Today's daf is dedicated to my mother Betty Greene on her fourth yahrzeit.
The Mishna on TB Pesakhim 54b deals with the custom of working on Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of Av, a fast day. This is the saddest day in our calendar because we mourn that both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. “In a place where people were accustomed to perform labor on the Ninth of Av, one performs labor. In a place where people were accustomed not to perform labor, one does not perform labor. And in all places Torah scholars are idle and do not perform labor on the Ninth of Av, due to the mourning over the Temple’s destruction. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: With regard to the Ninth of Av, a person should always conduct himself as a Torah scholar and refrain from performing labor.” (Sefaria.org translation) Today’s daf TB Pesakhim 55 teaches us to be concerned about the sin of pride as we go through our daily lives.
“Is that to say that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds that we are not concerned about presumptuousness when a person conducts himself like a Torah scholar? And conversely, do the Rabbis hold that we are concerned about presumptuousness? Didn’t we hear them say the opposite? As we learned in a mishna: With regard to the recitation of Shema on one’s wedding night, the Rabbis said that if a groom wishes to recite Shema on the first night despite his exemption, he may do so. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Not everyone who wishes to assume the reputation of a God-fearing person may assume it, and consequently not everyone who wishes to recite Shema on his wedding night may do so. Their opinions in that mishna appear contrary to their opinions in the current mishna.
“Rav Sheisha, son of Rav
Idi, said: Do not reverse either text, as it is possible to
resolve the difficulty in another manner. The contradiction between the
statement of the Rabbis here and the statement of the Rabbis
there is not difficult. Here, on the Ninth of Av, since everyone is
performing labor and he is not performing labor, his idleness is
conspicuous and appears like presumptuousness. However, there, in the case
of reciting Shema on one’s wedding night, it does not appear like
presumptuousness, as everyone is reciting Shema and he is also
reciting it with them.
“Similarly, the contradiction between the statement of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel here and the statement of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel there is not difficult. There, in the case of reciting Shema on one’s wedding night, it is that we require concentration, and it is clear to all that he is unable to concentrate because of his preoccupation with the mitzva that he must perform. Therefore, if he recites Shema it appears like presumptuousness. It is as though he is announcing: I am able to concentrate although others in my situation are not. However, here, by not performing labor on the Ninth of Av it does not appear like presumptuousness, as people say: It is because he has no labor to perform. Go out and see how many idle people there are in the marketplace, even on days when it is permitted to perform labor.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Although Judaism doesn’t speak about seven deadly sins like Christianity, we do have a lot to say about each and every one of them from our tradition. Proverbs 16:5 teaches “Every haughty person is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not go unpunished.”
“Pride or arrogance-exaggerating our worth and power, and feeling superior to others-has been recognized since ancient times as a root cause of cruelty and evil…Pride is unique among the seven deadly sins and that we are frequently unaware of or arrogance, whereas we tend to know when we are angry, greedy, gluttonous, and so on. Moreover, unlike the other six sins, when a pride is pointed out to us we often do not readily even realize that it is a vice. This is because it is difficult for us to admit that we are of less worth than we imagine ourselves to be, and because of our culture values high self-esteem and fails to appreciate humility or even modesty…
“There are English terms for personality traits closely related to the traditional sin of pride, we still retain their negative sense, such as arrogant, haughty, conceited, egocentric, narcissistic, insolent, presumptuous, and vain. The classical word itself, pride, has, however, been transformed from a vice into a virtue. This is indicative of the profound cultural changes our society has undergone as it has shifted from a God-centered to a man-centered orientation.”[2]
Humility is the remedy for the sin of pride. I heard Rabbi Abraham Twersky say that humility is not announcing, “I am nothing. I am worthless. I know nothing.” By being created in God’s image, nobody is worthless by definition. If Moses Maimonides said those things he wouldn’t be humble he would be lying. Being humble means honestly recognizing your abilities and faults. It is the ability to say, “I have not yet reached by full human potential.”
King Solomon warns us in the book of
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before ruin,
Arrogance, before failure.”
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