In this week’s parshah, the Torah tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu was “extremely humble, more so than any person on earth” (anav me’od mikol adam al penei ha’adamah). Considering that nobody other than Moshe was chosen to speak to Hashem “face to face,” this is an extraordinary statement. There are various ways to understand it, which highlight the Torah’s perspective on humility, awareness of our strengths, and consciousness that everything is a gift from Hashem.
Reb Pinchas Koritzer, however, focuses on a different aspect of the passuk: “mikol ha’adam,” which literally means, “from every person.” How was Moshe, with his immense stature, able to be so humble, he asks. This was only possible, he explains, because he viewed each of his strengths as derived from others.
Moshe Rabbeinu is described as the “daas” of the entire Jewish People, equivalent to the collective knowledge of everyone together. Instead of taking credit for his knowledge and awareness of Hashem, he attributed each aspect of what he had as being derived from another Yid who himself possessed that aspect.
Our natural tendency is the opposite — to see and focus on what we give to others rather than what they give to us. Most people, when asked, are readily able to tell you exactly what they do for their spouse, their children, their colleagues at work... but if you ask them, “What does your spouse do for you?” the silence may extend for a few moments while they try to collect their thoughts and think of an answer.
Very often, we find ourselves craving appreciation, feeling taken for granted, and wondering whether others are taking advantage of us. It’s worth pausing for a moment whenever such thoughts surface and trying to look at the picture from the outside. Is it possible that the very person we’re accusing of taking us for granted actually gives us much more than we recognize? Could there be a more balanced way of viewing the situation?
