The Vilna Gaon (Likutei Sefer Yetzirah, Bereishis; Aderes Eliyohu, Bereishis) writes that “every excessively tall person tends to foolishness.” Such disproportion suggests a lack of harmony between heart and mind. Tuvia HaRofeh, the 17th century doctor (Ma’aseh Tuviah, Olam HaShafel, end of Chapter 1; Olam HaKatan) offers a physiological explanation, later cited in Likutei Moharan (55:6).
The Arizal (commentary to Avos 4:3) teaches that tall people often lack intellectual balance, except for those endowed with a Divine image and shadow, who are the opposite: especially elevated.
Rabbi Moshe David Valle (Sefer HaLikuttim, p. 429) explains that a tall person is like a vessel too large for its contents, unless he also possesses the spiritual capacity to fill it.
The Ya’avetz (Mor U’Ketzia, Orach Chaim 225) clarifies that these statements apply when the body is disproportionately tall and thin. However, one who is tall and well-built has, in fact, an advantage.
The Chavos Yair distinguishes between excessive height, which is a defect, and one who stands a head above others, which is a virtue.
