Humility Unlocks Truth and Hidden Wisdom
Tehillim 51:7–8
הֵן בְּעָווֹן חוֹלָלְתִּי וּבְחֵטְא יֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי. הֵן אֱמֶת חָפַצְתָּ בַטֻּחוֹת וּבְסָתֻם חָכְמָה תוֹדִיעֵנִי.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You make me know wisdom.
1“Behold, I was formed in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden place You make me know wisdom” (Tehillim 51:7–8). This follows what we said above. Through the humility of taking to heart that he was born in iniquity, a person merits truth, the true meaning of the Torah, and clarifies the halachah truly. That is “Behold, You desire truth.” Batuchos, “the inward parts,” are the kidneys, as in the verse “Who placed wisdom in the inward parts (batuchos)?” (Iyov 38:36). Chazal say, “The kidneys give counsel” (Berachos 61a). The kidneys counsel wisdom: that a person should know truly that chochmah, wisdom, is ko'ach mah, “the power of ‘what am I?’” In this way the point of truth is rooted within us, and we know that everything comes from Hashem's power. Through this humility he merits “and in the hidden place You make me know wisdom.” Some of the Torah's secrets, its hidden words, are revealed to him. This is the “hidden wisdom” of the Zohar: he merits the Torah's secrets, and he reaches and clarifies the halachah truly.
[ו] הן בעון חוללתי ובחטא יחמתני אמי. הן ״אמת חפצת בטוחות ובסתום חכמה תודיעני (תהילים נ"א). היינו ע"ד הנ"ל ע"י ההכנעה שמשים אל לבו שנולד בעון. זוכה לאמת לאמיתה של תורה. לברר ההלכה לאמיתו. וזה הן ״אמת חפצת. ״בטוחות הוא כליות. עדה"כ מי שת ״בטוחות חכמה (איוב ל"ח). וכליות יועצות כמאחז"ל (ברכות ס"א). היינו כליות יועצות ״חכמה. שידע ידיעה האמיתית ״כח ״מה היא. שיהי' מושרש בנו נקודת האמת. ונדע שהכל הוא מכחו ית"ש. וע"י הכנעה זו זוכה ״ובסתום חכמה תודיעני. שנתגלה לו חלק מסודות התורה. ״מילין ״סתימין. וזה היא חכמה ״סתימאי. שזוכה לסודות התורה ולכוון ולברר הלכה לאמיתו.
In shortTaking to heart that one was born in iniquity brings a person to the Torah's truth, to the wisdom that knows all power is Hashem's, and so to its hidden secrets and true halachah.
Takeaway
Truth in Torah is not reached by intellect alone, but by humility. A person who honestly takes his lowly origins to heart and knows that all his strength is Hashem's gains a point of truth rooted within him. That humility makes him worthy both of clarifying the halachah correctly and of glimpsing the Torah's hidden wisdom.
Learn this in the merit of Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok Dancyger. His yahrzeit and life ›
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