Chazal have many teachings condemning the trait of arrogance [gayvah], even the first trait that Israel is called, baishanim [shy], is the opposite of arrogance. And so, this is the basis of every Jew to live with humility and distance from arrogance. However, there are times when we must specifically take hold of the trait of arrogance, as it states (Divrei Hayamim II 17:6), 'ויגבה לבו בדרכי ה'' – ‘His heart was elevated in the ways of Hashem’, and this matter needs to be studied especially since the entire life of a Jew we tell him to distance from arrogance, and suddenly we tell him to adopt the opposite midah. We also have to study how to do this, and most importantly, when to do it.
In the beginning of the journeys of Bnei Yisrael, the parsha tells us (33:3-4), ממחרת הפסח יצאו בני ישראל ביד רמה לעיני כל מצרים. ומצרים המקברים את אשר הכה בהם ה' – ‘On the day after the karban Pesach, Bnei Yisrael went forth with an upraised hand, before the eyes of all the Egyptians. And the Egyptians were burying those among whom Hashem had struck’. Let us leave the plain meaning of the posukim and dig a little deeper, and perhaps we will merit to learn the way in avodas Hashem.
The yetzer hara of the impurity of Egypt also exists in our day, and this is the yetzer that tries to show us the beauty one may enjoy from the desires of this world and sins, and the Torah teaches us how a ben Yisrael can escape from the trap of the yetzer and overpower it. ‘Bnei Yisrael went forth with an upraised hand, before the eyes of all the Egyptians’, against a yetzer hara like this one must use an ‘upright hand’, the person must arouse within him the commitment to Torah and avodas Hashem Yisbarach, with the understanding that this world is a transient world and has no value when compared with the eternal world. Then he will notice that ‘the Egyptians were burying’, that is, the desires of this world distance the person not only from Olam Habah, but also this world until there is no point to his life, and then they bury him, for the wicked while alive are called dead.
But this is not the end, for the yetzer hara does not easily give up its grip, and it reminds him of his earlier sins by saying, ‘How can you want to elevate to high levels after you have done what you did?!’ Here, we must stand up against it with strength and holy arrogance and say to it, ‘You are not my guide to teach me the way in avodas Hashem Yisbarach!’ Chazal already said (Kiddushin 40b), ‘A person should always see himself as though he were half-guilty and half-meritorious. If he performed one mitzvah, he is fortunate for he has tipped the balance for himself and the world toward merit.’ This is what I must think that the whole world is dependent on what I do now!
-Tiv HaTorah - Masei
