Yom Kippur poem Hineni examines the power of humility

One of the most famous piyutim or liturgical poems recited by Ashkenazi cantors on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is Hineni, composed by an unknown medieval poet:

“Hineni he’ani mi-ma’as, Behold, I am poor in deeds, trembling in the presence of the One who hears the prayers of Israel… I have come to plead before You on behalf of Your people Israel who sent me, although I am not fit nor worthy of the task… Blame them not for my sins, convict them not for my iniquities, for I am a sinner and a transgressor. May they not be shamed for my transgressions…”

This prayer before musaf contains one major message: humility. The author of this piyut is emphasizing that he is unworthy of the task of representing the Jewish people in prayer.

We live in an age which is the antithesis of Hineni. Actors, singers, athletes, and politicians incessantly run after kavod (honor) and fame. People are measured by their Likes in Facebook and their followers on Twitter. There is an entire industry of agents and promoters devoted to making people famous, while people do all sorts of crazy things in order to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records. Indeed, I recently heard an Israeli radio program which explained that Kim Kardashian is famous – for being famous!

Let us explore what our tradition has to say about humility vs. running after fame or kavod.

As you may know, Korah and his band of 250 rebelled against Moses and Aaron, the rebellion was put down, and Korah and his followers were swallowed up by the earth. But what was his sin? Our Sages gave various explanations. However, it seems likely that Korah’s main transgression was his pursuit of kavod. As Spinoza so cleverly stated in his Ethics: “Those who cry out the loudest against the misuse of honor and the vanity of the world – are those who most greedily covet it.” 

Moshe Rabbeinu, on the other hand, repeatedly fled from honor. He says to God at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:11): “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” He says furthermore (4:10): “Please, O Lord, I am not a man of words.” And again (4:13): “Please O Lord, please send [someone else]!” And finally (Numbers 12:3): “Now Moses was very humble, more so than any other man on earth.”

INDEED, THIS tension between pursuing honor and running from it, repeats itself in the Bible: 

Aaron and Miriam are jealous of their younger brother Moshe (Numbers 12). The result is that Miriam is punished with leprosy.

Avshalom rebels against his father, David, and tries to seize the throne (II Samuel: 15). He is eventually killed and the uprising is put down.

On the other hand, Gideon was chosen as Judge despite the fact that he did not want the job (Judges 6:15). He proceeds to defeat the Midianites and the land was tranquil for 40 years.

Similarly, Saul had no desire to become the King of Israel (I Samuel 10:22-24). When the prophet Samuel tried to anoint him as King, he ran away; he was found “hiding among the baggage.”

Finally, we have the example of Jeremiah (1:6). When God tries to appoint him as a prophet, he replies: “Ah, Lord God! I don’t know how to speak, for I am still a boy.” 

These conflicting attitudes towards honor remind us of the verse in Proverbs (29:23): “A man’s pride will humiliate him, but a humble man will obtain honor.”

This verse is cleverly illustrated in a Hassidic story about a “misnaged” – an opponent of Hassidism – who asked the Seer of Lublin why so many go to the Seer to study and why they do not come to him to study since he is a greater scholar? The Seer replied: It is also surprising to me that they come to me! I know how little I am worth! Who am I and what am I that many should come to me to ask help from God? And why indeed don’t they go to you whom I know to be a real genius, both knowledgeable and sharp? But maybe that is the reason: Since I am surprised that they come to me, that is why they come especially to me; and since you are surprised that they don’t come to you, that is why they don’t come to you!

What are the practical implications of all this for our time?

On a personal level, we need to try to act humbly and not run after honor, both within our families and at work. If we are humble at home, we can avoid tensions with our spouses and children. At work, humility can reduce tension with our employers and employees.

ON A national level, we usually choose political leaders by how they look and how they speak and how they dress; we should really choose candidates by how they behave towards their staff, their peers and their constituents. Are they humble? Do they understand that they were elected in order to serve society and not for the sake of their ego? We should look for leaders like Moshe and Jeremiah, not like Korah and Avshalom.

I would like to conclude with a story related by Rabbi Jack Riemer. He was chosen to help judge a contest for a prize in the field of religion and community service. One application came from the members of a small synagogue in a working class neighborhood near Boston. They nominated their lay leader without his knowledge. The judges were very impressed by the application, but they had to ask the man whether he would accept the award. This is what the nominee, Phil Weiss, wrote back on a manual typewriter on plain white paper:

“I don’t know anything about this award and I don’t really think that I have done much that is deserving of an award.

“I have been attending services with Congregation B’nai Brith since about 1980. In about 1985, the congregation had trouble finding a [Torah reader], and in 1986 [I agreed to lead the High Holiday services as the “rabbi”]. The next year, Morris Kleinman, who is the real leader of the congregation, asked me, I think for the third time, to take over the job of giving divrei Torah (short Torah-based talks) on Shabbat, and I finally agreed. In 1988, our High Holiday cantor resigned, so I accepted that position and trained some of the other young congregants to daven shaharit and mincha (lead the morning and afternoon prayers), which I had been davening for a while. This past year, there seemed to be considerable interest in education for the young adults who have been joining the congregation, so I offered a course in Jewish Philosophy, followed by a course in Martin Buber’s thought…

“Basically, I see what I do at the shul as taking responsibilities for which I seem to be best suited. This is a way to use my Jewish learning to repay a Jewish community, since I received my learning from a Jewish community. It is all simply a matter of meeting my obligations and giving back of what I have been given.

“If you have the opportunity to give this award to someone who has really given service… more than what is required, do so, and please give it to him instead of me.

Sincerely, Phil Weiss” 

This letter is the epitome of the Hineni prayer. Phil Weiss should serve as a role model for all of us. He served the Jewish community as a way of repaying the Jewish community for what he received; not for the sake of honor or power. May we take the spirit of his letter with us as we listen to Hineni – and throughout the year. 

The writer is the president of The Schechter Institutes, Inc., Jerusalem.