Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Anavah
ענוה
Humility (anavah) · also: שפלות
Humility: a person’s sense of his own lowliness, holding himself as nothing before G‑d; and above, G‑d’s “humility” in lowering Himself to be clothed in greatness and to attend to lowly beings.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶20Holiness leads to humility, a person’s lowliness in his own soul, since his soul receives life from G‑d only through lowly physical things: the esrog, the wool of tzitzis, the parchment of tefillin, or speech about them in Torah study. Humility toward G‑d means not occupying any place at all, like Moshe’s “what are we,” a bittul above Avraham’s “I am dust and ashes.”
ענוה שהיא שפלות האדם בערך נפשו ונשמתו יען אשר אין חיות ושפע לנפשו ממקור ומוצא פי ה׳ אלא ע״י דברים שפלים גשמיים ממש
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 4, ¶6True humility, the trait said of Moshe, is contemplating how slight one’s own closeness to G‑d is, and so being lowly before every person by seeing that another is closer to G‑d. The Arizal rejoiced in the mitzvos themselves, not in his own service.
שזו היא מדת ענוה באמת שנאמר על מרע״ה כי עיקר השפלו׳ בפני כל אדם
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 17, ¶1The Torah was given on Sinai, a low mountain, not on the proud mountains, since one who makes himself like a wilderness that all tread on receives the Torah as a gift. Still a person needs some strength and elevation of heart, or he will not dare approach the service; but the bittul must be far greater.
באמת עם היות שצריך כל האדם להיות שפל במאד מ״מ צריך התחזקות וקצת הגבהה
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15, ¶6On “in the place of His greatness, there you find His humility”: there is no greater humility than G‑d’s lowering Himself to be clothed in speech, the level called “greatness,” since all greatness is as nothing before Him. This contraction and descent comes about through Torah and mitzvos.
פי׳ שאין לך ענוה עצומה יותר מההשפלה להתלבש בבחי׳ הגדולה כו׳ מאחר שהוא באמת כאין ואפס חשיבא אצלו ית׳
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 2, ¶11Avraham was very lowly of spirit (“I am dust and ashes”), and through his humility, as water reflects a face, he drew the Or Ein Sof down into Chochmah and Chesed, which is itself a descent and lowering for the Or Ein Sof.
ע״י מדת ענוה המשיך ירידת אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה וחסד שהוא בחי׳ ירידה ושפלות לגבי אור א״ס ב״ה
Stated differently
Which level above is called humility
והנה שכינתא עילאה היא בינהCiting Reishis Chochmah, humility is the higher Shechinah (Shechinta Ila’ah), which is Binah; and, with R. Yehoshua ben Levi’s “humility is greatest of all,” humility is found even in Keser, which is called Ayin because it regards itself as nothing before the Emanator.
שמדת מלכות נקרא ענוהCiting Reishis Chochmah in the name of the Ra’aya Mehemna, the attribute of Malchus is called humility: there is no king without a people, and G‑d lowers Himself to be King over those who bear no comparison to Him.
והוא ענין המשכת י״ג מדות הרחמים וכמ״ש בר״ח שער הענוה שם בשם הרמ״ק שי״ג מדה״ר הם מורים על הענוהThe greater humility brought about by inner joy is the drawing down of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which, in the name of R. Moshe Cordovero, express humility.
Whether joy brings about humility, or humility brings about joy
הנה יובן ע״פ מה שנודע שהשמחה גורמת ענוה ושפלות וכמשל המלך שבשעת שמחתו הוא מתגלה לכל עבדיוIt is known that joy brings about humility, like a king who in his joy shows himself to all his servants and acts as a commoner with them; so the supernal joy in the mitzvos draws sovev down into the soul as memalei.
אלא ששמחה והגבהה זו נמשך מן הענוה והשפלות דוקאOn “the humble shall increase joy in Havayah”: joy strengthens and elevates the soul, but this joy is drawn specifically from humility; the more a person sees his own lowliness, the more doubled his joy in Torah (citing Tanya, end of ch. 34).
What G‑d’s humility “in the place of His greatness” is
וזהו שהגדולה היא ענותנותו שע״י ענוה והשפלה שהשפיל א״ע להתלבש במדת חסדHe lowers Himself to be clothed in the vessel of Chochmah, and so is called wise, and in Chesed, and so is called great; this greatness is His humility, for His essence is exalted beyond it.
וענוה זו לירד ולהתלבש בבחי׳ הדבור הנק׳ גדולה שזהו ירידה גדולהHis humility is the contraction by which He descends to be clothed in speech, the level called “greatness”; no humility is greater, since all greatness is as nothing before Him.
פי׳ ענותנותו הוא מה שהוא ית׳ משפיל עצמו להשגיח בשמים וארץ הגשמיות כ״כ בפרטי פרטיותHis humility is lowering Himself to watch over the physical heaven and earth in every detail, with individual providence over lowly creatures; and this, not the creation of higher worlds, which are as nothing before Him, is His greatness.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶20Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶22Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 17, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 32, ¶17Torah Ohr, Toldos 4, ¶6
Where it appears
In 104 paragraphs of 61 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶6 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15 ¶2 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1 ¶2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 4 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1 ¶2 ¶3 ¶20 ¶21 ¶22 ¶23 ¶24 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 1 ¶2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶10 ¶14 ¶17 ¶18 ¶37 ¶38
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 3 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 1 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 7 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 32 ¶17 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 33 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 5 ¶21 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶1 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 1 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 2 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 12 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 5 ¶13 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶33
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 17 ¶1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 4 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 10 ¶3 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 6 ¶11 ¶14 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 1 ¶14 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 7 ¶15 ¶17 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 10 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 2 ¶28
- Torah Ohr, Vayigash 1 ¶14 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 2 ¶11 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 2 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 1 ¶1 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4 ¶9 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶3 ¶4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 2 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 4 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 2 ¶5 ¶6 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶38
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Bo 1 ¶2 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 5 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Vayeira 1 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 3 ¶10 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 3 ¶4 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 6 ¶8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 2 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2 ¶30
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 1 ¶10 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19 ¶38
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 5 ¶35 ¶36
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 3 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 4 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 3 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 5 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 7 ¶6 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 4 ¶6
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.