel HaKatan had not yet reached the level of humility of Hillel the Elder his teacher

(who was much greater than him),

And this is what the Heavenly Voice came to say,

that even though two are worthy of the Holy Spirit,

the name of Shmuel was not specified, only that of Hillel,

to emphasize the greatness of Hillel,

And the story of the Yerushalmi before this, "There is among you one worthy of the Holy Spirit" regarding Hillel, was before the above-mentioned event of Hillel and Shmuel,

And the story regarding Shmuel is a different event that occurred afterwards,

after the death of Hillel,

when Shmuel was elevated in his level of humility,

until he was worthy of the Holy Spirit like Hillel.

And it must be said that also in the second incident

(at the conclusion of the Yerushalmi)

what [it says] "they set their eyes on Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus" is because of the trait of humility that was in him,

as it appears that when they came and asked him several questions,

he turned the subject of discussion to another matter and evaded giving an answer to their question and "not because he put them off with words

("he diverted them to other matters like a person who intends to delay when he does not know how to answer, but he knew")

but because he never said a thing that he had not heard from his teacher"⁵².

And this is even though he knew what to answer,

still, his nullification to his teacher was always felt by him,

and therefore he could not say a new thing that he derived<pg>47</pg>

from his reasoning from the general principle that he heard from his teacher

(in the manner of one who is busy swallowing does not spit out).

But this humility of R. Eliezer is only humility towards his teacher,

or even more than that, also towards his student and those who ask him,

and it is not comparable to the humility of Shmuel HaKatan in general,

and all the more so when he was elevated to the level of humility of Hillel,

therefore in the second incident only the name of Shmuel HaKatan was mentioned and not R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus.

(From sichos of Erev Chag HaShavuos,

the second day of Chag HaShavuos and Shabbos Parshas Nasso 5742)