Timeless Torah

“The man Moshe was extremely humble...” is an impressive reference. Especially when one considers the source, the Torah of Truth itself. But that’s not all. Indeed, the latter part of the verse, “More than any person on the face of the earth!” is even more extraordinary. Try topping that!!
Okay, so Moses was humble. In fact, when the self-effacing leader was informed that there were others who were similarly inspired to prophecy, Moses responded, “Are you being jealous on my behalf? Let the entire nation of Hashem be prophets”
This fascinating passage provides a wealth of insight into Moses’ attitude regarding the special gifts bestowed upon him by G-d. As far as he was concerned, nay, as far as he hoped, all Jews should not only aspire to, but actually reach the level of Moses. However, that was not to be. As the Torah later testifies, “There will never arise another prophet like Moses who knew Hashem face to face.”
Try to imagine G-d informing you, that you will be His Numero Uno for all time, his Number One spokesperson, would your modesty not be somewhat assailed? Can one seek both humility and greatness at the same time? Is there not a built in contradiction between these two characteristics?
For a moment, let’s go off on a tangent. Ask yourself, “Who’s the most important person in Jewish history?” Forget the standard answers like Abraham, Moses or Elijah. It’s YOU!
Shocked? You shouldn’t be, for it’s not I that assert this ridiculous sounding claim. The Torah does. Let me prove it. The Sages of the Talmud relate that when a witness is about to give testimony in a life and death trial he is strongly reminded about the potential consequences of his words. The court asks him, “At the outset why was only one man created?” (Instead of many people at the beginning, there was only one Adam. This was unlike the animals, the trees, stars, etc.) The explanation given to the witness is, “A person has an obligation to say, ‘The whole world was created just for me!’” Thus when Adam first stepped into the arena of the universe, every tree, breeze, and ray of light was designed as a stage for him to reveal his personal morality.
This compelling idea is confirmed in a Mishna by Hillel in this week’s Ethics of our Fathers, “(A) If I am not for myself who is for me?; (B) And if I am only for myself what am I?; (C) And if not now, when?”
Hillel is telling us that (A) nobody can play our assigned parts in the orchestra of existence better than the assigned individual. I, and you, have something unique to deliver to the universe that no other person can. However, (B) if I am a puzzle piece separate to myself alone, then I suffer not from an identity crisis (Who am I?) but rather, a humanity crisis (What am I?). The purpose of self-development is not for self, but to provide greater service to the whole of humanity in the total tapestry of life.
While the first two questions underscore that every individual has a unique role that is important to the greater story, the third query (C) highlights the fact that there are no repeat moments. There has never been, nor will there ever be, another day as this one. Each moment in history has no equal.
Everyone must convince himself that he or she is the star actor in the greatest movie of all time, the Story of Life. And the most important moment in their acting career is, you guessed it, this very moment!
Can’t this affect your unassuming demeanor? We all know what sort of preening peacocks most actors are! In truth, part of a person’s greatness is his smallness. Not only is it not a contradiction that Moses was both the most humble and at the same time the greatest ...it’s axiomatic! Humility and greatness are necessary companions.
The Kotzker Rebbe put it succinctly when he said that a person should have a piece of paper in each side pocket. On one should be written, “The world was created just for me.” On the other, “I originate from dust and ashes.” The trick in life is to know when to take out which piece of paper!
So when we are offended, our first instinct is to rattle the proverbial saber. But when a request for charity arrives or some other mitzvah presents itself our inner voice squeaks, “What difference will my small contribution make?” In both scenarios, we took out the wrong paper! In the first case, the ideal response would have been to remember our dust and ashes origins. After all, what offense do dust and ashes take? We walk on it everyday and hear not a peep! However, when a mitzvah opportunity arrives we should rise boldly to our feet shouting “I will do it, since the world was created solely for me, and this is my cue!”
In order for Moses to be the greatest individual he could be, he needed to think a little less about himself. The more he was able to delegate his own ego to the background, the more he was able to serve the needs of others. To illustrate with a simple example, more light can shine through glasses which are not tinted.
Now it’s your turn to shine.