The Torah tells us this week that “the man Moshe was more humble than any man” [Numbers 12:3]. When does the Torah tell us this? When his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, speak poorly of him. Moshe had separated from his wife due to his constant need to be in a state of purity and speak with Hashem, and they questioned whether Moshe was making too much of himself. The Torah testifies that the very opposite was true: it was not his pride or self-glorification that motivated him to do this, but only because this was what Hashem needed from him.
The K’sav Sofer points out that there is, of course, such a thing as false pride. A person like that conducts himself with humility specifically in order to attract praise for being so humble and self-effacing.
But, says the K’sav Sofer, when he hears people talk about him, saying he is acting with haughtiness rather than humility, he then drops the pretense. At that point he sees nothing further to be gained by acting contrary to his real interest, which is being the big shot he deems himself to be. The truly humble person, however, cannot stop being humble, regardless of whether other people suspect him of acting with pride.
Aharon and Miriam said that “He speaks also with us,” referring to Hashem. They, too, were prophets, though they did not act so strictly. And so they thought Moshe was displaying false humility.
And Moshe’s behavior did not change at all. Moshe remained “more humble than any man,” because his humility was real.
All of this discussion, though, sidesteps one obvious point: the Jewish nation repeatedly confronts Moshe, and he never backs down. How can he be so humble while standing up to those complaining about water, to the spies, to Korach, to those maligning the Manna and demanding meat, etc.?
The answer, though, is quite simple: in none of those cases was Moshe standing up for his own honor. In his mind, it was not because he had taught it to them, or due to their respect for him as their teacher and law-giver. It was only about respect for Hashem and his Torah. Thus standing up to them was not at all contradictory to his own humility. On the contrary, it was part of what Hashem had told him to do!
May we learn to chase the humility of Moshe!
