Proud of my humility – Ask the Rabbi
Q. Is there anything wrong with being proud of one’s humility?
Dickens’ Uriah Heep, by Frank Reynolds, 1910
A. The Torah says that Moses was the humblest of men (Num. 12:3).
According to the Sifrei, he didn’t even notice when anyone said anything critical about him. He certainly didn’t boast about his humility. He was unlike Dickens’ Uriah Heep, who was immensely proud of how humble he was.
The Jewish idea of false humility comes in a story based on the rabbinic saying, “He who flees from honour, honour runs after him; he who runs after honour, honour flees from him”.
Someone complained to his rabbi, “I always run away from honour, so why doesn’t it pursue me?”
The rabbi replied, “Honour only runs after a person who doesn’t constantly look behind him to check whether honour is catching up”.
