Chapter 30: Humbling oneself before all creatures

3^rd Adar/(LY) 16^th Adar 1

1.      The obligation to feel lower than, and humble oneself before others:

• Another matter that one is to take to heart in order to accomplish the crushing of his animal soul is what the sages teach us regarding the state of humility that man should have.
• The sages teach us that every individual is to be humble and lower himself in front of all others. This statement is to be taken literally, and applies even towards the most lowly of individuals, and that one is instructed to feel lowly even in front of them.

3.      How to accomplish feeling even lower than a lowlife:

• Not to judge the challenges of others: It is possible to accomplish the above statement of the sages, by following through with another statement of the sages which instructs a person not to judge his friend until he reaches his place, as it is his place which causes him to sin.
• Environment and surroundings effects one’s level of righteousness: A person’s environment and surroundings can affect their level of temptation and be the cause of their lowly status. For example, a person who walks in the marketplace all day and sits amongst the storeowners who converse of matters of vanity, and his eyes see all the lustful activities before him, and what his eyes see his heart lusts after, and his inclination is filled with a passion like the fire of a burning furnace. [Hence, it is no surprise that this person sins.] This is in contrast with a person who hardly ever goes into the marketplace and witnesses the lusts that the other person sees daily, and rather sits at home most of the day [in which it is no big deal for him not to sin].
• Different temperaments affect one’s level of righteousness: Furthermore, it is possible that even a person who does walk in the marketplace all day will not have the same level of challenge as that of another person, as this is dependent on temperament. Different people are born with different temperaments and inclinations, and while one person may have a very hot and lustful temperament, another person may have a very cold and emotionless temperament. Hence, it is possible that a person with this latter type of temperament will not be affected at all when he walks in the marketplace throughout the day.

(LY) 17^th Adar 1

4.      The above arguments cannot be used by a sinner as an excuse for sinning:

• [The above argument is only to be used by the person who is being judgmental, so he stop judging the other person. However,] the lowlife sinner has no excuse for his sins and bad behavior, even though he has a hot temperament and spends all of his time with the storeowners for the sake of his business.
• Fear of G-d allows mind to control heart: As no matter how tough the challenge, he is expected and commanded to overcome it and abstain from succumbing to his passionate inclination that is found within his heart, due to his fear of G-d and due to his natural ability to have his mind rule over his heart, and if he doesn’t then he is called a complete Rasha as he does not have the fear of G-d opposite his eyes.

(LY) 18^th Adar 1

• Acknowledging the difficulty of the challenge: Indeed, we must recognize that the above individual has an extremely tough challenge to overcome his inclination which is flaming like a huge fire, in the face of his fear of G-d, and this is considered an actual Nissayon.

5.      Asking oneself if he too is serving G-d on the level of the challenge of the lowlife:

• Every individual according to his level in service of G-d must ask himself and discern as to whether he too is serving G-d on the same level of intense battle and challenge as the individual above.

6.      How much effort does one place in his Asei Tov?

• His battle during prayer: For example, in the realm of doing good, is he pushing himself to the extreme to pray with concentration and pour his heart before G-d with literally all of the strength of the soul to the point that he squeezes out all the energy of his soul? Is he battling with his body and animal soul, which is trying to prevent him from concentrating, in a great and intense battle [to the same level as the lowlife individual who must overcome his passions and lusts]? Is he on each day crushing his animal soul and body like dust before his daily prayers of morning and evening? Is he also waging this battle during the prayer itself to exert himself to the utmost of his soul and body for the sake of concentrating?