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Haughty or Humble?
A page of Talmud. Photo: Chajm Guski/Wikimedia
JNS.org – They say humility is one of those things you can’t brag about having.
Nonetheless, there is an old Jewish joke about a rabbi who dozed off over his Talmudic tomes. Some of his congregants walked in and began whispering praises of their spiritual leader. One commented on their rabbi’s formidable intellect, sagacity and knowledge. Another praised the rabbi for his kindness and compassion in helping many of the disadvantaged townspeople. A third raved about his organizational talents and how much he had done for the synagogue infrastructure. The rabbi then lifted his head, opened one eye and said, “And about my humility, you say nothing?”
Humility is an admirable character trait, but too much of it can leave a person timid, tentative and petrified to act. Too much self-esteem is arrogance. But too little leaves one feeling inadequate and inferior. Undoubtedly, one needs confidence to succeed in life. Overconfidence, however, can sabotage our chances. Finding the correct balance takes wisdom and sensitivity.
At the beginning of Tzav, this week’s parshah, we read about the Cohanim, members of the priestly tribe, who had various jobs and duties in the Temple of old. In the Sanctuary, the very first order of the day was cleaning the ashes from the Altar. Animal parts and fats burned all night and much ash accumulated. This needed to be cleaned and removed. It was then placed near the ramp leading to the Altar. In order not to soil his sacred garments, the Cohen would change his clothes and only then remove the ash from the Sanctuary and take it outside the camp.
The commentaries explain the need for a change of clothing as follows: “It is unseemly to wear the same clothing while working in the kitchen as when serving wine to the master of the house at the dining room table.”
What is fascinating is that the same Cohen who had the privilege of performing the very first service of the day by cleaning the Altar of ash also had the more dubious duty of taking it outside the camp. One minute he is wearing the sacred vestments of the priesthood and the next he’s wearing overalls. It’s as if the president himself were taking out the garbage.
This reminds us that to serve God in the Sanctuary was an extraordinary privilege. And when serving the Almighty, nothing is too menial or inappropriate.
Having the honor of starting the day’s services by shoveling ash off the altar should never make us arrogant to the extent that we would consider it unbecoming to dump the ashes outside the camp. We should be proud to serve God in every possible way. Sometimes, it will be a big, important act, and at other times a small, seemingly insignificant deed. But when we are in the service of the Infinite One, nothing is trivial and nothing is unimportant. Whatever we can do in His service is an honor and a privilege.
This returns us to the fine balancing act between humility and self-esteem. Humility should never be confused with timidity. One can be confident and still humble. I’ve written elsewhere about how truly great people are truly humble. One can be super successful without becoming an obnoxious and insufferable egomaniac.
I am reminded of the well-known teaching of Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765-1827), one of the great Polish Chassidic teachers of yesteryear: “Everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that he or she can reach into the one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket and there find the words: ‘For my sake was the world created’ (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5). But when feeling high and mighty, one should reach into the left pocket and find the words: ‘I am but dust and ashes’ (Genesis 18:27).”
The Torah was given on Mount Sinai, a small mountain. I have never heard of any famous adventurers going off to climb Mount Sinai. It’s not quite in the league of Everest or even Kilimanjaro. The rabbis teach that the reason for this is because to absorb the study of Torah one requires humility, and so it was given on a small mountain. But why then was it given on a mountain at all? It should have been given in a valley, which would surely be more symbolic of humility than a mountain. The answer is that while we do need to be humble, we must also be proud and strong enough to stand by our principles even when that may be unpopular. Hence, the combination of a small mountain: humble but still standing tall.
As Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch once said, “Just as a person ought to know his own shortcomings, he must also know the positive qualities that he possesses.”
Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t let success go to your head.
Yes, you are unique; just like everyone else.
The post Haughty or Humble? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.