“Not because you are more numerous than any people did Hashem desire you and choose you, for you are the least of all the peoples.” - Devorim 7:7
On the words “for you are the least of all the peoples” Rashi comments:
כי אתם המעט: הממעטין עצמכם, כגון אברהם, שאמר ואנכי עפר ואפר, וכגון משה ואהרן שאמרו ונחנו מה. [פירוש רש''י]
Hence the words כִי־אַתֶּׁם הַמְעַט on a drush level mean: “You humble yourselves”. Thus, the Torah is revealing to us is that because of our midda of humility Hashem desired us and chose us.
Ask Around Your Shabbos Table
Ask Around Your Table: As we know, very often when the yetzer hara realizes that it cannot stop you from doing a mitzva, it engages in weakening that mitzva by making you recall your previous bad deeds and making you feel low, so that you will not do the mitzva with inner simcha. What can help you fight against such yetzer hara?
Answer: Tehillim (34:15) says: סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵה־טוֹב - “Move away from the bad, and do good.” Based on the above verse of Tehillim, Rav Mordechai from Lechovitch (one of the founding chassidic teachers from whom the Slonim chasidic dynasty sprouted) is quoted to teach the following important lesson in avodas Hashem: When you are involved in doing something good (עשה טוב), you should remove from your mind bad thoughts about yourself, i.e., at that moment, you should pretend that you never did anything bad (סור מרע)! This is necessary so that you will always serve Hashem with true joy.
