One day, Rebbe Israel from Ruzhin listened to a certain Hasid who extolled the virtues of his teacher, Rebbe Moshe Tzvi from Savran.
“Rebbe Moshe is a man of extraordinary modesty,” said the Hasid. - He considers himself unworthy of even the most insignificant manifestations of respect from others.
The Chassid paused, expecting Rebbe Israel to praise his teacher for his modesty, but he remained silent. Hassid continued:
“In one place my rebbe is revered so much that every time he comes there, almost all the local residents come out to meet him.
- And this gives him anxiety? - Rebbe Israel asked.
- What a great one! I remember at the beginning he said that people must have admired the perfection of the design and the elegance of the finishing of his carriage. Then the rebbe expressed the hope that people would admire his horses. But in the end, he realized that the townspeople revere him. The Rebbe became so sad because of the vanity of people that he began to feel sick. The noise that was made in honor of the rebbe's arrival was so unpleasant to him that he simply vomited!
- Stupid! - Rebbe Israel exclaimed. - What a misfortune! Was it really impossible to react to the honor in any other way than by vomiting? But it’s all so simple: they give you honors - just accept them, if they don’t show you honors - don’t think about them at all; do they mean much after all? Our poor brother vomited not from the honors themselves, but from an excessive obsession with them.
Commentary by Rami Shapiro Hasidim value modesty, considering it a sign of spiritual maturity. But what is modesty? In this parable we will meet three types of it. The first, completely false kind of humility: Reb Moshe suggests that people on the street admire his carriage and horses, and not himself. Such a remark might mislead his devoted disciple, but not us. Reb Moshe knew very well that people had come to honor him, and not the horses.
The second type of modesty is closer to genuine humility, but there is still a lot of falsehood in it; we encounter this in the episode when the rebbe throws up. His stomach refuses to accept food, because the rebbe is convinced that he does not deserve the respect shown to him. Rebbe Moshe is obsessed with the idea of his own insignificance, but such an obsession just shows that he is still too selfish and vain. In such cases, a person resembles a fox, downcast from modesty at the sight of a chicken coop.
Rebbe Israel teaches true modesty: when you are honored, accept them calmly; if honors pass you by, calmly remain aloof yourself. Don't attach much importance to honors, but don't emphasize their futility either. They are like rain: they come and go; It's stupid to make a fuss about this at all.
The fact that a person does not make a fuss proves his spiritual maturity to a greater extent than ostentatious modesty. The one who craves the worship of others and the one who runs away from such worship are equally involved in their own personal drama. It’s better to just let events take their course and not pretend that none of this concerns you.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru