Leviticus 26:3-27:34

Very, Very Much

 

During this time of year, many congregations make a practice of reading successive chapters from Pirkei Avot, the “Sayings of the Fathers.” Among the book’s various wise sayings, one in particular catches the eye: “Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh says, ‘Very, very be humble, since the hope of mankind is a worm.’”

 

The wording of this sentence is somewhat puzzling—in Hebrew as in English. It might have been enough for Rabbi Levitas to say “be humble” and leave it at that. But this was apparently not strong enough for him. In fact, Rabbi Levitas was not content merely to add the word very for emphasis, that is, “be very humble.” Instead, he added a second “very” after the first and then—for still greater emphasis—he moved the whole clause to the beginning of his saying, yielding the awkward-sounding, “Very, very be humble.”

 

This may seem a merely stylistic oddity, but it has some relevance to us nowadays, at a time when humility seems to be in particularly short supply. Instead, a recurrent theme in the news these days is humility’s exact opposite, arrogance. Overconfident assessments, disregarded warnings, indifference to the suffering of civilians—as you look over the headlines, it is not hard to imagine future historians naming arrogance as a recurrent cause of our misfortunes.

 

In the end, arrogance is more than a collection of failed tactics in war. It is a trait of character, one that outsiders have remarked upon for quite some time. It must have been particularly prevalent in Rabbi Levitas’s day for him to start off, “Very, very be humble.” And it’s still with us to this day.

 

Shabbat shalom!