Today’s daf TB Sotah enumerates the consequences of the negative quality of arrogance.
“Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai:
Any person who has arrogance within him is considered as if he were an idol worshipper, as it
is written here: “Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the
Lord” (Proverbs 16:5), and it is written there concerning the
destruction of idols: “And you shall not bring an abomination into your
house” (Deuteronomy 7:26).
“And Rabbi Yoḥanan said his own statement: Any person who has arrogance within him is
considered as if he has denied the core belief in God’s existence, as
it is stated: “Then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God”
(Deuteronomy 8:14).
“Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina says: Any person who has arrogance within him is considered as if he engaged in sexual intercourse with all of those with whom relations are forbidden, as it is written here: “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5), and it is written there, at the end of the passage concerning forbidden sexual relationships: “For all these abominations have the men of the land done” (Leviticus 18:27).
“Ulla says:
Any person who has arrogance within him is considered as if he built a
personal altar for idol worship, as it is stated: “Cease you from
man, in whose nostrils there is breath, for how little [bammeh] is he to
be accounted” (Isaiah 2:22), referring to an arrogant person. Do not
read the verse as it is written, bammeh, how little. Rather,
read it as bama, altar.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Below is a whole list of synonyms for
arrogance. Add them altogether and you can see how terrible and arrogant person
truly is.
aloofness,
chutzpah,
disdain,
ego, egotism,
hubris,
pretension,
pride, smugness,
vanity airs audacity,
bluster,
braggadocio,
brass, cheek, conceit,
conceitedness, contemptuousness, crust, disdainfulness,
gall, haughtiness,
hauteur,
high-handedness, imperiousness,
insolence,
loftiness,
nerve, ostentation,
pomposity,
pompousness,
presumption,
pretentiousness, priggishness,
self-importance, self-love,
superciliousness, swagger,
overbearance,
scornfulness
(https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/arrogance)
One antonym of arrogance is humility. I
like Dr. Rabbi Abraham Twersky’s definition of humility. If a great scholar
like Moses Maimonides claims that he knows nothing, he is not being humble for
that is a lie. A humble person realizes they is not yet reached his full human
potential. Humility always leads him to strive to become the best version of
himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment