1 October 2023

Photo: NLI
Abraham, our father, said, ‘I am but dust and ashes’ (Genesis 18:27). It is indeed an excellent application of humility when a person thinks no more of themselves than the dust of the earth, than which there is nothing lower. Yet when a person sows in earth, that which is sown grows there. So, too, for such person, it is still possible to be affected when something grows for them. But (bases on b Ḥullin 89a) Moses said, ‘And we are nothing’ (Exodus 16:8), and from nothing, nothing grows. For such a person, everything that befalls them is the same. Whether one is given fame and honor or their opposite, one remains totally unaffected.
(Dov Baer of Liovol)