Rav Eliezer Silver
Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser (who shares this insight) relates the following story. At the 34th National Dinner of Agudas Israel, Rav Eliezer Silver, ZT”L, a tireless fighter for the rescue of European Jewry, was presented with an award. The plaque was unprecedentedly ornate, with beautiful French artwork, delicate parchment, and was encased in a gold-plated frame.
Yet, Rav Silver knew only of his service to the Jewish people, as the performance of the Mitzvah in its purest form. He wanted to do his work entirely for the sake of serving Hashem. Thus, a few months later, the hotel staff found the plaque in the back of the room where the dinner had taken place. Rav Silver chose not to take the plaque home for fear that his service would not be wholehearted. It remains in the Agudas Israel archives to this day.
To stop deceiving ourselves, we need to surround ourselves with proper mentors and true friends, and we can call on them to ask for advice, and they can call us out when we’re off base. We also need to pay attention to defensive feelings or emotional reactions. These triggers often signal a point where our mind is protecting an illusion. This starts with even a small window of time devoted daily to thinking about our decisions, and more time for that on Shabbos Kodesh.
Reprinted from the Parshas Noach 5786 email of The Weekly Vort.