Parshas Shoftim 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- Aug 14
- 2 min read
לבלתי רום לבבו מאחיו ולבלתי סור מן המצוה ימין ושמאול למען יאריך ימים על ממלכתו ... (יז-כ)
The Torah dictates that the Jewish monarch, the melech of Klal Yisroel, must have a Sefer Torah present with him at all times, lest he become too haughty. The Ramban notes that herein lies a remez regarding the issur of ga’avah, if even the king must stay far away from this terrible middah, then most certainly common folk must do so as well. The Sefas Emes asks: why did the Ramban have to wait until this parsha to point this out? Earlier (8:11:17), the Torah already admonishes us in a similar vein: "השמר לך פן תשכח את ה' אלקיך... ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלקיך... ואמרת בלבבך כחי ועצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה". The Torah warns that a person who is doing well financially must be vigilant not to forget Hashem, ch”v, and claim that it was their own wisdom and smarts that earned them their wealth. What did the Ramban see here beyond what was already stated in Eikev?
The velt answers with a sadly comical story. There was once a gabbai who overheard a chashuva, “mizrach-vant” type of fellow davening and deeply emphasizing Hashem’s greatness while describing how low he himself was as a person. Thinking that this fellow possessed unparalleled humility and truly felt so little of himself, the gabbai decided that instead of giving him Shishi or another honorable aliyah, he would just call him up for a simple, ordinary aliyah. After davening, the distinguished anav was furious and approached the gabbai demanding an explanation. The gabbai excused himself and said, “I overheard your beautiful davening...” to which the man replied, “You’re right. In relation to Hashem, I am nothing. But yenem, the other guy? He is mamash nothing compared to me!” This explains why both warnings are needed. In Parshas Eikev, the Torah warns against "ושכחת את ה'" but a separate warning was still needed here in Shoftim regarding a fellow Yid: "לבלתי רם לבבו מאחיו". This teaches us the vital importance of both bein adam laMakom and bein adam lachaveiro. As Elul commences, let us, b’ezras Hashem and with much siyata dishmaya, work on both, living a life of true shleimus and honesty.