What is Humility? And How Atheists Misunderstand Religion?

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld

Recently, I had a debate with some Atheists.  I learned many things from this debate. 

The first thing I learned was that many of these Atheists are born Jewish.  There was a panel of five of us.  In this panel I was the sole representative of the theists of the world.  A person rose from the audience and asked a very hostile question to me.  I was taken aback.  I said, "Wait.  Before I answer this question, tell me one thing: What is your Hebrew name?"  The audience grew uncomfortably quiet.  He looked at me in shock.  "My Hebrew name," he asked.  "Why...its...Reuven!"  The Atheist woman on the panel next to me looked at me and smiled.  She said, "My Hebrew name is Elka."  They might be Atheists, but many of them are very much Jewish Atheists.

The second thing I learned is that many of the Atheists are not so much upset that people believe in God, as they are upset about the way they perceive organized religion is corrupt and overbearing.  In response to this it is our responsibility to be ambassadors for our faith and as a community to display an approach to God that sanctifies God's name.

The third thing I learned (and this is what I want to focus on today) is that many Atheists have a profound misunderstanding of the goals of religion.

Here is what one well known best-selling atheist (yes, he too, is Jewish) writes.  He explains that one of his major objections to religious faith is that it "manages to combine maximum of servility with the maximum of solipsism." 

I'll admit it.  I had to look up "solipsism."  Here is what it means: "the theory that only the self exists; and extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc. egoistic self-absorption." 

The truth is that that is the opposite of religion.  Religion is about humility before the Infinite Creator.  Religion is about recognizing the reality that there is a God in this world and it is not me.  Religion is about recognizing our role to serve God.

In this week's portion we are told, "Ve-haish moshe anav meod mi-kol haadam asher al penei ha-adamah."  The Hertz chumash translates this phrase as, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth." 

The key word in this translation is "anav" which Hertz, following the tradition of the King James translation, unfortunately translates as "meek."

Now, Moshe was many things, but he certainly was not meek.  Meek is usually understood as docile or tame.  Moshe was a revolutionary leader.  He challenged Pharaoh.  He led the purge of those who sinned with the Golden Calf.  He challenged those who rebelled against him.  No, he was not meek!

Anav is sometimes understood as humble.  Moshe was the most humble man on the face of the earth.  But this too, is tricky, because we often misunderstand what we mean by humility.

Humility is sometimes understood as having a low sense of self-worth or a feeling of inferiority.  But that too, is not Moshe.  Moshe knew his place.

A better understanding of the word anav or humility might be "unpretending."  Humility is a proper and honest recognition of our role in this world. 

The Torah tells us this week that Moshe was the greatest of all prophets.  All other prophets understood God only through a dream or a riddle, but only Moshe spoke directly to God.

This did not take away from Moshe's humility.  On the contrary, his unique connection to God removed his arrogance and increased his humility!

I will give you a parable which can explain how Moshe was humble and still aware of his unique prophetic talents and his spiritual greatness.  (I first learned this parable from Rabbi Dov Rappel.)

This past week I taught my children how to play chess for the very first time.  Now I am not very good at chess, but I know how to move the pieces and I have a little experience.  My kids were so impressed with my abilities.  Their eyes were wide as I explained to them the possibilities and as I showed them what would happen three or four moves in advance.  In their eyes I was an expert chess player.  But, of course, if I ever played a Grand Master, he would defeat me with his eyes closed while playing forty other people.

When I play my kids, of course I'll win every game.  But if I play a grandmaster of course the grandmaster will win every time.  Obviously, the more time I will spend with a grandmaster the more I realize my inadequacies as a chess player. 

Moshe was like the chess player who recognizes his inadequacy before a grandmaster.  He knows of his talents vis á vis the other people, but he also knows of his inadequacy before God.  Moshe's humility came from his desire to spend even more time with God; a desire for a lasting closeness to God.  The more he cleaved to God, the more he recognized how inadequate he was. 

Moshe's inadequacy in the face of God led to increased humility, but not to low self-esteem or arrogance.  It led him to an unpretending and unpretentious awareness of his abilities. 

Humility is a confident awareness of your ability so that you then have recognition of the responsibility that comes with your ability; it is a responsibility to use your talents in the way that God wants.

With proper humility comes self-confidence in your mission and thus an enhanced ability to perform your task.