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Beha’alotecha
Numbers 8:1-12:16
I’ve been thinking a lot about humility and arrogance these days. Arrogance screams at us daily from every news platform, and humility seems to be in short supply. But what is humility?
The classic Jewish text on humility appears in this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotecha. The text tells us that Moshe’s siblings, Aharon and Miriam, criticized Moshe because of his “Cushite” wife. The meaning of their complaint is unclear, leading the commentators to offer multiple possibilities. In any case, they continue their harangue with the words, “Has God spoken only through Moses — and not through us as well?” (Numbers 12:2) Perhaps this is the grievance that underlies their rebuke about his wife. They protest that Moshe acts as if he is the only prophet able to connect the Israelites with God.
Of course, early in the Book of Exodus, Moshe had insisted that he was not worthy of being God’s prophet and the leader of the people. But now, Moshe has settled into the role. And his siblings are envious and angry, protesting, “What about us?”
Strikingly, Moshe does not respond. (Can you imagine being on the receiving end of this kind of verbal attack and not responding?) The text, explaining Moshe’s silence, makes the stunning statement, “Moshe himself was very humble, more so than any other human being on earth.” (Numbers 12:3) God then calls the three siblings and angrily declares that Moshe is God’s chosen prophet, and that their criticism was unacceptable.
But was Moshe really the most humble person on earth? This is puzzling, given that Moshe is the leader who communicated directly with God, who demanded that Pharaoh let the Israelites go and led the people out of Egypt. Could he really be the most humble person on earth?
Some of the confusion lies in the common conception that humility means meekness. The word “humility” is related to the word “humiliation,” so many think that humility refers to timidity or weakness.
But the Mussar tradition, a Jewish practice focused on ethical character formation within Judaism, teaches otherwise. Contemporary Mussar teacher Dr. Alan Morinis summarizes the teaching this way in his book “Everyday Holiness”: “Humility is not the opposite of conceit, for that would be self-effacement, but rather stands between conceit and self-effacement. Humility is not an extreme quality, but rather a balanced, moderate, accurate understanding of yourself that you act on in your life.” Or, to put it simply, humility is “occupying your rightful place in life, neither too much nor too little,” Morinis writes.
This understanding sheds light on how Moshe’s silence in response to his siblings’ attack is an indicator of humility. A leader acting out of conceit or arrogance sees themselves as uniquely privileged, entitled to complete loyalty, and immune to the criticism of others. Challenging them would seem outrageous, and might evoke an angry tirade. But Moshe did not explode in anger when his siblings complained about his leadership. He did not see himself as superior to them or beyond criticism. He saw himself as an imperfect servant performing the role he had been given.
An episode just a chapter earlier illustrates another dimension of humility. Moshe was at his wit’s end, dealing with a contentious and kvetchy people. He had asked God to relieve him of the task of leadership. God responded by inviting Moshe to deputize 70 leaders to relieve his burden. God drew from the divine spirit in Moshe and gave some of it to the 70 elders, who began to speak ecstatic words of prophecy. Two of the men continued long after the others had stopped speaking in this way. A young man reported them to Joshua, who went to Moshe and urged him to restrain them. But Moshe responded, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all God’s people were prophets, that God inspired them!” (Numbers 11:29)
Moshe took no pleasure in holding the role of prophet exclusively. He desired that all of the people could, like him, have special closeness to God and the wisdom that came with it. He rejoiced in sharing leadership and intimacy with God.
Writing about this passage in “Torah of Reconciliation,” Rabbi Sheldon Lewis quotes C.S. Lewis, saying that humility is “a state of mind in which a person could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact without being any more [or less] or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another.”
This is a beautiful characterization of a leader — or anyone fulfilling a calling — doing what is right for the good of all without being hampered by superiority, entitlement or arrogance.
It is hard to think of a modern-day leader who conducts themselves in this way. We can also ask ourselves how humility works in our own lives. Do we relate to our own gifts as entitlements that we deserve or as gifts to be shared with others? Do we receive criticism as an outrage or an opportunity for learning? Imagine how the presence of this kind of humility could make a family or a society more generous, inclusive and kind.