Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:02 - Rabb Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Page 57,. What else does arrogance lead to? Haughtiness? It leads to another terrible trait of uncontrollable desires and urges. I want, I want, I want All types of desires, because he feels like he's so great in his own eyes, so now I deserve everything. I can get whatever I want.

00:32
And someone who has uncontrollable desires? It's a terrible, terrible trait. Of all the traits, it's one of the worst, because this will lead him to say okay, I have to dress myself with expensive clothes, u'l v'livnos, palterim dolin, and to build a massive mansion, v'lecho ma'acholim tovim, and only eat in the finest restaurants. K'yam is good. Because this person who's arrogant, l'olam lidvorim, givohim yachmod mode, he doesn't want the simple stuff, he wants only the top tier of pleasures, and it's even possible that he can't even afford these things, but he's going to desire them anyway. And then what's going to happen? He can't afford it. He'll have to steal, he'll have to lie, he'll have to cheat in order to fulfill his urges that are uncontrolled. Because here it all started from arrogance. This arrogant person, he'll never be happy with his portion, he'll never be happy with what he has. So now he wants money, he wants more money and more money and wealth, and more and more, and he's constantly desiring Because what he has, this is nothing. I need more. I need a nicer car. I need a. Everything needs to keep on growing and growing and growing, and the more his arrogance grows, the more his desires grows, the more his eyes grow, and it's a never-ending downhill struggle.

02:12
The Ode Hagavogoremes what else does arrogance and haughtiness cause? Shiloh yeh savlon, lisbol ol habrios. He doesn't have any patience for anybody anymore. Unfortunately, it looks like everybody here knows a person or two who suffers from such arrogance and haughtiness and they lose all patience. They have no patience for anybody. No one's important enough for them, nobody is respected enough for them, and the only thing they want is fill me up more with more arrogance, more haughtiness. It's that guy in your office who closed a big deal and now he's like the big. You know, everybody has that image in their mind of that person. But really we have to look into ourselves. Am I perhaps that person a little bit? Maybe do I have some of that in myself.

03:02
ואין צורך להריך בפחיסו סמי שאינו סבלון. We don't have to talk about. Everybody knows how low it is for someone to not have patience for another human being. כי ידוע הוא לכל. Everybody knows how lowly that is. וזו סי גווה סגוף שהיא טובה.

03:20
But there's another type of haughtiness that is good. We know that every trade has a negative and every trade has a positive. So what's the positive haughtiness? Shem yomer, adam hol, v'agav v'himid u'ro kol kach. Since a person may say you know, haughtiness is such a terrible trade, efresh mena b'yoser.

03:43
I should go to the opposite extreme. Ad shaloy yo chabasor, I'm not going to eat meat anymore. V'lo yishtayayin, I'm not going to meet anymore, I'm not going to drink wine anymore, I'm not going to get married anymore and I'm not going to sit in a decent apartment and I won't wear decent clothes, but I'm going to wear sackcloth and ashes and I'll're tattered clothes and I'll wear dirty clothes and I'll wear only and use only dishes and clothes that are dirty and disgusting. He's not going to wash his face properly and he's not going to wash his hands properly, not his legs, his face properly, and he's not going to wash his hands properly, not his legs, his feet properly, until a person will become putrid and disgusting in front of other people. And all of this he's doing. Why to be on the opposite extreme from arrogance? Oh, I don't want to be arrogant, I'm going to be so humble that I'm going to be rep humble that I'm going to be repulsive to other people. That's not either right. Hamehalech baderech ze nikra chote.

04:59
Someone who goes in such a path is considered a sinner. Shaarei hu omer benazer, like we learned in the verse, talking about in numbers, talking about the Nazarite, v'chiper, olav me'asher chota al ha-nefesh, and he shall make atonement for himself for sinning against his soul. Amruch HaChomar, a sage, just said Im nozir shaloh parash elemen hayayin. What is this Nazarite? What did he exclude himself from? Only from wine. He's considered a sinner. Nikrachote Hamoneh atzmo min kol dovar Alachas kama v'kama.

05:41
Here this person is adding one thing on the next, on the next, to just remove himself from this quote haughtiness or arrogance. Even more so, he's considered a sinner and he has to bring, by the way, an offering. The Nazir was trying to be holy, but you limited yourself. God gave you pleasures to enjoy in this world, with balance, with measure, and you went overboard on that. You have to bring an offering. Amruch HaChom, marseille, just said Lo dayecha ma'she osra toira Elo sha'ata osra olecha dvoram achirim.

06:19
It's not enough what the Torah prohibited. We have 365 prohibitions in the Torah. You have to add another one to yourself, or many to yourself, to show that you're righteous, that you're holier than thou and as such, we see in King Solomon don't be overly righteous, don't make yourself so and do not be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself, derech HaYishorah?

06:54
Instead, says the author, the proper way for man, a person, needs to learn to act with cleanliness. Why? Because cleanliness leads to all good midos, to all good traits, to all good deeds. Keitzar, how? Don't wear expensive clothes, don't wear tattered clothes. Wear average clothes. Don't wear clothes that everyone's going to be attracted to and be staring at you and looking at you, and not either Poor person's clothes that embarrasses those who wear it. But average clothes it should be pleasant and clean. The poor person should wear clothes that are proper for his income level and the wealthy person should wear clothes that are appropriate for his status. And it's important, it's very important, that a person should not have stains on their clothes. They shouldn't be torn or tattered, and it shouldn't be either too fancy, like those who are overly arrogant. No-transcript.