Ten Minutes of Meaning (Part 194): I'm the Most Humble - Mesillas Yesharim

Good morning, Boca welcome back to 10 minutes of meaning. Please help yourself to coffee and donuts. 10 minutes of meaning is generously anonymously sponsored. Was a heinous miss Alta Ben Pinhas. We remain very grateful to our anonymous sponsors. We're on the 22nd chapter of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Taking us a long time because we have yet to perfect it. We're still working on it. The chapter of Anava of humility all the way deep late into the book because this type of genuine authentic real Anava this real humility and modesty is difficult. Humility and modesty in our mindset and humility and modesty in our behavior. We spoken about the dibur how to speak humbly, not assert ourselves overconfidently. The halacha so our posture how to walk in such a way that if someone were to simply observe us if we saw a snapshot of our posture and the way that we walk, we would appear humble. The shivta where we sit how we sit among whom we sit that we do not demand to sit on the dais or the top seating or the front row. And then we move to the Shani which is feel a cell bonus. We started last time. The second part of living with humility is the ability to absorb insults to not be so arrogant and egotistical that we need to lash out. We need to respond. We need to give a zinger back. We need to escalate a fight with others. Someone insulted us. Someone disrespected us. Someone was discourteous to us. Not nice. It's not kind. Should motivate us and inspire us not to do that or pay it forward to others but to nevertheless be able to absorb that blow as the Gamara says in Shabbos and now love and they don't over show possible in the Shiva. I shared the school of the time. You're near a person who bears an insult. Somebody who is able to absorb something harsh being said or written or a poster hung about them and you see them remain silent. You receive them accept it. Get a bracha from such an individual. They are in a position to be able to give you a bracha. People make it up and what shall Baba be Buddha. And they say the Gamara in the Dharma Baba tells the story about Baba Buddha. Who the Israel there was a Babylonian who came to live in Israel and he got married there. One day he asked his wife cook for me please. I'm sure he said please. Two talfei. Cook for me this great delicacy the feet of a cow. Before you by the way disregard that as a great delicacy. Pacha. It's possible I would prefer kale to pacha. Probably not but it's possible. So misunderstanding the Aramaic dialect that he used what happened she cooked two talfei. She cooked two lentils. The next day he said the next day he said cook for me please a huge amount. Bashilo griva. He assumed that if he told her two again she would cook the same amount but she went and cooked a huge amount for him. I'm going to see as the tray. She said bring for me two watermelons and she didn't understand the dialect and she brought two earthenware oil lamps. I'm going to see in anger he said to her go and break them on the the Baba. The top of the gate post on the top of the lintel of the door. Go break for them. What do I need them for? I'll be as Buddha never Baba was sitting on a base then he was sitting judging at that moment. His name was Baba Ben Buddha. So what happened? I'm going to she went and broke the oil lamps over his head. She thought when her husband said rasha she didn't mean the top of the door the head of Baba. Who's Baba? Baba Ben Buddha. He's at shul. I'm going to so what happened? Baba Ben Buddha says I guess he regained consciousness. That's all I came in record time 90 seconds and he regained consciousness and he said where did that where did that come from? What happened? I'm going to just fulfilling my husband's will. Isn't that what you rabbis want? Whatever your husband says you got to listen to. I'm going to say at return I'm going to say Baba Ben Buddha. Oh, that's what your husband told you? I guess it's okay. He gave her a bracha should have two sons like Baba Ben Buddha. So Baba Ben Buddha didn't absorb a insult. He didn't absorb words and we know that sticks and stones can can how does it go? Can break your bones but words will never hurt. So words can hurt. Sticks and stones hurt even more. Candlesticks over the head hurt even more than that. And Baba Ben Buddha the Gamara says absorbed it. He wanted to find out more where it came from and why she listened and where was the misunderstanding. He didn't react harshly. He didn't respond in retribution. He was able to see it in a context because he practiced on he was humble and he was modest. Said the world's not about me. If I was just smacked over the head with candlesticks it's because Hashem willed me to wake up by being hit over the head with candlesticks. She was the agent. She was the for whatever reason I'll find out why. The Gamara tells us in Shabbos about Hillel. Gamara says this on the so. And the Gamara tells us with all his humility didn't find himself worthy of being called an honor. So Gamara so the Gamara came in the middle of the Gamara and the Gamara Gamara Gamara Gamara Gamara when I saw Gamara of explain something only to have his interpreter explain it differently and he didn't lash out. He didn't get angry. He was calm. I realized I always thought I was humble but meanwhile look at the way I lash out. Look at the way I respond to people when I'm disappointed and my expectations aren't met. I guess I'm not really humble. I have a lot to learn from Abba. So here the Ram Moshe was teaching us about the power of Anavas. The Anavas we should be an Anavas. Now it's interesting the points out low it doesn't say low sadik. Hello low forever. What's the ambition? What's the aspiration? What's the measure or metric for success in life and in living? What are we trying to be? We're trying to be Anavas. Be humble. Even before you try to be a sadik. Don't be a sadik just be humble. Just be humble and just be modest. So sadik I mean that's another. The real definition of success in life. The real aspiration and ambition. The real measure of what it means to be molded as a good person is not a sadik. It's not taking on fasts. It's not going taking on extra most. Be humble. Be humble in the way your posture how you speak how you sit with whom you sit. Just be humble and modest in the way that we conduct ourselves in the way that we carry ourselves. That's the mission to be humble. And he continues the Shaka what do we mean Abba? He first thought that he was humble. And then sorry um Who was thought he was humble and only later did he realize he is really humble. I'm not humble. How could a person think they're humble? Does thinking you're humble isn't that a isn't that a contradiction to being humble? Isn't a humble person not realize they're humble? So we already defined already a few weeks ago. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's thinking of yourself less often. We would tell them to doubt us with gifts and talents and broches. To deny them to pretend we don't have them is not humility. That's not humility. That's false humility. To recognize our gifts and talents but to realize they're on loan. They're not part of our permanent collection. They are given to us endowed to us with a sense of service and responsibility and obligation. That's humility. So he said I thought that one of my assets was humility. But I realized it's not. That is not a contradiction to humility. Thinking one of your assets is humility. It is an expression of understanding who you are and where you come from and what your responsibility is to the world. The next expression or demonstration of humility says that I'm saying it bonus. Hating being a rabbi. Some of you are that. Very big way. That's not what it means. It means hating positions of authority. A person should not want to be a rav a a head of school cuz they like all the honor and all the glory and all the attention and all the spotlight and all the gray hair. That is not why one should want to sign up for such a job. So the bonus is all we're not telling us hate the rabbinate the difference you can make. Hate the authority that comes with it. Hate the spotlight and honor that comes with it. Hate the arrogance that often can easily come with it. You run away from it. Mission to mission and of us will pick up with it in after Pesach when we resume living with in 15 minutes tonight we go behind the bema in honor of opening week with Daryl Strawberry the great New York Yankee. Apparently he played for the Mets beforehand. Before he joined the Yankees. Talk about faith and family and recovery and addiction and his love of the Jewish people and of Israel and his predictions for the season. That's tonight. Until after Pesach. Stay happy. Stay healthy. Stay holy. A kosher Pesach.