Musar su Proverbi 16:5

Arrogant people are disgusting in the eyes of the Lord, as it is said: "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5). And such a one is easily surrendered into the power of his evil impulse, for God's help is not with him since he is abominable to the Lord. And even though he does not lord it over any man by word or deed but in his heart alone, he is called "abominable" for it says, "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord," that is to say, even if he has no arrogance except in his heart.

Our Rabbis said: "Every man who is impudent or proud of spirit it is as though he were an idolator" (Sotah 4b), for it is written, "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5) and it is written there: "You must not bring an abhorrent thing (idol) into your house …" (Deut. 7:26). And there are those who say it is as though he violated all the laws against sexual license, for it is written: "For all these abominations were done by the people who were in the land before you and the land became defiled …" (Lev. 18:27). And there are those who say, "It is as though he built a place for idolatry." And they said in Sotah 5a, "Every man who is arrogant of spirit becomes less in the end as it is said: 'They are exalted for a little while' (Job 24:25). And such a one is deserving to be hewn down like a grove planted for idol worship, as it is said: 'And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down' (Is. 10:33). And his dust shall not awaken and the Spirit of God laments over him. The Holy One Blessed be He, said, 'I and he cannot live in the same world,' as it is said: 'Whoso is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer'" (Ps. 101:5).

And pride causes several transgressions and amplifies the impulse of a man's heart against him, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 8:14), "And your heart grow haughty and you forget the Lord your God." And it is [also] stated (Proverbs 21:4), "Haughty looks, a proud heart - the tillage of the evildoers' sin." Its explanation is: Pride is the tillage of evildoers, for the sins grow from it; as it was stated, "And your heart grow haughty and you forget." And it is [also] stated (Psalms 10:2), "The wicked in his arrogance hounds the lowly." And it is [further] stated (Psalms 31:19), "that speak haughtily against the righteous with arrogance." And it is [also] stated (Ezekiel 32:24), "who struck terror in the land of the living." And just like people make a tillage in the field in order to plant seeds and to harvest much produce, so do the evildoers make pride into a tillage in their hearts, and seed it with their evil thoughts to produce and to grow sins. Metaphorically speaking, these are the fruit of their thoughts - like the prophet stated (Hosea 10:4), "this judgment springs up like poison weeds, etc." And the explanation of "sin" (above in Proverbs 21:4) is, the tillage of the evildoers is the tillage of sin. And all [mention of] sin is [actually] plural, like (in Jeremiah 17:1), "The sin of Judah." Or (alternatively), its explanation is "and sin," like in (Habakkuk 3:11), "Sun, moon" (which means, sun and moon). And the understanding is - beyond [the fact] that pride causes sins, the trait itself is a sin, as it is stated (Proverbs 16:5), "Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord." And a proud person will be given over to his impulse; for God does not help him, since he is "an abomination to the Lord."

Modesty is indeed a good quality and is the opposite of arrogance. And he who possesses this quality has already turned away his soul from all sorts of evils, and he who has reached this honored lofty degree performs a precept and receives his reward according to the greatness of his humility. For Modesty is the root of Service to God, and a small deed done with Modesty is received by God, Blessed be He, a thousand times more readily than a great deed performed with arrogance. And thus did our Sages say: "The one who sacrifices much and the one who sacrifices little have the same merit, provided that the heart is directed to heaven" (Berakoth 5b Menahoth, 110:a). But a work done with arrogance is not welcomed by God, Blessed be He, for it is an abomination to His Spirit, as it is said: "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Proverbs 16:5). "And because of this he cries and is not answered, as it is said: "Yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear" (Isaiah 1:15). And a man of arrogance may perform the precepts and they tear them to pieces before his eyes, as it is said: "Oh, that there were even one among you that would shut the doors (of the Temple so that the arrogant would not presume to serve Me!)" (Mal. 1:10). And when an arrogant person brings a sacrifice it is not received, as it is said: "Who hath required this at your hands, to trample My courts?" (Is. 1:12). And, it is said: "Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat ye flesh" (Jer. 7:21). (That is to say. "Don't offer your burnt offerings to Me; I do not want them.")

And what really is modesty? It is humility and lowliness of the spirit, regarding oneself as nothing. And a man must feel this constantly — to be low in his own eyes, humble of soul, tender of heart, and broken in spirit. The root of modesty is that he shall consider, while he is at peace and quiet, healthy and rich, that the Creator, Blessed be He, has done much good to him, and that he is undeserving of all that God has given him. And he should think about the greatness of God and the exaltation of His glory, and should consider, "What am I? Am I not a small humble creature and I am in a lowly transitory world." And he should further think, "All the good deeds that I am able to do are nothing but a drop in the ocean in contrast with what I ought to do." And he must do all of his deeds for the honor of Heaven, and not to flatter any man, or for the sake of pleasure, but he must do everything for the sake of God's Great Name. This is the root of modesty

“That he will not act haughtily toward his brothers” (Deuteronomy 17:20). We were warned with this to remove the trait of pride from our souls; and that the great not lord it over the small, but rather be of a lowly spirit. And pride is one of the weighty sins that lose and destroy the soul, as it is stated (Proverbs 16:5), “Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord.” And of what help is the procurement of his money, his great wealth and his (lofty) treasures [in the heights]? Behold, since he is loathsome and foul, the heights of his great splendor are lower than the pit. And [even] a wise man should not glory in anything besides the service of God, may He be blessed, and fear of Him, trust in Him, love of Him and clinging to Him - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:21), “He is your Glory and He is your God.” And it is [also] stated (Jeremiah 9:22-23) “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, etc. But only in this should one glory: In his earnest knowledge of Me.”

Therefore the educated man will be very careful of the pride, that he will not be proud - neither in his body nor in his hair, nor in his head nor in his throat, nor in his hands nor in his feet, nor in the smell of his nose nor in his tongue, nor in his food nor in his clothes. And he shall not boast in his heart, "Every haughty person is an abomination to the LORD" (Proverbs 16: 5). And this is a great thing, which at the heights of the heart is called "abomination to the LORD," and blessed is the man who will feel in this thing, to understand this great punishment for such a light thing. Many fail at this, and the educated will flee for their lives not to be called "abomination." This name is very ugly, and you know it.

On all of them it is written "a proud heart is an abomination to G-d" (Mishlei 16:5). One who wants to reach the trait of Cleanliness must cleanse himself of all of them. He must know and understand that arrogance is literally blindness whereby a man's intellect fails to see his own deficiencies and recognize his own lowliness.

He should also reflect upon the severity of this sin, a negative commandment among the 613 mitzvoth, as it is written (Devarim 8:14): "And your heart will swell [with pride] and you will forget the L-rd your G-d," as listed in Semag. And Chazal have said (Sotah 4b): "One who is haughty of heart is like a server of idols." And the more one thinks to magnify his name in the world, the more it is diminished and his body is spurned by the creations. He should also reflect upon the greatness of his punishment in this world and in the world to come, as they said (Succah 29b): "Because of four things the possessions of householders go to waste … and haughtiness of heart." And they also say (Sotah 5a): "All who have haughtiness of heart are in the end deflated." And we also learn there: R. Chisda said: "Whoever has haughtiness of heart — the Holy One Blessed be He says of him: 'He and I cannot inhabit the [same] world.'" And R. Elazar said: "If one has haughtiness of heart, his dust does not stir for the resurrection." And this is measure for measure. For instead of reflecting always that he is destined for a pace of dust, maggot, and work, to still his pride, he did not think thus, but only that the heights of the rocks would be his domain forever and that the spacious heights would be his eternal rest, above all of his contemporaries. Therefore, when his body turns to dust, his dust lacks the power to stir from its place, and all will arise and stand on their feet, and he will remain lying low, beneath the soles of the feet of all the people whom he vaunted himself over while yet in life. And he is also abominated because of this in the eyes of the Blessed L-rd, as it is written (Mishlei 16:5): "The abomination of the L-rd are all the haughty of heart."

We ask G–d daily at the end of the עמידה prayer ולמקללי נפשי תדום, "enable my soul to be silent to those who curse me." The wording seems peculiar. It would have sufficed to say: "Let me be silent to those who curse me." Why did the sages who composed this prayer add the words "my soul?" The answer is simply that unless one's humility is "soul-deep" as compared to merely "lip-deep," one has not truly attained the desired level of humility. Merely failing to respond to curses heaped upon one will not eliminate resentment and hatred carried in one's heart, and is hardly proof of humility. We may learn a lesson from nature itself. As long as the soil is hard and has not been subjected to plowing, (something which looks like abuse), it is not capable of producing crops. The same applies to our נפש. Only after experiencing some humiliating experiences is our soul capable of rising to the greatest heights it is capable of. It is clear from Proverbs 16,5: תועבת ה' כל גבה לב, "Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord," that even if one only harbors such sentiments in one's heart, לב, G–d detests such sentiments.

לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך . The reason that you must not hate your brother in your heart (19,17) is that one automatically feels superior to the person one hates in one's heart. People who feel superior are anathema to G–d. Whereas it is your duty to hate people who hate G–d, unjustified hatred has led to the destruction of the Temple and to our exile. In fact the opening lines of the famous elegy of Jeremiah איכה ישבה בדד העיר רבתי עם היתה, add up to איבה רעה. Just because he is your brother, you must not hate him in your heart (but you should tell him what is on your mind).

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in Sotah 4b compares an arrogant person to an idol worshiper. This exegesis is based on the Torah applying the word "abomination" to both of these types of individual. Rabbi Yehudah castigates haughtiness as being the equivalent of heresy of the first order. He quotes a verse from our portion. It is written: ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלוקיך "When you become haughty you forget the Lord your G–d." Different sages in the Talmud heap more scorn on arrogant people, each one supplying scriptural proof. The common denominator for this universal condemnation of the haughty person is that, inasmuch as G–d is our Master and we are His servants, how could a servant arrogate to himself importance in the presence of his master?