Aggadot from Hamivtar

by
Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

Ignorance, Arrogance and the Wisdom That Edifies

Rava says: "It (the Torah) is not in heaven. You will not find Torah in a person who raises himself above it like the heavens".... R. Yohanan says: "It is not in heaven. You will not find Torah among the arrogant." (Eruvin 55a)

The Rif (not R. Yitzhak Alfasi but a different Rif cited in the Ein Yaakov) argues that Rava and R. Yohanan do not state the identical point. Rava refers to a person's relationship to the material studied while R. Yohanan refers to a person's relationship to others. For Rava, haughtiness towards the material can get in the way of knowledge as the intense desire to criticize a text blocks appreciation and understanding of that text. Furthermore, as Rif points out, the proud student may consider more basic material beneath him and focus attention solely on more esoteric knowledge. Such a student may never address fundamental gaps in his knowledge. For example, the aspiring kabbalist may never set aside the time to solidify understanding of the basic storyline of Humash. For R. Yohanan, it is the social blowhard who remains ensconced in ignorance. Such a person will refuse to learn from others and refuse to dedicate the time needed for studying and reviewing the material. For this latter type, desire to show that wisdom comes easily prevents it from coming altogether.

R. Zadok haKohen (Divrei Soferim 15) offers another perspective on the incommensurability of wisdom and arrogance. The Zohar says that a sign of Bilaam's ignorance is that he praised himself. R. Zadok points out that Bilaam actually seems to be quite knowledgeable and explains that the Zohar refers to Bilaam's lack of internalized knowledge. When knowledge fails to penetrate into the deeper recesses of the human personality, arrogance results. I believe that R. Zadok offers us a profound psychological point. If a person's knowledge impacts positively upon the world or allows him to become more ethically sensitive or spiritually alive, then that knowledge has found a worthy home and the person finds satisfaction with his learning. If, on the other hand, a person's knowledge has no impact upon the world or upon his personality, then the knowledge finds no expression and that person wonders what the years of study produced. At that point, the only thing left to do with one's knowledge is to brag about it. Envision two brilliant academics, one who goes about his work with quiet dignity and the other who constantly attempts to show off his knowledge and one may discover that R. Zadok's insight likes at the root of the distinction in their behavior.

It emerges that arrogance can be both cause and effect of ignorance. Arrogance towards the material or towards teachers and peers prevents the accumulation of knowledge. At the same time, arrogance also reveals that the knowledge accumulated has failed to impact on the knower. The Talmud refers to such knowledge as "from the mouth and outward" (Sanhedrin 106b). For, R. Zadok that image conveys both the lack of internalization and the need to brag about it.