~ Do you agree with this midrash? Do people only go against God out of being satisfied? Do the Children of Israel do so throughout Torah?
- Sifrei Devarim - Composed: Talmudic Israel/Babylon, 200 CE - Sifrei Devarim is considered a halakhic (legal) midrash on the Book of Deuteronomy
~ To what is arrogance being compared in the Talmud? Why?
~ Why does the Torah warn so much against arrogance? What are other times that we are reminded, by our tradition, against arrogance?
- Ibn Ezra - Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167; precise dates are disputed) was one of the biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages. He was born in Tudela in northern Spain. He published works in Torah, philosophy, mathematics, astrology and poetry. The crater Abenezra on the Moon was named in honor of Ibn Ezra.
Chizkuni - Hezekiah ben Manoah, or Hezekiah bar Manoah, was a French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century. He is generally known by the title of his commentary, Chizkuni. The details of his biography are unknown. His commentary has 20 different sources, but he does not name any of his sources (other than Rashi), as he felt that one should focus on the message rather than the messenger.
~ How does Nachmanides read "valor"? What might happen is the nation forgets God? Is Nachmanides thinking of the individual?
- Moses ben Nahman aka Nachmanides – (Ramban aka Bonastruc ça Porta; Girona, Aragon 1194 – 1270, Acco) was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Sephardic rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator. He was raised, studied, and lived for most of his life in Girona, having to flee Spain after winning a disputation in 1263.
~ What is humility?
~ How can we cultivate humility?
~ Is there a balance one should achieve between humility and arrogance?
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (aka Ramchal; Padua, Venice 1707– Akko, Israel, 1746) was an Italian rabbi, kabbalist and philosopher who also wrote dramatic works and literary criticism. Gifted with an almost photographic memory, he wrote many works, some which became standards of kabbalah and ethics. His Mesillat Yesharim is an ethical (musar) text. It was written and published in Amsterdam.
~ What is the function of these particular mitzvot, according to the Ben Ish Hai?
~ How can we apply the first one in our lives, today, since we don't have fields?
~ Have you ever applied for or given a free loan?
- Yosef Hayyim – (Baghdad, 1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909) also known as the Ben-Ish Chai, was the Chacham (rabbinic leader) of the Jewish community of Baghdad for over 50 years. He was a prominent authority on halacha and a master kabbalist. His work based on his classes on the weekly Torah reading, the Ben Ish Chai, contain both kabbalistic insights into the Torah portion as well as practical laws for everyday life.
~ This piece does not connect our verses with humility, but with another trait. What is it?
- Bachya ibn Pakuda (1050–1120) was a Spanish rabbi, dayyan, philosopher and moralist who lived in Zaragoza, Al-Andalus (now Spain). He was one of two people now known as Rabbeinu Behaye, the other being Bible commentator Bahya ben Asher. He wrote Hovot Halevavot, “ The Duties of the Heart”.
~ What does remembering God do to us? How do we remind ourselves of that reality?
Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica (1801, Tomaszow Lubelski, Poland - 1854, Izbica, Poland) was a Hasidic thinker and founder of the Izhbitza-Radzyn dynasty. He is best known for his work Mei Hashiloach, a compilation of his teachings by his grandson. He was a disciple of R' Simcha Bunim of Pshischa and R' Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.
Early in my rabbinic career, I heard Alan Morinis — a teacher of Mussar, a system of Jewish character development — explain anavah, humility, not as meekness, but rather as “taking up the right amount of space.” Taking up too much space is arrogance, but taking up too little space is shrinking from our responsibilities and from the gifts we can offer. (Rabbi Chai Levy)