Humility from Divine Kindness Vayishlach תרל”א 2
אא”ז מו”ר זצלה”ה הגיד בשם הר’ מלובלין פי’ קטונתי מכל החסדים שגם זה שקטן בעיניו ג”כ מחסדי השי”ת.
“My revered grandfather, may his memory be a blessing, said in the name of the Rabbi of Lublin: ‘I am unworthy of all the kindnesses’ means that even the very fact that a person feels small in his own eyes is itself one of the kindnesses of the Holy One.”
The Sefat Emet reports a teaching that humility itself is a divine gift. The ability to perceive one’s smallness is not natural ego‑effacement but a grace bestowed from above.
וי”ל עוד שעל ידי החסדים שעשה עמו השי”ת הכיר כי קטן הוא.
“And further it may be said that through the kindnesses God performed for him, he came to recognize that he was small.”
Abundant divine kindness makes a person aware of their dependence and limitedness. The more one receives, the more clearly one senses their own littleness.
כי כן הוא שע”י גודל חסדיו ית’ שרואה האדם עי”ז מבין קטנותו:
“For so it is: through the greatness of God’s kindness that a person sees, he thereby understands his own smallness.”
Direct encounter with divine generosity enlarges one’s awareness of God and simultaneously contracts one’s sense of self‑importance. Recognition of God’s greatness generates true humility.
כמדומה שנדפס עתה בס’ זכרון זאת:
“It seems that this has now been printed in the book ‘Zikaron Zot.’”
The Sefat Emet notes a bibliographic remark: this teaching appears to have been recorded in a work titled ‘Zikaron Zot.’
Summary: Humility is itself a divine kindness. Experiencing God’s abundant kindness causes a person to recognize their own smallness, and awareness of divine greatness leads naturally to true humility.
