Holy Pride | Rabbi Zev Smith

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Zev Smith’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

I once told a Bochur, You know what you need? A little bit of Gaiva. And he was shocked. Gaiva? I said: The Chazon Ish expressed a similar sentiment. Let me explain what he meant. You know, I merited to know R’ Moshe Feinstein. I watched him often. His diligence, his righteousness, his total command of the entire Torah was breathtaking. And I could say if I would live a hundred years, I wouldn’t reach his levels at all. But you know what else I think? What R’ Moshe’s eyes merited to see, and what my eyes have to see. R’ Moshe lived in a world that his heart beat only to the rhythm of ‘Praiseworthy are those who toil in Torah’. A world of holiness, of Torah. And we live in a world where we have to ask a Halachic question, Is it permitted to go into the street during the summer? And I think, Gaiva? For what? But then, all the more so. The Arizal told his disciple, R’ Chaim Vital, you have a holy Neshama, maybe greater than those that preceded you. And R’ Chaim Vital says: What? Greater than those that preceded me? He goes: Yes. Because greatness is not measured by actions, it’s by where the actions take place.

Jump to a moment

1. 0:07I once told a Bochur, You know what you need? A little bit of Gaiva. And…
2. 0:37that his heart beat only to the rhythm of ‘Praiseworthy are those who toil in Torah’.…
3. 1:08And we live in a world of so much impurity, and you still do the Mitzvos…
4. 1:39the Song of Songs is Holy of Holies. What makes Shir Hashirim in a class for…
5. 2:09that outshines even the previous generation, like the Arizal told his disciple. The Steipler writes in…
6. 2:39And the Brisker Rav was not certain. He said: Let’s leave it. A few days later,…
7. 3:09the greatest danger to success is when we forget ‘who are you’ and ‘what are you’.…
8. 3:40and what you are.…

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