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The Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection is the one-stop shop for the Torah inspiration shared by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe in one simple feed. The Jewish Inspiration Podcast, Parsha Review Podcast, Thinking Talmudist Podcast, Living Jewishly Podcast and Unboxing Judaism Podcast all in one convenient place. Enjoy!
00:00 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody to day 11. We're in the Orchos Tzadikim on page 51, in middle or towards the beginning of the gate of haughtiness. The haughty are despised by the Almighty. As we say in Proverbs, the abomination of Hashem are all who are haughty of heart, someone who's haughty is sort of, is completely in the hands of his yetzer, of his evil inclination, even though he wasn't arrogant over somebody else. Usually someone is arrogant I'm greater than them, I'm wealthier than them, I'm smarter than them, even if it's not over another person lobe-deeber, they don't say it. Lobe-meis, not in action, ach, belibo levadu misko, but just in his heart. He feels like I'm so much greater than they are. Nikra toeva, even if someone does that in such a way their arrogance is even not spoken or acted upon it's still considered an abomination before Hashem. Why? Because the verse states Shinem ha-tovas, hashem kol goalev. It is repulsed by the Almighty when someone is arrogant. Afilu im ein lo gavhus elebelev. Even if it's just in his heart, even if it's just in his heart, nikra to'eva, it's considered an abomination.
01:28
Amar Rabi Seinu, our sages said If anybody has, who has the haughtiness of spirit, they're like an idolater, they're like serving idols. Ksiv hacha. Why? Because it says over here Tov ha'shashem kol kvalev. It says in the verse that we just brought from Proverbs from King Solomon that anybody who's arrogant in their heart is an abomination. Before Hashem V'ksiv hasem. It says someplace else V'lo bring this abomination into your home. And there are some who say ki ilu ba al kol ha'arayos kulam is as if he has committed the adulterous act of all of the forbidden relationships by being arrogant. Dixiv ki es kol ha'arayos ha-ele'asu, because they've done all of these abominations using that same word for all of these things, we learn that it has a similar power in a negative sense V'yeish omrim ki ilu ban abametz, as if he built the platform for idolatry.
02:47
And our sages in the Talmud tell us Whoever has arrogance, you know what happens at the end they shrink and they become really, really small. You know, the Mishnah tells us that those who run away from honor, honor runs after them. Those who run towards honor, honor runs away from them. Right, sel 2 is someone who's trying to be arrogant. You're going to shrink and fizzle away. Because the verse says in Job they are exalted, but only briefly. And someone who is arrogant deserves to be uprooted like an asherah, a tree devoted to idol worship, you have to pull it out from its roots. Because he brings again everything that our author is teaching us here is backed up with a verse V'rami hakomagduin, v'ksiv hossam, v'ashireyim tegadein. And because it has the same gimel dalet ayin word in these verses, we can associate two teaching us a similar lesson V'ein afronin ar. And the dust will not awaken from the resurrection of the dead, for the resurrection of the dead, and the Shekhinah cries for them. V'shekhinah mi'aleles alav.
04:14
Someone who's arrogant. Why? Because what's really going on with someone who's arrogant? Someone who's arrogant is given all of these examples. It's like they're idolaters, like they built the platform for idolatry. They've committed all of the adulterous affairs in the world. What is going on here? That someone who's arrogant and haughty is so terrible that all of these things? Because what is it? At the end of the day, it's me. There's no one elevated. It's I do what I do because I am so great, but there's really no God above me.
04:49
Ve'amara kadush boruchu. What did Hashem say? Ein ani ve'hu yacholim l'dur ba'olim. We can't reside in the world together, meaning that someone who's arrogant is pushing God out of this world. She nemar gva'ayinayim ve'urachav le'ivav oso lo'uchal Al tikri oso lo'uch. God and an arrogant person cannot reside in the same place.
05:17
This person, this is in the Talmud. This man who is arrogant shall not dwell even in his own home. Even in his own home he won't be able to why? Because he's going to get into a fight with his wife, he's going to get into a fight with his children. He's not going to have peace anywhere.
05:44
Someone who's arrogant is always in conflict with others. What does arrogance lead to? It leads to seeking honor, constantly wanting everybody to praise them and everyone to look up at them and everyone to say how wonderful they are, and then to control other people. So we see what already happened in the Torah, in the book of Numbers, when Korach and his arrogance led him and all of his 250 followers to then rebel against the Almighty, and he tried to become great followers, to then rebel against the Almighty, shabikash, his Gadel, and he tried to become great without the heavens declaring that he should become great. And because of this arrogance he went into a dispute and into an argument against Moshe, and from that dispute came jealousy and came hatred, and these very lowly traits were the result, as we're going to see further. So if the bottom line of arrogance.
07:08
Arrogance Kol ha'mekashet ezgufo k'deliz. Anybody who wears expensive clothing so that he looks really honorable and that everybody should look at him. Oh look, they're wearing the fancy clothes and they only drive the fanciest cars and only live in the designer homes. Hare ze shokach es Hashem baruch hu. Such a person forgets about the Almighty Ve'lo yohu shalom mitzvos, and Such a person forgets about the Almighty V'lo yahu shalom mitzvahs, and such a person doesn't care about the mitzvahs v'lo yidder vachar ma'asim tovim, and doesn't either care about good deeds. Ki kol kavanoso al atzmo, because all he cares about is himself.
07:47
They suck out Someone who's arrogant sucks out all the air from the room. The only thing that exists in their room is them, nobody else. Your accomplishments are nothing because I'm greater you, you're nothing because I'm greater. Everybody is put down by an arrogant person. Nobody wants to be near an arrogant person, even the Almighty. Even the Almighty doesn't want to be with them. Lekashet gufo hakole asha hariso rima.
08:14
And someone who goes to beautify themselves, beautify their body, which? What happens after we die? We're eaten up by maggots and worms. Someone who adorns himself and makes himself look beautiful excessively. What does that lead? That leads to lewdness and inappropriateness, because he's going to try to flirt with women and find favor in their eyes, and then he'll come to lightheadedness and mockery and joking and laughter and try to adorn themselves and beautify themselves, not in a normal level, but overly doing it.
09:16
Bezehi madlekes, libam u'machneses, hiruram belibam. What happens if a woman does this? A woman is also responsible if she instigates and entices men to start thinking about her and to start having these thoughts. A woman is going to be punished for this greatly as well, because she is causing others to sin on her behalf, to the degree where the halacha tells us that a man should limit himself from even looking at women's clothes that are not being worn. Limit yourself why not? To get yourself into a place of temptation and desire, even if a woman is not wearing it. It's just in the store, on a what do you call those things? On a rack or on a mannequin, even then, not to look at it. Even more so, a woman has to be careful not to call attention, because that can also be a derivative of this negative trait of haughtiness.