No Teshuva for Haughtiness

Rav Refoel of Bershad zy”a (one of the leading students of Rav Pinchos of Koretz zy”a) would say that in Olam Haba, one can make excuses for all sins, except for the sin of gaivoh. When one is asked by the Heavenly Court if he learned Torah, he can answer, “Unfortunately, I am an ignorant person and don’t know how to learn.” When he is asked if he at least served Hashem through fasts and afflictions, he can answer, “I was too weak to do that.” When he is asked if he gave tzedakah, he can reply, “Unfortunately, I was poor and had no money to give.”

He will then be asked, “If you were an ignoramus and a weak person and you had no money, why were you haughty?”

For this question, he will have no answer.