It states (Mishlei 3:34) חן יתן ולענוים, "To the humble, Hashem gives chen."
There was a tailor who had an excellent reputation. The poritz bought clothes from him, giving him a good name. People said, "If he is good enough for the poritz, he must be an excellent tailor."
Once, the poritz asked the tailor to make him a suit and added, "Make sure that it comes out good." The tailor replied, "Can I make something that isn't nice?" Not the humblest thing to say.
The tailor sewed the suit, and the poritz brought it to his home to show it to his wife. His wife wrinkled her nose and made a foul face when she saw it. She said, "I can't look at it. It has no chen." The poritz returned the suit to the tailor and said, "I can't wear this. It has no chen... Make it again, and this time, make it good."
The word went out. The poritz wasn’t happy with the tailor's work. People stopped buying their clothes from him. He was more expensive than other tailors, and if the poritz wasn't satisfied with his work, his clothing obviously weren't worth the price. Brokenhearted, the tailor told Rebbe Bunim of Pshischa zt'l that his parnassah was at stake because people stopped coming to him.
Rebbe Bunim replied, "Undo the seams and sew it up again exactly as you made it the first time. This time the poritz and his wife will like the suit." The tailor asked, "If they didn't like it the first time, why would they like it the second time if I make it exactly the same way?" "Just do as I say," Rebbe Bunim told him.
The tailor had emunas chachamim and did as he was told. Upon seeing the garment, the poritz's wife said, "This is a beautiful suit. I'm so glad it turned out well this time." The poritz thanked the tailor for doing such a good job. Everyone heard that the poritz and his wife were happy with the tailor, and they began asking him again for his service.
But how did it happen? Wasn’t it the same clothes as before? Rebbe Bunim explained, "Whatever is made with humility has chen, as it states חן יתן ולענוים. The first time you made the clothing, you were proud, you thought you make the best clothes in the world, so your actions didn't have chen. But the second time you sewed up the clothing, you did so with a broken heart and humility. And that's the reason it had chen in their eyes."
Yosef blessed Binyamin (43:29) יחנך אלקים בני, "May Hashem grant you chen, my son." The Yismach Yisrael says that Binyamin received chen because בני, which means child, alludes to young and humble. He felt humble, and humility is mesugal for chen.
The Kli Yakar discusses Hashem's name ה"הוי and shows that these letters have the smallest gematriya when spelled out in full. א"ה for example, is gematriya 6. ו"וא, is gematriya 13. ד"יו is gematriya 20. All other letters have a much higher gematriya. Take ף"אל, for example. The gematriya is 111. ת"בי is 412, ל"גימ is 83, ת"דל is 434, and so on. Hashem's name is comprised of the letters with the smallest gematriya to indicate that Hashem resides among the humble.
One aspect of humility is to be mevater
Reb Moshe Goldish and his wife z'l came from Romania. They came to America on the last ship that left Romania before the Nazis invaded. They were both niftar in Williamsburg on the same day. As soon as Reb Moshe’s levayah was over, his wife was niftarah.
This is their story: Mrs. Goldish's maiden name was Rosenberg. She was orphaned at a young age, and her older brother, Avremel, moved from Romania to America so he could earn enough money to support his siblings and provide them with a dowry. Avremel himself got married only after setting up all his brothers and sisters.
One of his sisters married Moshe Goldish, and Avremel took care of all the wedding expenses. In addition, he gave them a large sum of money as a dowry to help them begin their lives together. Moshe rented a dilapidated house in Romania and renovated it with the money from his dowry. He didn't do this to live there. He planned to sublet it at a much higher rental rate. The problem was that when the owner saw the beautifully renovated home, he wanted the Goldish's to pay more rent.
Reb Moshe could have fought in court. After all, he had a contract with the owner and agreed on a price. Furthermore, he could have demanded that the owner pay for the house's increase in value due to his investment. But Reb Moshe didn't want a fight and decided not to go to beis din. He preferred to be mevater and suffer the loss.
But he needed money. He sent a letter to his brother-in-law Avremel that he needed financial help. Avremel replied, "I see you don't know how to take care of your money. If you want more money, come to America, yourselves. I'll help you here." Not having much of a choice, they boarded a ship to America – the last boat to leave Romania. The war began. Many Yidden in Romania were murdered immediately after the invasion.
Boyaner chasidim said, "Moshe Goldish was mevater, and the merit of the vatranus pushed off his death by sixty years." This story is a lesson in vatranus, in living with humility and being extremely careful not to raise machlokes. In this story, this approach granted them life.
Chanukah lecht is lit lower than ten tefachim; one must bend to light the lamps. The Bas Ayin says that this is because miracles come from the Chanukah lecht, and the miracles begin when one bends over and is humble.
Reb Meir of Premishlan zt'l said that when a Yid bends to the will of others and is humble, he is "a Goldener Yid," a Yid of gold. He said that it is alluded to in a pasuk that we read each day of Chanukah: (Bamidbar 7) קטרת מלאה זהב עשרה אחת כף, "One spoon [weighing] ten [shekels] of gold filled with incense." Reb Meir of Premishlan zt'l translated the pasuk like this: אחת כף means בייג איין, once to bend, עשרה, ten, which is ד"יו, which stands for "a Yid." זהב is gold. The pasuk is saying that for bending once, he is a Yid of gold.
The Kli Yakar (48:16) writes, בוחר ה"הקב כי ה"הקב ביותר אז קטנות צד בו שיש אדם וכל ,בקטנים ביותר רבבה לאלפי לשיתו מגביהו, "Hakadosh Baruch Hu chooses the humble more. Whoever has humility, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will elevate him very high..."
The Shach al HaTorah says that the פך jug of oil that was found by the Chanukah miracle was the same קטנים פכים, small jugs, that Yaakov Avinu went back to retrieve (see Rashi Bereishis 32:25). The key word is קטנים, small. Reb Moshe Leib Sassover zt'l says that the jug was small, and Hashem performs miracles for the small and humble.
