I find it hard to learn from and connect to Tzadikim who praise their own greatness, such as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. Why do some Tzadikim do this? Isn’t this gaavah (haughtiness)?
The main problem with gaavah is when a person feels haughty about something that’s not really his. If someone is only saying facts — what he truly has, what he truly knows, what he truly can do — there is no issue with this. On the contrary, a person is supposed to use what he was given to help others.
If someone sees a man fainting in the street and he runs over and says, “Let me take care of this, I’m a professional doctor,” no one would call that haughty. It would be terrible if he held back because he didn’t want to sound proud, and then the person might refuse his help.
But there is another danger in speaking about one’s own greatness. Even if what a person says is true, it can bring a feeling of gaavah into his heart. A person starts to feel better than others. And that comes from not being clear enough in our emunah, from not feeling with absolute clarity that everything, every talent he has and every success or spiritual level he attained, is only from Hashem. The greatest damage of haughtiness is when we think we accomplished things on our own, and such a perspective brings a person far away from connection with Hashem.
With this in mind, it becomes much easier to understand why these issues are not relevant by a Tzadik. A true Tzadik is so connected to Hashem that he feels how everything is Hashem and nothing stands on its own. So when he speaks about his greatness, he doesn’t feel one drop of haughtiness, because he understands it’s not about him; all he is saying is that Hashem gave him great spiritual levels.
I once heard from a Tzadik that when Tzadikim speak about themselves, it feels to them exactly like they are speaking about someone else!
Some Tzadikim needed to speak highly about themselves because, like the doctor mentioned above, they wanted to help people! So they were telling the world, “Yidden, let me help you! I have the cure to the spiritual illnesses, and I can help you overcome the barriers and come closer to Hashem!”
This message is true and proper, and if they needed to “show their credentials” in order for people to allow them to help, then doing so is an important part of the Tzadik’s avodah, and is the Tzadik’s holy duty. Because the Tzadik had one thousand percent clarity that everything, including his own abilities, are from Hashem, and he was acting for Hashem’s sake, he would feel no inflated ego whatsoever when he spoke of his own abilities.
The reason this turns people off is because we tend to think of everything with our own lenses, so when we hear a Tzadik talking highly of himself, we right away think: if I would talk this way I would definitely feel a massive ego, so most probably he does as well!
But this is a terrible mistake. A Tzadik is on a whole different level. His emunah is so clear. He sees nothing but Hashem! Just like when someone walks into a shul holding a Sefer Torah in his hands, and everyone stands up, it would be really foolish for him to feel any ego. It is obvious that everyone is standing up for the Sefer Torah. The Tzadikim feel the same way. It is obvious to them that every honor is attributed to Hashem!
These great Tzadikim felt an amazing shiflus (lowliness), and together with that they had a strong leadership, because these two are not a contradiction.
When Tzadikim speak about themselves, it feels to them exactly like they are speaking about someone else!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Nekuda Tova Listing.