Latest / Rabbi Moshe Haber - Daily Mussar/Weekly Perasha / Rabbi Moshe Haber Path of the Just -The Unassuming Soul: Cultivating Humility in Action and Spirit 3.18.26
Transcript
- 0:00Three, playing out this idea that is humility, not
- 0:05specifically in your mind, which is obviously the core been the
- 0:10way you speak. We can understand that literally
- 0:13the way you walk and if you walk with a heaviness and it's sort
- 0:17of they describes it front of your foot by a heel as if they
- 0:24walk in like, you know, as if like you're walking down the red
- 0:26carpet, as if people are watching.
- 0:28That is a sign of arrogance. That's a bad reflection.
- 0:32Instead of a person should be running in and running out.
- 0:35And we explained yesterday this concept, which is an interesting
- 0:39idea that when a person is walking with a mission, focus on
- 0:44his goal. He's saying to himself and
- 0:47really the people around him, I'm not, I don't think I'm the
- 0:50Beal and all. I don't think simply my being
- 0:52here warrants looking at me and watching me and being impressed
- 0:56by me. The concept of walking down the
- 0:59red carpet literally is watch them walk.
- 1:02What's it is? Watch them what they're wearing,
- 1:04watch The Walking, watch their straw.
- 1:06And that is an arrogant sense. And now my version, our real
- 1:11life version, that is a person. I'm thinking that my being here,
- 1:14my walking, my being in front of you actually made a difference.
- 1:18Regardless of what I say, what I do, just being here.
- 1:20That is a very arrogant concept and walking with head held high,
- 1:24walking with a slow stroll. And that sort of heaviness is
- 1:28literally reflective of that concept.
- 1:30Now he goes on to the next point.
- 1:32That's what next one is sitting where you sit.
- 1:38What does that mean? He would like to sit in the
- 1:40front. He would like to be, you know,
- 1:42on stage. I like to be facing the crowd.
- 1:45Whatever version of this concept, what is this concept?
- 1:47Bishop talk. A person should be humble where
- 1:50they sit, she hear me como Benazir Felipe.
- 1:55Where you sit should be along with the low key ones or those
- 2:01who are unassuming below Ben aramim.
- 2:04I'm not trying to sit among those who are a big deal.
- 2:09Mugam can be grandmother alta tadar left nemera montgombe
- 2:14gitlin alta amoud. Don't try to become, don't
- 2:17glorify it yourself in the presence of the king of the
- 2:20king, and don't stand in the place of the great Pasupa,
- 2:25Michelin, the Harek and Cohalis Nur.
- 2:28It says, it says The Mirage. A person should distance a seat.
- 2:33Shneim or Sasha MI commot the shed arch your mulu Hale.
- 2:38You're a person who's supposed to be sitting in the front.
- 2:41Don't walk in and go straight to the front.
- 2:44Sit down somewhere and wait for them to ask you to order the
- 2:48front. Don't go up.
- 2:51But if I tell you go down to a lower place and there was don't
- 2:55overshoot your spot. Don't think they deserve more.
- 2:59Don't sit in the front row. Naturally be inclined to be OK
- 3:04being in the back, being OK being unnoticed.
- 3:07And this is a very significant concept.
- 3:09I understand. I normally sit in this shoe in
- 3:11the front. I recognize that fact and that's
- 3:13a rabbi. I sit there.
- 3:14Got that. But technically speaking, a
- 3:16person should be fully OK with the fact that they're being
- 3:19sitting in a place it's not noticed.
- 3:21Now, what does that mean? Same theme to walking, replace
- 3:26stuff out a little bit different way.
- 3:27And that is you have many people that walk into certain places,
- 3:29be it shules or whatever else, be it a holiday meal, a family
- 3:33meal. And sometimes they push it back
- 3:37because no one noticed them or no one feels they deserve to be
- 3:40in a different position. And the natural knee jerk
- 3:43reaction is, is that what I'm worth?
- 3:45Is that really, am I going to sit now up at the end of the
- 3:47table and I'm not going to be along with thee core and I'm OK
- 3:52with that. Is that really what I'm worth?
- 3:54Is that how they see me? Or if you go into a shoe and you
- 3:57sing in the back of your shoe, that means people who may not
- 3:59notice you for half hour, 40 minutes.
- 4:02Who knows how though, right? Is that really my value?
- 4:04And you start to question your own personal existence.
- 4:07And a person should be humble enough to be OK with not being
- 4:12noticed, humble enough to be OK with being unassuming.
- 4:16So the working, the idea was you want to avoid the mindset, which
- 4:21is I need to be a big deal just being that's walking, OK.
- 4:26Don't try to carry yourself in that sort of manner that you
- 4:29think just being in that presence is a big deal, that a
- 4:31sitting maybe even at certain times can be more of a humbling
- 4:35experience. You can have a guy who walks
- 4:39fast, who doesn't strut, who doesn't, you know, have held the
- 4:43head of the eye yet still, if he goes into a place and they don't
- 4:48give him a good seat, he's hurt, he's insulted, he's upset, he's
- 4:52bothered. That's what I'm worth.
- 4:54And a person has to be OK with, yes, that's what you're worth.
- 4:58That doesn't mean they have a problem with you.
- 4:59That means they're not making a big deal by you right now.
- 5:02That's OK. And sit in the back, sit in a
- 5:05regular row. Be unassuming and accept that
- 5:08fact. The best state a person can be
- 5:10in is that they're OK being on their own.
- 5:14They're OK being unassuming. Recognize the fact that there's
- 5:17another person, that's fine. That doesn't mean people have a
- 5:21problem with you at all. That doesn't mean people have
- 5:23anything against you at all. It just means they're busy with
- 5:26their lives, you're busy with yours, and they're not making a
- 5:28big deal about you. And that's perfectly OK.
- 5:31And we all know the translation of this mindset actually plays a
- 5:35better for yourself. Because again, if a person's OK
- 5:38being unassuming, a person's OK being just a regular guy and
- 5:41they'll function like a regular guy.
- 5:43Whereas if they always need to be treated like a big deal and
- 5:46they're running the risk of needing being a very needy
- 5:50person, and if your mind is needy and your ego is needy,
- 5:55good luck. It's a disaster life.
- 5:57Whereas if you're OK being unassuming, that everything's
- 6:01more peaceful, you don't demand as much, you don't expect as
- 6:04much, you're not hurt as often. And this is a literally how it
- 6:07plays out, that where does it play out?
- 6:09Literally the way you sit, you think the way you sit is not a
- 6:12big deal. It reflects everything on your
- 6:15mind. Now, if you're in your own
- 6:16place, if you're in your own shoe, different story.
- 6:20If you're in your own shoe, where you sit is not a matter of
- 6:24arrogance, because when you're in your own shoe, your own
- 6:25place, your own family table. It's that you have your Shabbat
- 6:29table. Right.
- 6:30So then you, you're thinking about a lot of other things
- 6:32which are, I don't see that. I don't see as well from here.
- 6:36I, I talk too much over here. Maybe I missed the conversation
- 6:39in this spot. Those are normal logics when it
- 6:42comes to a regular steady structure.
- 6:45But you walk into a shoe that you're not used to, you go for a
- 6:47photo, you go for some car, you go for some, and now you're
- 6:51thinking to yourself immediately, where am I going to
- 6:54sit and how do I get to the front row?
- 6:56That's this issue right here. And that is the person already
- 7:00thinks of themselves too highly and whatever and this method and
- 7:04they really should be able to say to themselves, I'm good, I'm
- 7:08OK. It does not matter where they
- 7:10treat me in this one position, I'm good.
- 7:12I really, it'll reflect the confidence, it'll reflect
- 7:15reflect the unassuming manner and it'll allow you to be way
- 7:20less insulted in general. If you demand things like this
- 7:24and you're often insulted. If you're OK with things like
- 7:27this, you're OK is sitting in the back.
- 7:30That's a reflection of the fact. And I'm perfectly calm and happy
- 7:33with being unassumed. The best thing you want to be.
- 7:36That's what you're telling. All right, now let's see you
- 7:41next step on 454. Next page, Valco ha Martina
- 7:47Small. Now, if you're a person who is
- 7:51able to treat myself small, lower myself, act without
- 7:56importance, not care about where I sit or how you walk, Rabbis
- 8:02tell us. The reality is, call me Shem
- 8:05Martine at Small. The reality is, if you figure
- 8:13out a way, and this is work, you figure out a way to actually
- 8:17diminish yourself, to walk in and sit in the back, to just run
- 8:21somewhere without taking that stroll that makes people look at
- 8:24you, right? To talk in a soft tone that
- 8:28isn't demeaning to others, that isn't a powerful language.
- 8:32If you figure out that way, the reward is worth it because maybe
- 8:37in this world, initially it's a pill to swallow.
- 8:40We recognize that fact. Just to be clear, all these
- 8:44examples that he's giving us and all these challenges of
- 8:46arrogance against humility, the knee jerk reaction of a regular
- 8:51human being of flesh and blood, knee jerk reaction is I like
- 8:56arrogance. I like the feeling.
- 8:59Of being nice people finish less.
- 9:00Right, exactly. I like there's a reason people
- 9:04talk down to other people. They want to build themselves up
- 9:06and they talk in a powerful tone.
- 9:08They want to feel good about themselves.
- 9:09There's a reason when people walk with that walk of heaviness
- 9:12as if they have weights on the heels, because they want people
- 9:15to watch them. They want that feeling of
- 9:17existing. We said from the beginning, the
- 9:19issue with arrogance is the issue with the mindset is, is
- 9:22that I like to exist. And if I am humble or
- 9:26unassuming, they don't exist and I and that hurts and I like that
- 9:30other feeling. So really it's challenging and
- 9:32the same thing as truth. Whether you sit.
- 9:34I like the idea that I walk in and they're all busy with me and
- 9:37all trying to find the seat for me.
- 9:38I like that feeling. All right, means not a big deal.
- 9:42Good luck. Thank you, Joe.
- 9:44Excellent. OK, thanks.
- 9:48So this mindset, I like it and if I like it, that makes me feel
- 9:53good. And therefore, to hold back
- 9:56takes work. This is not simple for a person
- 10:00saying to themselves I'm going to walk into a place where I
- 10:02deserve to be respected and I'm not going to be noticed and I'm
- 10:05OK with it. That's impressive.
- 10:06But the payout is worth it. The baton with the response is
- 10:11worth it, which is if I diminish myself in this world, I will get
- 10:15more coverwood in the next World.
- 10:18I will feel bigger over there. If I'm small here, I'm big
- 10:20there. If I'm unassuming here, I'll
- 10:22have a big deal over there and that's worth it.
- 10:24Now say God told Lamba connected Sambu it says in the dash.
- 10:30I said I'm in snippet the remove the turban lip the crown meaning
- 10:37call me Suga dole by the maze Catan by the any person.
- 10:42This is really literally reality.
- 10:44If you try to be big over here, you're going to be small the
- 10:47next road, right? We're not laughing, huh?
- 10:51A strong call, right? We're not laughing.
- 10:54And the opposite is true as well.
- 10:56Mishu Katan, you're saving that big deal for the next round.
- 11:05You're saving to be treated like a like a major thing by Hashem
- 11:08himself, by angels, by those who might on the next Rd.
- 11:12So literally, we have a choice. Do I want to take up all the air
- 11:17in the room here and have no position over there?
- 11:21Or I'm at the opposite? Let me be small over here.
- 11:24Let it be small where it doesn't matter.
- 11:27Let me recognize the truth, which is that in this world,
- 11:31cavort is a reflection of other people wanting to connect to me.
- 11:37It's not really a reflection of my talents.
- 11:39Usually, more and more often than not, when people treat me
- 11:42like a big deal wherever I am, it's because they want our
- 11:46relationship with my bank account.
- 11:47They want our relationship with my power.
- 11:49They want our relationship with my charm.
- 11:51It's not about me. And you know that.
- 11:53Because when that person loses law, little loses that position,
- 11:56whatever it may be, all of a sudden it goes away.
- 11:59How'd it go away where my friends go?
- 12:01The answer is it never was friends.
- 12:03It never was about me and that in my mind, that in my mind will
- 12:09allow me to be unassuming in this world and therefore get the
- 12:13reward of the fact that I get covered in the next World.
- 12:16So who cares? Cover here, cover there.
- 12:18What's the difference? A difference?
- 12:19Like we just mentioned, cover in this world is a sketch.
- 12:23It's other people needing you and therefore wanting to have a
- 12:27corrected connection to you. Cover in the next World where
- 12:31you have nothing to offer. That's going to give them more
- 12:33money, a better job, more power, more connections.
- 12:37Instead, what do they want to have to do with you?
- 12:39The cavort of the Malachim respecting you and I in the next
- 12:43World is literally because they see a presence that's
- 12:47impressive. That's it.
- 12:49Not what it leaves to, not what it's based on now, where it's
- 12:53going to go now, what kind of job you're going to give them
- 12:55now, what kind of name you're going to give them.
- 12:57Now we're going to fundraise. This is going to happen later.
- 12:59Nothing. The cavort is because you
- 13:01deserve it. Cavour is because of the
- 13:03presence itself. In other words, go deeper.
- 13:05Cavour in this world is because of other things, not the
- 13:09presence itself or the leads to. Instead, Cavour in the next Rd.
- 13:13is rather because of the presence of the person himself.
- 13:18And that's a far more gratifying, more long lasting,
- 13:24more actual Cavour and this road.
- 13:26We know that respecting this world is fleeting.
- 13:29Why is it fleeting? Who said it's fleeting?
- 13:31Why is it, you know, come and go learning, praying, those are not
- 13:37fleeting. Why is this fleeting couple?
- 13:38What's a real tangible concept? Why is it not real in this
- 13:40world? It's because of that is because
- 13:42even when someone stands up for me, it's not about me.
- 13:46Maybe they recognize something, but it's still not about me.
- 13:49Usually it's about the next thing.
- 13:51And even if it's almost treats like a big deal, it's not about
- 13:54what you've done for them. What are you going to do?
- 13:56It's about what's going to lead to.
- 13:59That's not reality. Kavod in its core sense is
- 14:03respecting the thing because of what it is, as is example, best
- 14:07example, Hashem, Kavod of Hashem that we give respect of Ishu,
- 14:13respect of of yeshiva, respect of learning, respect of respect
- 14:19of respect of the Maheshvah, whatever it may be.
- 14:22All those respects are cavort your mind.
- 14:27And those are as is the guy in his shoe.
- 14:32He makes sure not to say certain things.
- 14:33What is that? He's respecting their presence.
- 14:36Is that because he wants Hashem to do something to him?
- 14:37No, he just respects the fact that God's presence is here.
- 14:41It's God's home. Same while holding a safer to
- 14:43them, same while learning, same while praying.
- 14:47All these different concepts. The cavort of Hashem is a
- 14:51finished product. You're at the end of the road.
- 14:54You're not doing it because what's going to lead to and the
- 14:56truth is at times kavoda, the rabbi is really kavoda and it is
- 15:01that concept. If you recognize that way.
- 15:03However, sometimes kavoda even of a rabbi can be because what
- 15:06the rabbi represents and his power and his prestige, that's
- 15:10that's nothing but as you. But he represents Duda.
- 15:13Depends. If you're doing it for the sake
- 15:14of the representation of Torah, great, and you the test is very
- 15:18clear test. And if you find another rabbi
- 15:21who's as learning of this one and how do you respect him ever
- 15:25respecting just the same and you're on the right track.
- 15:27And then the system is great. If you're only respecting that
- 15:30first round because he's a big deal and it's a big name and he
- 15:33can get you a job and he can help you in this and the other
- 15:35thing, then it's a waste of time.
- 15:37And her person has to try to be real on themselves.
- 15:40You can't be real on other people reeling yourself in this
- 15:42area. But the theme is very clear.
- 15:45If I in this world, I'm willing to be unassuming because I'm
- 15:49willing to say I don't need the cover here.
- 15:51And why? Because I'm deeper understanding
- 15:55that most covered in this world is a sketch.
- 15:56Anyhow, you name the guy non Jewish or Jewish.
- 16:01The fact that people clamor to have a relationship with that
- 16:05person 9 times out of 10 is not because of the person himself.
- 16:10And the most healthy person in the room is that person because
- 16:12he believes that it is because of him.
- 16:15When he doesn't realize this, you strip the title, you strip
- 16:18the money, you strip the relationship.
- 16:20He's not going to enter that couple.
- 16:22Why? Same guy, same personality, same
- 16:26sense of humor, maybe even the same job you should.
- 16:29If some reason he goes to death also like a vote goes away.
- 16:32Why? Because it never was about him
- 16:34in the 1st place. And therefore we tell the next
- 16:37person as you're climbing the ranks of honor and respect and
- 16:42maybe arrogance, recognize if you strip it, if you're OK with
- 16:47the fact that you're going to be an unassuming person, it doesn't
- 16:50mean you don't like nice things. Doesn't mean you have a you
- 16:53don't have a nice house, doesn't mean you don't have a shop car,
- 16:55doesn't mean that it doesn't even mean you don't make an ice
- 16:58wedding. Doesn't mean you don't accept
- 17:00the reward. It just means you accept the
- 17:03fact that you're unassuming, that you're not a big deal.
- 17:06No matter everyone's talking about you.
- 17:08And you don't need to constantly push your name back into the
- 17:11lights in order to remain the big deal, in order to remain
- 17:14like the Hollywood stars after they're 45 years old and they're
- 17:16very old news. So now they have to do something
- 17:19funny in the supermarket so people notice them and they get
- 17:21back onto the paper. You're not that as it instead
- 17:24you recognize it's OK, I'm on assuming I'm not a big deal, I'm
- 17:28fine. Why are you OK?
- 17:30Because the cavort in this world's anyway not you.
- 17:34It's not treating you like AB dealer is treating your bank
- 17:37account or your connection like AB deal.
- 17:38If you recognize that, then the reflection is you'll be on
- 17:42assuming here and upstairs they'll be given granted great
- 17:46coverage and there no connections, no power, no
- 17:52relationship that you're going to lead to no job you're going
- 17:55to give them. It's not like by having a
- 17:58relationship with you, it's going to help them.
- 17:59No. So why they give you respect
- 18:01just because it's warranted and that's the kind of respect you
- 18:05want. You want to respect.
- 18:07By the way, even in this world, if you do get respect, that is
- 18:09the respect that you want. You want the respect to be
- 18:12warranted. The only problem is most people
- 18:15who give out respect the hammer and AM the crowd, the people
- 18:20they're not thinking that way. They're not thinking about oh so
- 18:23and so Balkhesi, he deserves AP to you so and so.
- 18:29Wow, you know what he did for this old the other guy last
- 18:31week. He deserves to be stood up for
- 18:33or spoken about. That guy in how much to try lens
- 18:37Tamir Hakam is he gone? Oh, we should all make it be the
- 18:41light of him. That's not really what people.
- 18:43Do, but we do in general the the Volatan things you put always
- 18:47everyone on the pedestal, sure. I mean one of you like so we
- 18:49are, we are creating these people.
- 18:51Sure. Really, you should have, even in
- 18:54the modern day, a gadol should be given great respect and these
- 18:58people for the sake of the Torah itself, for the sake of the
- 19:01impact itself, not because having that relationship is
- 19:05going to lead to XY and Z. That's already going off the
- 19:08wrong track because like I said, we take away that outcome.
- 19:13You remove that outcome, all the sudden you're not thinking that
- 19:17way, right? So what happened?
- 19:19I thought so and so is very impressive.
- 19:20He's not really impressive. He's just released to.
- 19:23So us as those who are receiving the cover would need to
- 19:27recognize and realize you're not receiving cover in this world
- 19:30anyway. You're simply receiving for
- 19:33other people a pathway toward their connections.
- 19:37And because that's the case, it's all a sketch anyhow.
- 19:41So be OK with the fact that you don't need it.
- 19:44Be OK with the fact that I'm perfectly fine not being
- 19:47recognized because my recognition is any way of
- 19:50fallacy. It's all a sketch anyhow.
- 19:51And instead we replace that false recognition with the real
- 19:56thing, with a genuine coward, with Hashem making a big deal by
- 19:59you, With the Malachi making you into a big deal with upstairs,
- 20:03which is infinite, which is among the greats.
- 20:07Which is without power and without connections and without
- 20:10development simply because of who you are itself.
- 20:13That's we'll cover with. That's why when they say one of
- 20:17the ideas, which is that a person's a big deal down here,
- 20:20he's small upstairs, he's small upstairs, he's small down here,
- 20:25that he's big upstairs, right. So I understand you want to tell
- 20:30me a person should not be busy with Kavod, but he gets Kavod.
- 20:35Why does that mean you can be small for?
- 20:36Staples about personal cover with like you yourself or bag
- 20:39yourself you did something different you want to you push
- 20:42yourself you know you did something good like.
- 20:44That is not someone. Is smile on your face like?
- 20:46It's not covered. That's a good point.
- 20:47It's not covered. Feeling good about yourself?
- 20:50That's accomplishment. Feeling shouldn't be confident,
- 20:52not good about yourself, and accomplish is a great state to
- 20:55be in. It is not covered.
- 20:57Covered is other people's reflection.
- 21:00It's the only way covered exists.
- 21:01Other people, other things, whatever it is looking at you
- 21:04cover. What is the pedestal, the
- 21:07reaction, the reflection, the light.
- 21:10That's what it is. You feeling good by yourself is
- 21:12not the light people. That get that, get it because,
- 21:16because they've earned it and deserve it and, and they just,
- 21:19they don't ask for it, but they get there's a lot of, you know,
- 21:22there's, there's people like that, yeah.
- 21:25True. So you want to say how do I
- 21:26blame the guy? How could I say a blanket
- 21:28statement that if he's big down here in these small upstairs,
- 21:31what about the fact that we're great rabbis who were everyone
- 21:34at the end of their life? People were clamoring, just got
- 21:36a meeting with them or even a second what that, what am I
- 21:38saying, 'cause Shalom did the small upstairs.
- 21:41So there's a couple of points. The reality is such people
- 21:44really remained small down here in the sense that they were not
- 21:49busy with it. If they did get busy with it,
- 21:51different story, but they were they remained that they only
- 21:55wanted to do is they only want to learn.
- 21:57If you are getting real comfortable down here and you
- 21:59really recognize it, chances are you're going to enjoy it.
- 22:02And if you're going to enjoy it, you're going to like those,
- 22:04those moments and you're going to go to those scenes and you're
- 22:07going to walk into the crowd of 20,000 people with the singing
- 22:10the song and you can buy every one of them, right?
- 22:12But these did not want to. And these were really fighting
- 22:15even to go to these events and only did it because they had to.
- 22:18And that was an indication that they retained, they cut Newt in
- 22:23their mind even as the world, the entire Jewish world, was
- 22:27making them into everything. Yet they retained that sense of
- 22:31smoke. If they did it, different story,
- 22:34but they did. And because they did, that's
- 22:36perfect. And that remains that.
- 22:38I don't see myself as a reflection of what they're
- 22:40saying me. And therefore I remain alone in
- 22:44my mind. I remain unassuming even though
- 22:46I'm not. I remain sitting in the back
- 22:49seat even though it doesn't happen.
- 22:50I remain a guy that walk into the room.
- 22:52They don't stand up for me, even though every time they do and I
- 22:55remain talking. This is where it retains itself.
- 22:57Talking in a manner that is still humble.
- 23:00I can't change where I sit. I can't change where I stand.
- 23:03I can't change that they stand up.
- 23:05But I could change where I talk. And if I am at the end of a
- 23:07person's life, talking in a power tone, oh, he got ruined.
- 23:13Talking in a soft tone. OK, beautiful.
- 23:16He remained the same. And that means upstairs.
- 23:18He's going to get all the cover. Get what's up with this?